Sand lizards are one of only three native species of lizard in the UK, and the rarest. As with so many species in this country, their numbers have declined due to habitat loss, with only isolated populations surviving in the heathlands and dunes of Surrey, Dorset, Hampshire and Merseyside. The consequences for these islanded communities are serious: hybrid vigour diminishes due to in-breeding and diseases become more common. It is easy, perhaps, to have a generalised understanding of the importance of wildlife corridors but seeing these perfectly-formed, delightful creatures with their complex-patterned, verdigris-edged skins brings the issue of free movement of species into sharp focus.

Harvey has tended this lizard group since they hatched from their eggs in late August. They will not reach adulthood until they are three years old but can live up to the age of 15. In the wild, the same lizards would be smaller in size but Harvey ‘feeds up’ the lizards with moth pupae, called waxworms, so they have a greater chance of survival through winter hibernation. A fully-grown adult can be as long as 20cms. As the daylight hours decline, the lizards reduce their food intake and fall into a torpor. By Halloween they will all have buried themselves in shallow holes in the sand to sleep until spring. The females are the first to emerge in late March readying themselves for the breeding season in May and June, when six to twelve eggs are laid just below the surface in a sunny spot to warm the growing embryos.

While the lizards were warming in the greenhouse we toured the Rewilded Garden scouting for suitable locations for our new inhabitants. A male’s territory can be as large as a tennis court but if there is a plentiful supply of food and cover they will confine themselves to an area a quarter that size. They can be predated upon by rats and birds of prey, particularly kestrels, so we plan on introducing some piles of terracotta roof tiles which retain heat and can be used by the lizards to bask upon and hide beneath. Harvey told us how an abandoned crate of tiles shed from a lorry in Dorset quickly becoming populated by lizards. But our sand, the rocks under the olives, the voids created by the larger crushed concrete on ‘Hitchmough Ridge’, and the increasingly dense vegetation in the garden are all good spots for basking, egg laying and hiding. We made a few holes here and there with the end of a pike, requisitioned some existing vole burrows and took advantage of some tiles already positioned in the insect hotel against the south-facing wall. We took turns gently scooping up a lizard from the box and encouraging it to leave our hands and venture into its new home. They are extraordinarily delicate and beautifully formed and seemed to blend into their surroundings almost immediately. Their introduction into the garden is mainly to open up the discussion about the importance of species recovery and habitat provision with our visitors. We can all do our bit, even in small spaces. In this “box of experimentation”, as Tom Stuart- Smith, the gardens designer described the walled garden, we can hopefully build a healthy population.