Wild about gardens

There are around 16 million gardens in the UK covering more than 1 million acres. The continued pressure on natural habitats from farming, housing and infrastructure development means that gardens offer a resource for wildlife that cannot be overestimated. The last week in October was designated Wild About Gardens Week in a combined effort by the RHS and the Wildlife Trusts to encourage more wildlife into the our gardens, so here is summary of the things we can do to make our gardens more wildlife friendly (which are set out in more detail on the Wild About Gardens website - details below):-

• At this time of year     overwintering is the thing most on the minds of wildlife (you know what I     mean). Bird boxes, hedgehog incubators and nests for solitary bee species     are all relatively easy to make, or fairly cheap to buy.
• Log shelters, damp, dark     and gently rotting, are the perfect home for all sorts of creepy crawlies,     which in turn will feed birds, hedgehogs and frogs (which in turn will     keep slugs and snails off your lettuce in the summer).
• Incorporating small     sections of dry stone wall (or for a more contemporary look, stone filled     gabions) will provide cracks and crevices galore.
• As the garden dies back don’t     be too quick to cut back seed-heads. These will provide food for birds and     a place for insects such as ladybirds to overwinter. Many also look great     in frosty weather and will provide some protection for the crown of the plant     from the severest weather.  
• Ponds are probably the single     best way of bringing wildlife into your garden and providing a rich     habitat, so maybe a project for the spring.
• Plant nectar rich plants for     bees and butterflies, ideally a selection that flower from spring to autumn     to satisfy the many different species. For instance aubrieta, hazel,     crocus & deadnettle are early flowering and buddleja, lavender, red     valerian and sedum are late flowering. There are loads more and as they     are mainly great garden plants anyway they will look good for you too.
• As well as nectar plants,     butterflies need host plants to feed on in their caterpillar stage. They     are quite fussy and each species of butterfly only likes a limited range     of plants (some of the really fussy ones will only feed on one type of     plant). Nettles are a favourite of many species, including Peacocks, Red     Admirals and Tortoiseshells so a patch of stingers behind the shed will be     welcome.
• Night scented plants such     as caryopteris, hebe, honeysuckle, jasmine, sweet rocket and nicotiana     will provide nectar for moths.
• Trees too, particularly     native species, such as birch, willow, alder, oak and field maple, are     host to dozens of insect species, so in turn will attract birds. Winter is     a great time to plant bare-root trees (which are cheaper than container     grown ones).

For more detail and plenty of other tips visit http://www.wildaboutgardens.org.uk.