Planting for climate change and biodiversity

Choosing the right plants can help your garden cope with hotter, drier weather while providing vital habitats for wildlife across Wandsworth.

Climate change

Climate change is already affecting Wandsworth, with hotter summers, longer dry periods and more intense rainfall.

The borough's gardens, balconies, streets and green spaces will play an important role in helping the borough adapt to these changes.

Choosing climate-resilient planting can help gardens and green spaces remain healthy, attractive and easier to maintain while using less water. Many drought-tolerant plants, including species commonly associated with Mediterranean climates, are already performing well locally.

Choose plants that are:

• Drought-tolerant
• Heat resistant 
• Disease resistant
• Hardy and low maintenance

See specific plant suggestions.

In areas where water collects, choose plants suited to damp conditions or improve drainage.

Most importantly, a mix of different plants helps gardens cope better with unpredictable weather and changing climate conditions.

Biodiversity

Planting for biodiversity is about more than individual plants. Wildlife needs a network of connected habitats that provide food, shelter and places to breed. In Wandsworth, gardens, balconies, window boxes and community green spaces form an important part of this network, helping to link larger habitats such as parks and commons. Even small planting projects can make a difference when combined across the borough. 

By creating a variety of habitats and choosing plants that support wildlife, you can help strengthen local ecological networks and make Wandsworth a better place for nature.

Follow these tips to help make a difference:

• Leave the leaves - leave fallen leaves where possible, or move them to a quiet corner. They provide food and shelter for wildlife and will gradually break down
• Connect gardens - use hedges, trees and planting to help wildlife move between gardens and other green spaces. Leave small gaps at the bottom of fences to allow animals such as hedgehogs to pass through
• Add a pond - use collected rainwater to fill or top it up where possible
• Grow a varied lawn - allow clover, daisies and different grasses to grow alongside your lawn. Leave some areas longer throughout the growing season to provide shelter for insects and other wildlife
• Keep some areas dark - reduce unnecessary outdoor lighting to support bats, moths and other nocturnal wildlife
• Plant for pollinators year-round - choose plants that flower at different times of year. Bumblebees can be active year-round in London, so include winter-flowering plants as well as spring and summer flowers
• Create deadwood habitats - leave some logs and cut branches in your garden, with some buried into the ground a little. Wandsworth is a hotspot for stag beetles, which spend up to seven years underground feasting on deadwood
• Avoid chemicals - avoid pesticides where possible. Choose plants that encourage natural predators such as ladybirds, lacewings and wasps to help control garden pests

Wildlife-friendly and climate-resilient plants

These plants are a mix of native and well‑adapted species chosen for their resilience to drought, heat and poor soils. Most flower over long periods, provide nectar, pollen, or shelter for wildlife (with some producing autumn seeds for birds) and perform well in pots, balconies and small gardens. 

• Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
• Oregano (Origanum vulgar)
• Orpine (Hylotelephium telephium)
• Thrift/Sea Pink (Armeria maritima)
• Lesser Calamint (Clinopodium nepeta)
• Heather (Calluna vulgaris)
• Trailing Rosemary (Salvia Rosmarinus)
• Verbena (Verbena bonariensis)
• Salvias (e.g. Salvia nemorosa)

Feel free to try other species, avoiding any harmful or invasive plants.