The RHS has published a list of the most important wildlife in your garden, with lichens toping the list.
Drawn from the RHS Gardening Advice Service, the list is intended to highlight the importance of biodiversity in your garden and to celebrate the benefits to gardens and people.
Top of the list is lichens, which provide food for other wildlife and are associated with good air quality. Ladybirds are helpful for gardeners because they eat aphids, while social wasps are important garden predators,
Liz Beal, RHS plant pathologist, said: “We have seen a huge increase in gardeners wanting to find out more about the organisms they can encourage into their garden to naturally ward off the species that can be more damaging to their plants.
Many of the gardeners that get in touch are also very curious about the wildlife they find and what they do, rather than looking for ways to get rid of them. A healthy garden ecosystem is home to a wide variety of wildlife, and we hope this list will help celebrate some of the friendly garden species that have a whole host of benefits for our plots and the wider environment.”
The list replaces the previous list of garden 'pests' which was stopped last year, in light of the biodiversity crisis.
The top beneficial garden species queries for 2022 are:
1. Lichens
2. Native ladybirds
3. Pollinators
4. Solitary bees (Aculeate hymenoptera)
5. Sulphur tuft fungi (Hypholoma fasciculare)
6. Slime moulds
7. Rose chafer beetle (Cetonia aurata)
8. Ink cap mushrooms (Coprinoids)
9. Hoverflies
10. Social wasps
Read our piece with the Royal Entomological Society about Tom Massey's wildlife garden at Chelsea
