You don’t need a garden to boost the borough’s biodiversity and be in with chance of earning a cash prize – everyone can take part. So, get growing.

Building on last year’s successful competition to find the most biodiverse front gardens, balconies and outdoor spaces in the borough, entries are now being accepted for the Ealing Biodiversity Awards for Gardens and Green Spaces 2025.

The competition is being run by Cultivating Ealing, in partnership with Ealing Council, and ActForEaling, a local organisation created by residents to promote climate and nature positive activity in the borough. Entry to the
competition is free, it’s open to all residents and there are cash prizes for the winners.

The borough has around 75,000 front gardens but a great many of these spaces are covered in hard surfaces.

There are also hundreds of community spaces, thousands of balconies and even more windowsills. Even the tiniest of outdoor spaces can contribute to the borough’s biodiversity, so why not upcycle an old container and get planting?

You could invite neighbours to join you to create a community wildlife garden, whether that’s across a group of balconies in a block of flats or an abandoned patch of soil.

By incorporating more pots, bug hotels, bird baths and plant varieties in your front garden or balcony you can create a home for birds and wildlife, transforming your doorstep or outside space into an oasis of biodiversity and beauty.

Celebrating creativity and commitment

Councillor Paul Driscoll, the council’s cabinet member for climate action, said: “This competition highlights the incredible power of community action in making our borough cleaner, healthier and more beautiful. By creating biodiverse spaces, we can improve the local environment and enhance our health and wellbeing.

“It is also an opportunity to celebrate creativity and commitment. We can’t wait to see the innovative ways our residents transform their gardens and balconies into thriving hubs of biodiversity.”

How to enter

There are 5 entry categories:

• front gardens
• micro gardens and balconies
  (including terraces, narrow
  boats)
• street/community space
• schools
• allotments – sites and plots

Everyone is welcome to take part, whether you are a long-established gardener or are just starting out.
Entries close at 11:59pm on 30 June, but schools must enter by 23 May and allotments by 9 June.

You can fill in an entry form on the council’s website. For further information, email Cultivatingealing@gmail.com

What is biodiversity?

Biodiversity is the variety of animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms, like bacteria, that make up our natural world. All work together to maintain balance and support life.