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READ MORE ARTICLES....
How to Create a Wildlife
Friendly Garden - BBC Easy Gardening
Growing the 10
Best Plants for Wildlife in your Garden - BBC Gardens Illustrated
A Flavour
of April in your Wildlife Friendly Garden - Country and Border Life
The Rural Craft
of Hedgelaying in Dorset - The Countryman
Managing your
Garden in October - Country and Border Life
The Historic
Welsh Gardens of Plas Tan y Bwlch - The Countryman
Looking after
the Bees in your Garden - Daily Express
Making Wildlife
Ponds the Easy Way - Daily Express
Wings over
Mull - a Centre for Birds of Prey - The Countryman
A New Garden for
Wildlife with Butterflies in Mind - Butterfly Conservation
The
Extraordinary Wildlife Art of Ian and Richard Lewington - Limited
Edition Magazine
'I went to
Noke and Nobody Spoke' - Fascinating Otmoor - Limited Edition
Magazine
Gardening on the
Wild Side of Town - New Consumer Magazine
Peter
Parks and the Great Rainforest Project - Limited Edition Magazine
The Countryside in January - Limited Edition
Magazine
The Countryside in May - Limited Edition
Magazine
Return to Article Selection
Contact Jenny to find out more about her freelance writing |
GARDENING ON
THE WILD SIDE
While making our
homes as environmentally friendly as possible has become a priority for
many people, how may of us take our commitment to the environment
seriously when planning our gardens? Lawn mowers, patio heaters and
plastic outdoor furniture, not to mention peat composts and chemicals
galore, all contribute to environmental degradation in one form or another
whether through the release of greenhouse gasses, by polluting the
environment or through impoverishment of wildlife habitats. As gardeners
we can dramatically improve our immediate surrounding for wildlife.
Gardening with nature, rather than against it, is the way forward
for any ecologically minded homeowner.
The majority of
homes have a garden space of some kind, whether it is an elegant acre or
two, a tiny balcony or a few square metres. There is a great deal we can
do to ensure that our local wildlife, including insects such as bumblebees
and butterflies, frog and toads, hedgehogs, voles and shrews, and birds of
many different species have space to live and increase. An existing
garden can be made more wildlife friendly by some thoughtful planning, a
change in maintenance and the inclusion of suitable plants that are known
to provide nectar and pollen. Growing some native wildflowers amongst
your mix of more exotic blooms will also increase the wildlife value of
your plot - these wild plants will attract more small invertebrate
creatures which in turn provide food for other larger species, especially
mammals and birds.
One easy step in the
right direction is to give up mowing part of your lawn. Keeping the mower
in the shed not only reduces CO2 emissions but also provides a habitat of
long grass which will attract a range of creatures not usually associated
with gardens. Many butterfly species including the speckled wood, wall
brown and marbled white lay their eggs on long grasses. Most uncut lawns
can be improved with the addition of a few wildflowers, especially
cowslips, knapweed, scabious and birds foot trefoil, to give a meadow
effect. These areas should be cut just once a year in late summer. A
true garden meadow is a different proposition – fine leaved grasses with a
huge range of wildflowers all summer, but even this can be achieved by
sowing a mix of wildflowers and native grasses into poor bare soil.
Water too will
improve your outdoor space for wildlife, encouraging amphibians,
dragonflies and damselflies and proving a place for birds to drink and
bathe. Upgrade an existing pond by creating shallow margins where
wildlife has easy, safe access to the water and add plenty of oxygenators
and other aquatic plants. Your hedges too can be made more wildlife
friendly by planting suitable climbers through them. Try wild roses, wild
honeysuckle or wild clematis, all guaranteed to increase the range of
wildlife you will see.
Spaces in borders
can be filled with plants that provide good supplies of nectar and pollen
or instead of the usual bedding, save wildlife and money by sowing easy
annuals such as poached egg plant, baby blue eyes, nasturtiums, night
scented stock or phacelia. If you are not so green-fingered, choose
garden centre bedding with know wildlife pulling power – bedding dahlias,
tagetes and French marigolds, petunias or lavatera which will help the
local insects. Make sure that any pesticides in your shed are safely
disposed of – organic is the way forward if you want your borders to buzz.
Your home is
super-insulated, you use low energy light bulbs, your wooden floors come
from sustainable sources and you take your responsibility to the
environment very seriously. Its time to turn your attention to your
garden and create a home for wildlife.
Starting anew
If your home is a new build you can really take your responsibility to
your local wildlife seriously. Designing a garden from scratch with
wildlife in mind gives you the opportunity to create eco-habitats of
various types to provide food, water and shelter for a huge range of
creatures. Larger projects may be able to combine a reed bed for
filtering waste water with a wildlife pond, while a wildflower meadow,
sown with native seed is more likely to be successful on the type of poor
quality soils often left behind by builders. A well designed border
incorporating a mixture of cottage garden plants and wildflowers will
provide plenty of pollen and nectar for butterflies and bees, and the
wildlife potential of a new boundary can be maximized by planting a mixed
native hedge of hawthorn, blackthorn, guelder rose, field maple and
dogwood. Native trees too can be included, especially small species such
as crab apple, silver birch, rowan or alder – all excellent for providing
natural food and shelter for a variety of birds.
Tips to Improve your borders
For butterflies and
moths – verbena, buddleia, lavender, marjoram, valerian, night scented
stock.
For bumblebees –
foxgloves, dead nettles, rosemary, cornflower, scabious.
For birds –
cotoneaster, evening primrose, honesty, cornflower, knapweed, sunflower.
©
Copyright Jenny Steel 2017 |
