Gardening for Wildlife

Gardening for Wildlife

As a gardener or landowner there are many ways in which gardening for wildlife can enhance existing areas and you can even create new ones. Here are some examples:

Seeds

Using perennial and annual seed mixes from true native British wild-flowers and wild grasses will help to ensure most species are pertinent to survival of local climate and of benefit to wildlife aiding in creating habitats full of biodiversity. It is important to allow some natural regeneration of areas, a little rewilding, so to allow nature to establish what it feels fit. It is also important to use appropriate seed mixes to land setting. I would also recommend researching how the seed is obtained, for example, is it sustainably sourced – some areas for growing seeds are often heavily treated with harmful chemicals.

Pollinating flowers & flowering trees

Due to ever increasing decline in bee numbers and other pollinating insects, gardening for wildlife is important to have many bee and insect friendly plants and flowering trees in a variety of different shapes and sizes to suit the many species of bees, close to 270, so their tongues can extract the pollen. Some of our most stunning insects rely upon nectar for food including butterflies, moths, and hoverflies. Flowers should be planted in groups or drifts, so scents are easier to detect, especially for moths to feed at night.

Edible gardens

Incorporating an edible section of garden, or larger forest gardens, can continually provide food for decades, they are low maintenance as watering, weeding and digging is minimal, they are beneficial for wildlife by providing food and shelter, are relatively simple to look after and establish quickly, many tree and plant species are nitrogen fixers aiding soil fertility and absorbing nitrogen, such as the Sea Buckthorn & Comfrey, and can include trees such as Mulberry, apple & Chestnut, shrubs including hazel, gooseberry & blackcurrant and ground covering plants such as chives & wild garlic. Edible gardens can be incorporated into small spaces and are no different to creating a vegetable patch in a bigger plot, try swopping flower beds to edible flower beds or herbs instead.

Wildlife ponds

Any water in the garden from a barrel feature or trough to a large expanse of water or meandering stream attracts wildlife and aids wildlife connectivity by creating stepping-stones for many species of terrestrial and aquatic flora and fauna such as amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and many invertebrates and insects, also providing food and water sources. A massively enjoyable and educational addition to your outdoor space providing ever changing scenes and a diverse ecosystem.

Bug hotels

With more than 2,000 insects in the average garden, gardening for wildlife by building a bug hotel is great fun, especially with children, and if you have any leftover engineering bricks, pallets, or wooden boxes, they all contribute to the construction of a bug hotel. A small bug box can be hung from a tree branch or fixed to a stake in the ground, and if you have space, a bug mansion or palace can be created utilising some old pallets and engineering bricks. Build them at any time of year and collect materials for each of the rooms such as pinecones, small sticks, dry leaves, hollow stems, and pieces of bark. Be sure to site these in the right position in your garden as invertebrates normally prefer cool, damp conditions, whilst ladybirds, and bees will prefer higher more sunny aspects.

Hibernacula

A hibernaculum is an area for wildlife refuge, below or above ground, usually used in the colder months by amphibians and reptiles for safe shelter from the cold and predators. Easy to make with some cut logs, ideally from half a meter to just over a meter in length, and ranging in diameter between 30mm & 150mm, simply stack them leaving plenty of gaps, and then cover in soil or a piece of leftover turf. The top can be seeded with come wildflowers or native grasses. Its best to choose a sunny aspect, next to bogs, ponds or compost heaps are ideal.

Nest boxes

Having an area for birds to nest in your garden can provide an excellent, and sometimes safer alternative, to a hole in a tree. It would be necessary to research the species of bird you are trying to attract, therefore deciding factors in the box size, entrance hole diameter, position, such as the height above ground, and also aspect being paramount to it being used as a home. When providing a home for larger birds such as owls, a well-designed, and sited box is crucial. They will need to be in areas with suitable food sources locally to a potential new home, suitable fixings will be required for the weight of the box and bird with chicks and made of robust materials.

Compost

A crucial soil amendment, compost accompanies organic matter, aiding water retention, supplying nutrients to plants and enriching fertility and consistency, it also assists in suppressing weeds and disease. Create an area in your garden to house grass clippings, weeds (seed-free), fruit and vegetable leftovers, cut plants, flowers, wood shavings, small twigs, leaves and pine needles. Avoid adding any weeds with seeds, fatty food waste, animal litter or diseased plant matter. Start the pile of compost on bare earth, place materials in layers, keep it moist, and turn it over every few weeks.

Lawn care

A well-manicured lawn can be a wonderful place to entertain and play on and serves as an extension to your outdoor space, however, it does require a lot of maintenance, so consider whether you need one as big. When cutting the grass, leave it at no less than 5cm long, ideally 8cm, and try to leave some of the clippings on the lawn to add nutrients back to the soil. Can you leave an unmown strip around the perimeter of the garden, or around the base of a tree, consider if an area can be left to rewild? Leaving longer grass or unmown areas will aid habitat connectivity.

Water

Reduce, reuse, and recycle water as much as possible. Conservation of water can be achieved relatively easily, for example, consider reducing lawn size, planting sun and shade plants adding more cover, use native plants and trees pertinent to dryer spells of weather, mulch, and compost to aid water retention, use rain barrels to save rainwater, and water early in the morning, slowly. You can also keep water in containers that are used when waiting for hot water to come through indoors – you will be surprised how much water is lost!

Boundaries

Engineered structures such as fencing, and walls create a barrier for any non-flying wildlife to get into your garden. This includes animals such as hedgehogs, frogs and toads, newts, slow worms, and snakes. So, if you want a wildlife friendly garden, please allow for migration. A simple tunnel in walling or section cut out of a fence to allow free passage, or consideration for alternative structures such as laid hedgerows or walls made without mortar joints, or a traditional Devon hedge method.

Materials

Try and use environmentally friendly materials, and recycle wherever possible, for example, timber from a fallen tree can be used for path edging or to make steps or a seat, stone dug up from borders can be used for building a wildlife refuge similar to a hibernaculum, cut branches from pruning can be used instead of plastic stakes, and wood chips can be recycled to use as mulch or to create a pathway. When building a patio or pathway, consider slate or gravel instead of solid impermeable slabs, use cob instead of cement where possible, and permeable paving which is available from many leading suppliers.

Pest Control

We should all know that using chemical fertilisers and pesticides, and this includes slug pellets! are not friendly on nature, especially when it rains and washes all the chemicals off your plants and lawn into the drains and streams from run-off. I have already suggested benefits of gardening for wildlife such as planting schemes for ground cover and use of native plants that are pertinent to our climate and also attacks from bugs. Try companion planting to give an alternative food source for pests like aphids and blackfly, such as Nasturtiums, which provide cover, but also act as a natural pest controller, even a lettuce next to flowers provide slugs a much preferable food source. There are some other, not so obvious methods, such as natural predation from frogs, hedgehogs, and ladybirds for example. You can also remove areas of infestation by-hand or spraying with a citrus soap.