Wildlife in your garden

I’m the first to say that a garden consisting of only plants is a lost opportunity.

No, I’m not suggesting you cram your garden full of too much paving, decking, shingle or other hardware (and that includes well-dressed meerkats!) but as well as plants, you should encourage plenty of wildlife. Everyone has their favourites and some may even find some forms of wildlife less-than-appealing, but there’s no doubt that having wildlife in and around your plot will add an extra and very appealing dimension … literally bringing your garden to life.

Anything you do to encourage wildlife is worthwhile, but here are my top ten suggestions:

Slugs and snails:
When you use those little blue slug pellets there is plenty of evidence to suggest that you’re also endangering wildlife such as hedgehogs and birds. Use biological controls, organic slug deterrents, beer traps or copper rings to keep slugs off your plants instead.

Insect Cafe:
Make sure that you provide plenty of nectar as a vital food source for beneficial insects such as hoverflies, pollinators such as bees, a wide array of butterflies and all those other harmless creatures that might otherwise go short of food. Simple shaped (non-double) flowers, especially those with open centres are best – try poached egg plants, sedums and achilleas.

Corridors of Power:
Ground living wildlife such as some of the insects, frogs, toads and hedgehogs to name a few, need to be able to move safely within a garden and also from one garden to the next. Try to arrange some of your planting so that they can safely scuttle from one plant to the next, protected by the plants’ foliage and stems. Large expanses of open space makes life harder for them.

Butterflies:
Butterflies start out as caterpillars, and for those caterpillars to develop there needs to be somewhere for the adult to lay her eggs. Nettles are widely used as a good plant on which the caterpillars of some butterflies can grow and develop. If your garden is quite big then try to spare a corner to allow nettles and other ‘wild’ plants to thrive. If you don’t like the idea of having nettles in your flowerbeds, then plant some into flowerpots and plunge these in a sunny spot near your beds and borders – this way you’ll give the butterflies the plant but won’t risk the nettles spreading.

High-rise accommodation:
Vertical planting helps wildlife too. Rather than having bare house or garage walls, or an ugly shed, plant it up. Using trellis or wires to support climbers such as honeysuckle you’ll not only have a better looking garden and have hidden an eye-sore, but will also be providing a useful roosting and resting place, a potential nest site and a source of food for wildlife.

Birds:
Provide a ‘bird bath’ for birds of all shapes and sizes to use when they need a drink or to bathe. Shallow water works well but it will need changing and replenishing frequently, especially in hot weather. Make sure that you install it somewhere that is well out of reach of local cats and other predators.

Garden Chemicals:
Don’t buy any more garden chemicals – they may seem to provide an easy and quick solution to your garden problems, but most end up endangering beneficial or harmful insects as well as the ones that you are trying to control. Wipe out the beneficial insects and you’ll not only reduce the interest in your garden, but may also be killing some of the insects which have the potential to be your allies as they would normally help to control the pests.

Ponds and Water features:
Install a pond or even just a simple water feature and you’ll be amazed by the amount of wildlife it attracts. Dragonflies, damselflies, other insects, plenty of birds and other animals will use the pond or feature as a drinking place. If you can manage to squeeze in a wildlife pond then you’ll also be providing potential breeding and feeding places too.

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