Garden owners who create their garden close to nature and thus make it attractive for birds and other animals can apply to the State Association for Bird and Nature Conservation (LBV) again this year for the “Bird-Friendly Garden” badge. Berry-bearing shrubs, native flowering plants, dead wood, ponds and more offer a valuable habitat for the animals, the environmental association announced on Wednesday. Exclusion criteria, on the other hand, are robotic lawnmowers or leaf blowers, according to the information on the sticker on the Internet. Pesticides, surface sealing or large-scale use of bark mulch are also among the “absolute taboos”. The LBV and the Bavarian Species Protection Center of the State Office for the Environment (LfU) would start the project again in spring, the LBV announced. In the first year of the project, more than 1,250 of the more than 2,600 registered gardens in Bavaria were assessed and awarded the plaque.
The LBV is still looking for nature-loving people in many districts of Bavaria for the honorary garden juries. For those interested, a Bavaria-wide online information evening will take place on March 1st, the association announced. Registration for the event can be done online at www.lbv.de/gartenjury. If you want to have your own garden certified, you can apply at www.vogelfreundeergarten.de. With the award, LBV and LfU want to initiate a rethink and increase acceptance for a little more wilderness on their own doorstep. The evaluation is based on a set catalog of criteria. If enough criteria are met, the garden receives the badge.