This is how you can make your garden home to more species

From lifeless “lawn desert” – to oasis for butterflies and blue tits. Sarah Edin is one of thousands of Swedes who reported how they boosted the species richness in their garden or on the balcony.

– You can make a big difference with simple efforts, says Erik Hansson, who leads the project Ett rikare Sweden.

When Sarah Edin moved into her villa, the garden was quite typical of a newly developed area: A neat but rather lifeless lawn.

– It was a lawn desert, empty of birds and insects, she says.

A few years later, the difference is clear. During summer and spring, the garden is full of small flowers. Peacock-eyes, barn owls and various kinds of bumblebees are among the animals that often visit.

The trick? Among other things, that she stopped cleaning and keeping up.

Instead, piles of rice and leaves must remain in the corners. Dandelions and white clover – filled with nectar for pollinators – are allowed to grow in the lawn, which is not heavily mowed to allow the plants to flower.

– I have taken care of my lawn very “badly”. Learned to let it be messy in the corners and stopped raking leaves under the apple tree, says Sarah Edin.

At first she wondered what the neighbors would think.

– I was a little nervous that neighbors who notoriously pick every single dandelion would think I was spreading weeds. But they haven’t said anything yet, she says with a laugh.

Growing list of species

She has also sown meadow seeds and made room for goldenrods from her mother’s garden.

Shrubs and a plum tree have been planted and provide shelter for small birds.

She has learned in black and white that the garden is now populated by more species.

– For a few years now, I have been writing down which species I find in the garden. It’s a lot of fun, because the list gets longer every year. And I learn a lot.

Sarah Edin is one of just under 17,000 Swedes who have reported their contributions to the Ett rikare Sweden project since its inception in 2022. It is run by the public education project Rikare trådgaard and the National Museum of Natural History with the aim of inspiring private individuals to benefit the biodiversity at home.

– For animals in our immediate environment, the interventions can be decisive. Gardens are potential oases that can provide sources of food and shelter, but also create green corridors through the landscape. I can almost guarantee that the efforts you make benefit more species than you think, says Erik Hansson, who leads the project.

Letting the lawn grow, growing flowers that pollinators like, and fixing rice heaps where hedgehogs and amphibians can live, among other things, are some popular interventions that have been reported.

In total, just under 330,000 square meters have been converted, which corresponds to almost the entire Old Town in Stockholm.

– Many who reported have written at length about the efforts they made and how they saw more species in the garden. People are really excited and proud of what they have achieved, says Erik Hansson.

– It’s extra fun that quite a few people have made efforts on their balcony, such as having a balcony box with strawberries or herbs.

Dust became popular

Sweden’s gardens cover an area equivalent to the whole of Blekinge and several studies show that they can be an important habitat for butterflies, bumblebees and birds, among other things.

What has the greatest effect on species richness is one of the more demanding efforts: constructing a dam. It benefits, among other things, amphibians and thirsty or bath-hungry small birds.

Just a small pond was last year’s project for Sarah Edin.

– The dam was probably the most complicated thing I’ve done, but it has paid off. Already the day after I filled it with water, tailors had found their way there. Then blue tits started bathing in it and the dragonflies came. In addition, it is nice to have water in the garden, says Sarah Edin.

Beneficial to see effect

In addition to making the garden more pleasant, she thinks that the efforts for species richness work a bit like therapy. When the effects of the climate crisis become increasingly clear and scientists warn of a sixth mass extinction of species, it is beneficial to see the garden seething with life as a direct effect of what you have done, says Sarah Edin.

– It’s easy to get depressed and feel “what does it matter what I do?” But knowing that in my small spot I can still influence and see that things are going in the right direction – that helps.

Erik Hansson hopes for a changed view of what constitutes a “nice” garden and that the ideal of neat lawns disappears.

– I think that efforts for species richness can spread when the neighbors see that the gardens with more plants in bloom have more butterflies, for example.

He wishes that even those who decide on larger green areas, such as municipalities’ or housing association’s land, take an impression.

– Much of what we recommend for gardens can be done on larger surfaces. It is often about simple things that can make a big difference.

FACT So you can benefit nature at home

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