To think people can make more of an effort with their gardens

I don't prioritise my garden but it's ok. I have a couple of flowering bushes that used to attract lots of bees and butterflies but last year there were barely any.

Not everyone has time OP- you must recognise that.

I love gardening but my circumstances mean I am left to make decisions about the little time I have to myself, That literally means exercise, a decent amount sleep, gardening, seeing friends and other life enhancing activities.
I have planted a number of trees and insect loving shrubs, and my garden is a bit of a sprawl, but does have regular visits from birds, foxes, hedgehogs, deer and squirrels.

This is a discussion, no? I'm not making assumptions about your life, or anyone else's. I'm offering a few of my thoughts about the benefits of the outdoors and nature, and the fact it doesn't need to take a lot of time to enjoy the benefits.

a "tiny garden" is still a garden by the way. I don't think anyone on here is talking about the size of the garden mattering, just having a patch of earth, is all that's needed.

My kids are outdoors, but at the playground or in the woods, not gardening in our tiny garden. Don’t make assumptions about other people’s lifestyles just because they make different choices to you.

To attract butterflies buy a packet of Verbena bonarensis seeds ( less than £2) and sow them on soil in the spring on a sunny patch .

For bees , Lidl often do cheap lavender plants. plant in a sunny site. Lavender can tolerate dry summers

You're right it is simple, but a lot of people simple can't be bothered, which I don't get, as even very low effort, time and costs will produce some colourful flowers.

You can get seeds for a very low cost, or free out on a walk with the kids. Young kids also tend to enjoy a bit of gardening. My 3 yr old especially likes to 'help', and together we do bits of gardening and 1yr old plays outside or 'helps' sometimes too.

Your priorities are not other people’s priorities. I bought some bulbs this Autumn to plant because I’d love daffodils but by the time I found a minute to plant them, the ground was frozen and I’d left it too late. Maybe next year.

I'm out in the garden almost every week and have been since I was about 5 years old.

If only people realised that a very small investment of time, in not a very ambitious way, will still pay dividends. 1-2 hours a week is all that's needed. People may not prioritise their gardens, and that's fine, but they are missing out on the MH benefits of being outdoors and seeing things grow. Plus getting DC outdoors from an early age instead of being indoors watching TV or staring at screens sets them up for a lifelong love of nature. No doubt it takes organisation, esp for DC but imo it's really worth it.

I think op made a valid point badly. We do have declining wildlife in our gardens but op seems to have assumed its because we're all lazy. Gardening is incredibly time consuming and expensive. Most families now have both parents working and jobs that erode into our evenings and weekends. It's no longer 9-5 and switch off. Round here there are lots of retired people who have lovely gardens but they have time (and money often because they already paid off their mortgages). The people with kids don't....unless their retired relatives live round the corner and come and garden for them. I've got a slightly wild garden backing onto fields which will never be neat and tidy as there is a constant onslaught of brambles and Ivy from the very untidy hedge. I've just embraced it.

If anyone does want to encourage insects with minimum effort I'd recommend Buddliea, climbing roses and honeysuckle or climbing jasmine as easy things that can go round the edge, tolerate a yearly hack back and be otherwise low maintenance. And maybe something with winter berries for the birds. And maybe a tree if you have room. That will be annoying because of the leaves but you can just pile them up in a corner to make mulch and kids love raking. We have a beech tree in our front garden which attracts bees by the thousands because it has these woolly aphid things which make the sticky sap come out of the leaves. I think they are mostly solitary bees but they seem to like it and the RHS website tells me it won't harm the tree.

Council estates are deprived areas. So it stands to reason the people who host them are also deprived. The are normally money or time poor. I grew up in a council estate, only one house had a “garden with plants”. Now I live on a private estate and the majority have, tend to and look after a planted garden, and the majority of the estate are working families, or working singles with a few elders thrown in. The difference is stark but that’s also how you know if you live in a good area or not, people look after their gardens.

Actually the converse is true for wild flowers. The conditions for them to grow are impoverished soil conditions, not fertilisers or compost. And many years of just leaving the soil to its own devices. The less you do, the higher likelihood of wild flowers thriving.

