ALISON STEADMAN

Actress and London Wildlife Trust member Alison Steadman is a Garden for a Living London supporter. The Gavin and Stacey actress lives in north London and is a keen bird watcher. Here she is sporting a lovely Garden for a Living London t-shirt in Highgate Woods, where she can often be found stalking around with a pair of binoculars.  "I find getting out into London's green spaces a wonderful way to escape from the pressures of being on stage or filming" says Alison. 

BORIS AND KEN

Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone don’t agree on many things, but one thing they wouldn’t argue over is the importance of London’s gardens, both acknowledging that they’re vital as habitat for wildlife and as tools to help minimise the impacts of climate change. Boris has backed the Garden for a Living London Campaign and Ken Livingstone is on board too.

The former Mayor is now Time Out London's gardening editor.  The Trust's expert gardener Elaine Hughes was invited by the magazine to Ken’s north London garden to rate its green credentials and sign Ken up to London Wildlife Trust’s Garden for a Living London campaign. After having a good nose around, Elaine delivered her verdict.

“I like Ken’s garden and think it has loads of good wildlife and climate friendly features. It has lots of dense undergrowth for wildlife to move through and garden debris (like leaves) for shelter, good use of old wood for insects, berry producing shrubs for birds, living walls, a lovely big pond and plenty of trees. He conserves water, makes his own compost and lays out mulch every year.

“He could think about clearing his pond of some vegetation, planting more drought tolerant plants and having more flower producing plants for bees and butterflies. And I think I may have knobbled him into making a living roof on top of his children’s play house!”