Locked in the grip of foul January weather, it is hard to envisage images of flower meadows with wildlife foraging and insects buzzing around in the summer sun.

But someone who is trying to help all of us create a natural, blooming environment on our doorsteps is Marcus Waley Cohen.

Along with Rob Allan, manager of his Upton Estate north of Banbury, he has set up a new business, Birds and Bees, designed to help create a better environment for everyone.

It being winter, so far most of the effort has been focused on the bird end of the business with a wide range of feeds, seeds, dispensers and boxes to encourage our feathered friends to visit our gardens.

Come spring, it will offer pollen-rich flower seeds such as lavender to grow and help preserve and encourage bees and other insects by offering a slice of their natural habitat, much of which has been lost by intensive farming methods in recent years.

The business has been a long time coming. Mr Waley Cohen and Mr Allan have spent 10 years transforming the Upton Estate into a wildlife haven, overseeing a consequent major revival of birds, bees and butterflies.

Mr Waley Cohen said: “We have dedicated ourselves to conservation operating a high level of stewardship to bring more wildlife to the countryside.”

In 2012 Mr Allan scooped the prestigious title Countryside Farmer of the Year at the Farmers Weekly awards for his work transforming the Upton Estate.

A key part of his work was to create ‘scallops’ — patches of bare soil bordering woodland which have been cleared to provide a habitat for butterflies, moths and bees.

But at the same time he has also boosted profits by integrating sustainable practices and attracting grants such as a Higher Level Stewardship agreement which generates £90,000 a year.

That way he has helped bridge the often difficult divide between business and the environment, with each benefiting the other. Now the time has come to spread the message through the medium of Birds and Bees to gardeners and home owners, creating a self-sustaining loop.

Mr Waley Cohen, 36, who is the fourth generation of his family to farm at the Upton Estate, said: “The idea is to put what we have done here into people’s gardens that will in turn help the farm continue to look after wildlife.”

The sustainable message is carried right through the (bird) food chain with only like-minded UK farmers being selected to provide seeds.

Mr Waley Cohen is aware that he is fighting an uphill battle with sustainable farming with modern fertilisers and other chemicals such as pesticides producing high yields without the need for crop rotation, for example.

That has meant less and less land is allowed to rest in its natural state and that has led to the decimation of wild flowers and insects such as bees. But he believes the tide maybe changing.

“There are good intentions from Government to encourage farmers to look after wildlife. But there has to be a solid, practical reason for doing it. We are creating a coherent loop from farm to garden.”

Mr Waley Cohen is so confident that his new enterprise is a sound investment that he has invested £1m in launching it. Some of the money has gone on hiring an agency that has produced bag designs that are “full of life and fun.”

Significantly, Birds and Bees is purely Internet-based with all sales channelling through the website rather than following the traditional retail route. But the approach seems to be paying off.

“In the first three months we have had about 3,000 customers,” said Mr Waley Cohen.

The medium-term aim is to broaden the network of farms being used and encourage them to use more land in an ecologically friendly fashion.

Mr Waley Cohen is confident he can persuade more farmers to follow his path by holding open days on the Upton Estate.