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9 Things To
Do to Encourage Birds to your garden
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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.
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4 Things To
Do to Encourage Insects
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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.
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6 Things To Do
to encourage Butterflies and Moths
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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.
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6 Things To
Do to help other Wildlife
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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 site.
Set aside a corner
of the garden in October for
hibernating animals such as
hedgehogs or frogs.
Plant native wild
flower seeds.
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.
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
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.
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Did you know - Wildlife Facts
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| 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.
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