Most people don't know much about gardening and even less about wildlife gardening, OP. And also if you can make your own garden a haven for wildlife perhaps it wil influence your neighbours and open up conversations, or even a local group. Gardens take years to establish also but generally if you have native plants, bug houses and messier areas, trees and a pond, build it and they will come.

I am not a professional but have RHS Practical Horticulture, and am fit and healthy and even I don't feel like tackling the garden at times. Life gets in the way. I can totally understand how others are less than enthusiastic.

Every year* not every day

We plant tomatoes in our tiny garden every day. Literally 6 to 7 plants as we don't have room for more. Bees and small children love them.
They are super easy, as easy as weeds really.
Every other vegetable we tried to grow was eaten by slugs.
My front garden has lavender - again very little maintenance, looks great, smells nice, have dried and sold some over the years, full of bees.

"Life is busy and time to garden is a luxury."

Actually not having to use your little garden to grow food is a luxury. Food in this country is an abundance and relatively cheap, so people are not inclined to toil over it.
Some gardens are very pretty with flowers and exotic plants but that's because it's become a symbol/ wealth status for some.
If you go to the countries in Eastern Europe you see real poverty with a house barely standing but the garden is full with veg and fruit trees simply because they need to grow their own food.

I think your criticism is of something that when it comes to gardens, would be well down my list. The gardens that have been paved over because someone has an SUV which in 99% of cases is not needed would be the first to be changed.

No time

I agree with this, @Lovelybitofsquirrel3 has come across as patronising and condescending "I'm not looking for excuses".

I didn't particularly factor in a garden when I grabbed the opportunity of somewhere to live with both hands, I was lucky and am extremely grateful to be offered anywhere tbh. If that comes with a garden then it is what it is, but that doesn't mean it has to turn into my priority, or other people get to tell me off because it's not.

Maybe we should be looking at the reasons people need to work so many hours to just keep surviving in life when they have the cheapest accommodation going and budget rigidly, because everything is so damned expensive, some full time wages don't cut it, and not look for excuses as to why that happens, rather than judging people for doing it, and not having the time, resources, knowledge or motivation to keep up with the gardening expectations of randomers who have decided that what they think should happen, should happen, with no excuses.

Gardening is brilliant for improving mental health.

Typical MN. According to many threads on here people obsess over housework and spend far more time than necessary getting everything "perfect", to the extent that it feels as though we have gone back several decades in time, but don't have any time at all for their gardens. 🙄

No one likes housework but it gets done. And the house looks tidy.

I got mine from MeadowMania online, however I'd warn against a general mix if you want any actual nice turf left. As they are ofcourse largely considered weeds and they spread and take over like you would not believe. You also want low fertile soil, otherwise the grasses just out compete them. When we built the pond I ordered a couple of tonnes to go around the edges but turns out my sandy Norfolk soil was just as good

The first year with all wildflower mixes you get the pretty Meadow flowers we think of as wildflowers, the cornflowers etc and then after that each year is different.
The original mix I had flowered over the 4 years and it was great as they flowered at different times so you had a sea of colour from March - December.
Cornflower
Scabious
Red champion
Ox eye daisies
Wheat grass
Oat grass
Variety of poppies
Sorrel
Thistle
Teasle
Knap weed
Evening Primrose
Yellow rattle
Yarrow

We've dug the 'turf' over and covered it over the winter as it really had got out of hand. Instead I'm laying a pure Clover mix also purchased from MeadowMania.

Clover mix flowers for pollinators but is also drought resistant and stays green all summer regardless of weather which can not be said for grass particularly as Norfolk tends to be dry and a bit Mediterranean in the summer. It also only grows 6inches tall and only needs lawn mowing twice a year.

Not everyone likes gardening

I’m not looking for excuses as to why people don’t plant but surely it’s simple to buy a few packets of seeds and turn over some turf.

Ok you don't want excuses but if you genuinely want to encourage people you do need to understand WHY for them it's not simple.

I think you should Google how to grow potatoes

OMG, that is actually a brilliant idea - the "let other people garden in your garden" thing. I see ridiculous waiting lists for allotments, and with the need to build more housing, there is really no scope for putting aside extra land in cities to increase the supply of allotments. Letting people with no time to garden offer or rent out their gardens could make a lot of people happier.