New eco-garden opened to encourage lifestyle changes

The Sussex Wildlife Trust garden, complete with an eco-hut, was possible thanks to a £10,000 grant from UK Power Networks and was built by the trust from scratch with the help of dozens of volunteers from the electricity company’s offices.

Barry Hatton, the company’s director of asset management, joined staff and volunteers from Sussex Wildlife Trust last Wednesday to open the new garden and eco-hut with Emma House, one of the volunteers who worked on the project.

Barry said: “Our employees thoroughly enjoyed working on this new garden and they should be proud of what they have created with the experts at Sussex Wildlife Trust.

“It is a living classroom where people can pick up ideas to support the environment in their own homes and gardens. We hope people will enjoy visiting the garden for years to come.”

The timber eco-hut has a living roof planted with drought-resistant plants to attract insects.

Drainpipes connect the roof to water butts to show rainwater harvesting in action.

A solar panel on the roof powers a variety of lightbulbs inside the hut, from old energy-hungry varieties to energy efficient types and ultra-efficient LED lightbulbs.

In the garden area there is a mini-meadow with wild flowers for bees, butterflies and hoverflies, log piles for mini-beasts, a hedge for birds and insects and a pond for amphibians.

Pete Crawford, head of People and Wildlife at Sussex Wildlife Trust said, “The eco-hut is a great educational resource and the wildlife garden integrates native species and familiar garden plants as a showcase of pollinator-friendly planting.”

Emma House, a volunteer who helped work on the project, said: “It was really nice working on this project.

“It was good to see everyone come together and work on something lasting. I look forward to seeing how the garden turned out.”