Wildlife at Ham House

Love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) flowers and a pink rose blooming in the Kitchen Garden at Ham House and Garden, Surrey, in June.

You’d be surprised just how much wildlife we manage to spot on the outskirts of London, here at Ham House. Some are more welcome visitors than others but we are passionate about creating good natural habitats for all our wildlife to enjoy.

Badgers to birds

 
The garden attracts all sorts of wildlife, from badgers and foxes to many different bird species.
 
We have to keep the gates to our fountain garden shut at night to stop the badgers getting in and digging up our flower beds.
 

Look out for...

 

Kestrels

 
We often have nesting pairs in our horse chestnut tree by the ice house.
 

Woodpeckers

 
Green woodpeckers on the grass and Great spotted woodpeckers up in the trees.
 

Butterflies

 
Look out for these species: Comma, Orange-tip, Painted lady, Peacock, Red admiral and Small copper.
 

Our flower meadow

 
Enjoy a stroll along the river on your way to Ham and approach the house through our flower meadow. This is an increasingly important habitat for wildflowers, animals, insects and birds.
 

A love-hate relationship

 
We don't encourage slugs, but they love it here. Though they do eat young plants faster than we can grow them, they also eat decaying plant material. We love and hate them.
 

Natural predators

 
We encourage ladybirds in the garden as the natural predator of garden nuisances like aphids and mites.