Wendy Turner finds out about Bloomsbury’s most unusual hotel
Wendy Turner finds a garden haven in the heart of London.
RUSSELL SQUARE’s garden is a delight for those working in London, as well as visitors, with around three million people passing through each year.
Hundreds more enjoy picnics in peaceful and fragrant surroundings.
It’s not unusual to see people taking photos of the square’s latest additions – two insect hotels, an interesting idea from the Volunteer Gardening Group for the square.
Russell Square is one of three London squares designed by Humphry Repton, an 18th-century landscape designer regarded as a successor to Capability Brown.
Refurbishment of Russell Square, funded by the
Heritage Lottery, enabled original features to be retained or restored, including the horseshoe path and lime tree walk.
To charm potential and beneficial residents into the insect hotels, a plentiful supply of natural food and facilities for their life cycle are necessary.
Volunteers have planted around 2,000 herbaceous plants and over 12,000 spring bulbs that attract buzzing, creeping and flying creatures that prey on pests which regularly munch their way through our gardens.
Trees, shrubs and flowers bring the square alive with colour and perfume, providing ideal conditions for insect pollination.
When complete, Russell Square will be an oasis, absorbing pollution and improving the environment.
“We have to thank Humphry Repton for his amazing foresight,” David Marchant, Treasurer of the Commissioners of Russell Square, says.
“His vision was of the gardens being enjoyed by generations over the years, and his ideas skilfully combine practical use of the square with natural beauty for our enjoyment.”
The insect hotels are made to the highest environmentally friendly standards, with timber from managed woodlands, and with reduced use of plastics and metals.
“Our volunteers look after them, but they need little maintenance,” David says.
“Our aim is to attract a variety of advantageous insects into the insect hotels, which are surrounded by plants specially chosen for them and based on sun and shade within the gardens.
“We selected some plants with a low water demand, which will cope during drier conditions.”
A range of wildlife has taken up residence in the quiet square, surrounded as it is by busy main roads, the Underground station
and the British Museum.
Beautiful green lacewings are a welcome addition. They shelter by curling up in wooden slats for protection from harsh weather and predators, and hibernate in the insect hotels.
Their larvae are fierce carnivores, helping to rid us of aphids and mites.
Ladybirds are catered for, too. They lay their eggs, which hatch in four to 10 days, in a straw-filled compartment. Their larvae are ferocious creatures that attack greenfly.
Lacewings and ladybirds are every gardener’s friend!
An ever-increasing number of birds make regular visits.
“Robins are particularly welcome,” David says. “These territorial birds nest in open-fronted boxes like those provided for them on the back of the insect hotels.
“They were often close at hand to inspect our installation!
“The insect-rich environment provides snacks and encourages them to forage in the gardens.”
There are plans for new bird-nesting sites, with climbing plants attached to walls to attract more insects.
They will provide shelter as well as roosting and nesting places for next year.
The Conservation Society of UCL regularly monitors and counts the birds.
The garden also took part in the RSPB’s “Birdwatch”, when 15 species were recorded.
“It would be a wonderful achievement if, through our biodiversity, more bird species were identified to complement our new family of coal tits,” David says.
There are over 260 species of bee in the UK, including honey and bumblebees, but most are solitary “friendly” bees that rarely sting, a welcome and safe addition to the garden.
“We rely on pollinators for around a third of all our fruit and vegetables,” David explains.
“But numbers are rapidly falling due to lack of wildflower meadows and hedgerows, construction and chemical use.
“We’ve planted bee-loving plants such as ivy, lavender and echinacea, and insect hotels are perfect for them.
“The mother bee fills the eco bee-nesting tubes with pollen and nectar and lays a line of eggs, sealing off each individual egg.
“We can easily see when the tubes are being used as she fills the end of each with mud or scrunched-up leaves.
“Bee larvae feed on pollen and nectar, and young bees are kept safe until they emerge around late spring.
“Adult bees and their young use the same nest year on year, which increases the number of solitary bees in the insect hotels.
“One benefit is that tubes can be removed and sited in a different part of the square to encourage further nesting.”
Butterflies are also great pollinators and a welcome sight. To help restore declining numbers, flowers and shrubs rich in the pollen and nectar they need are planted in the garden.
The hotels also provide shelter for butterflies to hibernate over the winter.
We may not love spiders, but they help by feasting on flies, mosquitoes and wasps that buzz about in summer.
Spiders moving into the insect hotels love to burrow deep into the dry leaves, bark and twigs provided, and when out and about, they help keep flowers, shrubs and trees healthy and beneficial to other insects.
Russell Square is listed Grade II by English Heritage, protected by the London Squares Preservation Act and lies within the Bloomsbury Conservation Area.
The successful “Wild West End Project” points the way to providing ideal conditions to enable wildlife to thrive in urban areas.
A further “Wild Bloomsbury” project will shortly be mapped out by those sustaining the ecosystem in the gardens.
Russell Square is a tribute to the working partnership of businesses, gardeners and volunteers.
“Their dream of enhancing and protecting wildlife in inner cities, producing a cleaner environment, is gradually becoming a reality,” David says.
“Why not make time to stop and take in London’s brilliant gardens next time you visit? Our aim is to make Russell Square the real ‘bee’s knees’ in the heart of London!”