Chief scientific adviser at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Sir Robert Watson has called on the nation's gardeners to take more action to plant wildflowers.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he underlined the importance of educating people of the benefits that native flowers such as milkwort and cowslips can bring to wildlife – as well as arguing that it is important to protect dwindling species.
Sir Robert will leave his five-year post at Defra at the end of this month and warned that the UK's wildlife is currently in a precarious position, despite the best efforts of conservationists and others to protect endangered animals and plants.
He acknowledged that exotic plants and paving stones might make gardens appear neat and tidy, but emphasised that cultivating more natural plants will offer significantly greater environmental benefits.
Indeed, there is no need to presume that this could make a garden look messy and unfashionable – as many wildflowers were a big hit at this year's Chelsea Flower Show.
In a recent article for The Sun News, Clemson master gardener Debbie Menchek noted that many patches that were entered into the annual competition had randomly placed plants within carefully controlled spaces.
She claimed this was done in a deliberate effort to recreate the feel of natural wildflower meadows – which are typically characterised by very colourful spreads.
Sir Robert told the Daily Telegraph: "If we can say to gardeners 'you don't have to have these beautifully cultivated gardens, but have some wildflowers in there,' my guess is it would be really good for birds, really good for butterflies."
He also lambasted the idea of paving slabs, stating: "A nice garden is aesthetically pleasing, it is good for biodiversity, it has value in the sale of the house, but if you concrete the bloody thing over you are losing biodiversity."
