National Gardening Week 2024 runs from Monday 29 April to Sunday 5 May and this year’s theme, ‘Knowledge is Flower’, encourages everyone to explore the joys of gardening, whether they have a back garden, balcony, or just a windowsill.

As green-fingered residents gear-up for gardening week, Somerset Council is offering some helpful tips.

• Plant a tree. Trees reduce carbon dioxide, support local wildlife and habitat diversity, and enhances the landscapes. For advice on planting and nurturing trees contact the Council’s Woodland Creation Team by emailing Woodlandcreation@somerset.gov.uk

• Leave it longer. By allowing grasslands to grow, we create better-connected habitats for pollinators and other species.

• Home Compost. Transform kitchen scraps, garden clippings, and suitable food waste into nutrient-rich compost. It saves money, reduces landfill waste, and will enrich your garden soil. For more information on great home composting visit our website.

• Sign up for a garden waste collection. Use one of our fortnightly collections to dispose of trimmings, leaves, and weeds. This goes to one of our composting sites and is turned into nutrient-rich compost which can be bought from any of our recycling centres. Subscribe here.

• Recycle your plastic plant pots. These CANNOT go in your Bright Blue Bag because they are made of a different type of plastic. Please return them to your local garden centres who often re-use and recycle them.

Councillor Dixie Darch, Lead Member for Environment and Climate Change, said:

Our natural environment is precious to us and many of us have access to a garden, large or small. We are encouraging you to love your garden or outdoor green space too by doing what you can to garden sustainably. It can be simple swaps such as composting or reusing your plastic pots, to bigger pledges such as grassland conservation. We all can play a big part in making Somerset more sustainable and eco-friendlier. Gardening week is the perfect time to start, so what’s stopping you?