In 2003 a MORI poll for the Royal Horticultural Society revealed that an extraordinary number of us are interested in attracting wildlife into our gardens. Because we'll be promoting the biodiversity of the UK, we'll be reconnecting with nature, getting more from our gardens, and we'll be doing our plants a favour.

KEN THOMPSON is a plant ecologist. he is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield where he was a key member of the first of two 'Biodiversity of Urban Gardens' (BUGS) projects investigating the significance of urban gardens as habitats for 'natural' biodiversity.
Ken Thompson has written over 100 articles for scientific journals and writes a regular column on the science of gardening for Organic Gardening magazine. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed An Ear to the Ground: Garden Science for Ordinary Mortals.