Wildlife Gardening
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9 Things To Do to Encourage Birds to your garden
Put up a Bird table (in a clear space far enough away from cover where a cat might hide) or feeders.
Provide a wide variety of food including seeds, nuts, fruit and suet blocks.
Provide water for drinking and bathing. Consider putting up a bird bath.
Plant trees and shrubs which bear attractive berries in the autumn, such as Elder, Rowan, Holly, Ivy, Fire Thorn, Cotoneaster, Hawthorn, Privet and Spindle which will provide food for many species of birds.
Plant trees and shrubs which attract insects and are good for refuge and nesting for birds.
Put up nesting boxes.
Do not use slug pellets as these are harmful to all animals including your pets.
Do not use pesticides as these kill the insects the birds feed on.
Start a compost heap which will become alive with invertebrates of many types. It will also stay frost free in winter providing a food source for birds.
4 Things To Do to Encourage Insects
Plant shrubs and trees, which will attract insects and are good for refuge and nesting of birds.
Set aside part of your garden as a wild area and encourage weeds to flourish there. Willow herbs and cow parsley will be a haven for a range of insects and other invertebrates.
Piles of logs provide shelter for many kinds of insects. Beetles in particular are helpful to gardeners as natural pest controllers.
A well designed compost heap will be beneficial to many species of insects and they will also help the rotting down process.
6 Things To Do to encourage Butterflies and Moths
Plant nectar
providing shrubs and flowers such as:
Buddleia, Michaelmas Daisy, Dahlias, Aubretias, Perennial
Yellow Alyssum, Pink and White arabis, Wallflowers,
Primroses, Polyanthus, Honesty, Sweet Rocket (the latter
2 are good for the orange tip butterfly),
Valerian,Thrifts, Sweet William, French Marigolds,
Heliotrope, Ageratum, Phloxes, Golden Rod, Eryngiums.
Leave some clumps of nettles which are the food supply of small tortoiseshells, peacock and red admiral.
Caterpillars of the migrant painted lady feed on thistles.
Caterpillars of holly blue butterfly feed (in spring) on flowers and buds of holly. The second brood (July) feed on the buds of ivy bloom.
Moths are also attracted to the nectar plants listed and some caterpillars feed on clematis, wormwood and michaelmas daisies.
If you have a large garden leave some corners with long growing grasses as these are the food plants for the larvae of speckled wood, meadow brown, gatekeeper and large and small slipper butterflies.
1. Help our bat population by putting up a bat box. - Bats eat thousands of insects and are therefore a gardeners friend. All 16 species of British bat are protected by law, harmless and many are endangered. For more information visit the Bat Conservation Trust site. 2. Set aside a corner of the garden in October for hibernating animals such as hedgehogs or frogs. 3. Plant native wild flower seeds. 4. A well designed compost heap is also beneficial as it is alive with invertebrates of many types. They also stay frost free in winter providing a food source for birds and other animals. 5. Set some of your garden aside as a wild area and encourage weeds to flourish there. Thistles and teasels are excellent plants for birds while willowherbs and cow parsley will be a haven for a range of insects and other invertebrates. Nettles are the food for the larvae of several species of butterfly and moth 6. Piles of logs provide shelter for many creatures, including frogs, toads and newts. Many kinds of insect can live amongst the logs. Beetles in particular are helpful to gardeners as natural pest controllers. |
Wildlife Facts |
| We are all aware of the
decline in population of our native birds much of which
is due to changes in agricultural policy, habitat loss
and denigration. The Starling and House Sparrow have
declined by over 50% since 1970, and the Tree Sparrow by
87%. Intensive farming has lead to the use of more artificial fertilisers and pesticides which kill the insects birds and other animals feed on. Where habitat has become fragmented or degraded it has become increasingly difficult for many species to maintain breeding territories and forage effectively for food. Some of the causes of these problems can only be addressed at a national level but there is much we can do at a local level. Just as Nature Reserves are an important element in wildlife conservation nationally so too is the back garden sanctuary a vital link in the chain of habitats locally. Even if you regard your garden as small and of little importance to wildlife you can make it an attractive place for wildlife to visit Some of the things you can do are listed above. If enough of us follow
these measures we can not only enjoy a garden full of
wildlife but we might even help to reverse the horrifying
decline in bird numbers. |
| Last Updated 13/08/2007 |