Every little helps!

No matter how small your space, whether it’s a patio or just a window box, you can grow plants that will give a warm welcome to wildlife, says Monty Don

There is an image of a ‘proper’ wildlife garden having mature trees, a tangle of lovely shrubs and undergrowth, perhaps a charming flowering meadow and borders full of flowering pollinating plants in summer and seed heads rimed with frost in winter. This sort of garden obviously does exist and is certainly very good for both humans and wildlife. But it is not most people’s reality.

British gardens are getting smaller and smaller – the average size fell from slightly under 17 squa r e metres in 1983 to just 14 square metres in 2015. In old money that means the average garden is 15 feet long by 10 feet wide, and given that many gardens are appreciably bigger than that, many are also appreciably smaller. It seems we are running out of space.

But that does not mean that you cannot actively encourage and enjoy wildlife in your garden, however small the plot happens to be. The elements to include in an effective wildlife garden remain the same but are scaled down in size. These important elements are long grass, water, accessible nectar-rich flowers, berries and seeds, and some cover for birds and mammals.

Butterf lies and bees like sunshine, so if you have a sunny aspect, roof garden or window box then this should be planted with plants rich in nectar (such as those in the panel, below right). Bees like to gorge on the same plants so they are served best by providing blocks of plants rather than a mixture with erratic flowering. If you have room for one shrub then a buddleia is best for butterf lies, not least because it can be pruned right to the lowest buds each spring so that it does not outgrow the limited space.

Don’t forget to make the most of your available vert ic a l spa c e, whether it’s a wall or a fence. If it is not possible to plant directly into the ground – and many houses have a combination of drains and paving against the house walls – then most climbers can be grown in a container. Honeysuckle is excellent for a wide variety of wildlife – the flowers attract poll inating insects, including moths, the leaves provide food for caterpillars, and the berries are eaten by birds in autumn. Honeysuckle does best in light shade such as a west-facing wall but will grow in deep shade too.

Any late-flowering clematis such as C. viticella or C. tangutica is also ideal for a container in a limited space because it must be pruned very hard each spring – but it then produces a mass of new growth smothered in f lowers from m id- summe r right through until autumn.

Nor should you overlook or spurn the common ivy, Hedera helix. It’s an excellent wildl i fe plant , providing flowers for bees as winter approaches – a time when there are few other blooms around – and really good evergreen cover for little birds such as robins and wrens, as well as insects and even roosting bats.

Many tiny gardens are consumed by shade and are therefore unsuitable for the flowers that most nectarseeking insects crave. However, there are plants that thrive in deep shade and will nurture an alternative set of creatures. My own favourites are ferns, which can be just as happily grown in pots as in the soil, and most will relish deep, dry shade. Toads and frogs love the shelter of ferns, as do beetles and small birds.

The soft shield fern, Polystichum setiferum, will grow luxuriantly in the corner of a dry, dark yard and come back year after year without any tending on your part. But my favourite is Dryopteris filix- mas, the mature plants of which send up fronds 1m tall. It will grow in almost any position, wet or dry, but is perhaps wasted in anything less than rather dry shade as it is one of the most resplendent of all plants for these tricky garden conditions. Its golden-green relative Dryopteris affinis is slightly more fancy but certainly no less tough.

Bulbs make very good companions for ferns, and snowdrops will grow in light shade, as will Cyclamen coum, which flowers in midwinter. Many crocuses flower in shade, and Anemone blanda and Anemone nemorosa also grow and flower happily in shady spots. All these flowers are greedily fed upon

WILD FACTS Wildflower seed mixes you can buy online are perfect for a window box – or choose your own wildlife-friendly plants from our list

(see right)