People with urban gardens can make a real contribution to helping the environment, but many of them don’t realise it, according to a new survey.

Some 46 per cent of the 1,000 people questioned claimed that urban pollution in their immediate environment – including noise problems, traffic fumes and carbon footprint – are among the most important issues they face as city-dwellers, yet 21 per cent said they don’t know where to start when tackling the problem.

With this in mind, garden designer Charlie Dimmock has joined a campaign to encourage ‘urbanites’ to introduce eco measures into their gardens to help reduce the carbon footprint.

City-dwellers are craving environmentally-sound lives, but don’t have the knowledge to change things for the better, the Ronseal survey found.

Charlie says: “People with small urban gardens think they can’t make a difference to the wildlife, but they can because they can create corridors to larger areas such as parks, greens and railway cuttings.

“Building a wooden compost area, establishing a recycling space or growing your own herbs in a windowbox, are all simple steps that can make a real difference.”

If you have a spring clean of your garden, leave an area overgrown to act as a shelter for hedgehogs and beneficial insects, says Charlie, who is supporting Urban Gardens Week which begins on Monday.

“A lot of people hate ivy, but many urban gardens benefit from having fences covered with ivy, which is a really good wildlife plant because it flowers late in the season, has a high nectar content and helps to keep down noise pollution. It also makes a good nesting site for birds.”

Charlie also advises urban gardeners to plant mixed hedges to keep out noise and pollution and attract wildlife. Ideal varieties include hawthorn, yew and field maple, which will absorb some of the noise.

Another great shrub in the urban garden is ceanothus, whose purple flowers are high in nectar, and it can be clipped back easily.

Hardy annuals also provide a good burst of colour, and when they have finished can then be thrown on to the compost heap. Direct-sow love-in-a-mist, poppies, poached egg plants and cornflowers for a beautiful display.

If you have a small area, use the vertical space by growing climbing veg such as runner beans up a fence, raspberries or spineless blackberries, which can grow to a reasonable height and provide shelter and food for birds and insects.