Butterflies thrive in micro-reserve garden

A garden has become a "successful micro-reserve" for helping multiple types of butterflies by giving them more space and plants to thrive in.

Great Comp Garden, in St Mary's Platt, near Sevenoaks, Kent, said that it hosts about 25% of the UK's entire butterfly species, as 16 of them are based at the site.

Typical gardens would only have between five and 10 different species of butterfly.

The gardens said that since the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme began in 1976, overall butterfly abundance has dropped by nearly 20%.

Specialist species are suffering population crashes due to habitat loss and pesticide use.

But Great Comp is hosting a healthy mix of generalist and mobile species that are said to be "flourishing" with regular appearances in the garden.

Kristyna Kay-Clough, senior gardener at Great Comp Garden, said: "It's wonderful to know that the mix of planting we grow at the garden has created this fantastic environment for the butterflies.

"We leave the nettles around the woodland edge to feed the caterpillars - so it's a very wildlife friendly garden."

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