WILDLIFE CENSUS

Insects are at the bottom of the food chain, and everything – including us – depends on them. Help them to thrive, and the nation’s wildlife will benefit too

The results of our annual survey of the creatures in your gardens, plus Monty Don’s expert advice on how you can help them to thrive

Aren’t we the posh ones! Thousands of Weekend readers have a hotel in the spacious grounds of our residences, providing five-star accommodation for our visitors. This surprising fact is part of a trend to encourage insects into our back yards – because these are ‘bug hotels’ and the statistic is revealed in our second Wildlife Census, the nation’s biggest annual garden health check.

You sent in data by the sackful in answer to last summer’s appeal for sightings in your gardens, and the information is proving invaluable to scientists at The Wildlife Trusts, helping them to build up the most precise picture yet of Britain’s biggest nature reserve... our own gardens.

About a third of the country’s natural habitat is enclosed by the hedges, walls and fences around our houses and when taken as a combined whole they comprise an area far bigger than any of our national parks. It’s our job to make this huge resource as friendly as possible to wildlife. That’s why bug hotels are so important. ‘Insects are vital for the health of all creatures, including humans,’ says biodiversity expert Dr Sam Cartwright, senior conservation officer at the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust. ‘They are pollinators for our crops, they provide food for animals and birds and they are natural recyclers – they help to break down dead wood, for example.’

There are plenty of attractive bug hotels available from garden centres, a bit like bird boxes but stuffed with hollow tubes and sticks. ‘They don’t have to look like deluxe mansions, though,’ Dr Cartwright says. ‘It’s easy to create a simple version for free by collecting dead sticks, leaves and pine cones in a pile in a sheltered corner of the garden. This will attract everything from woodlice to beetles – and if you’ve never looked at a beetle close up, you really should. They are often beautiful, shimmering garden jewels, and they play important roles in the ecosystem of our gardens. Don’t underestimate beetles!’

HELP OUR HEDGEHOGS

As well as encouraging insect diversity with bug hotels, it’s crucial we cut down on pesticides, weedkillers and slug pellets. Dr Cartwright urges gardeners to find organic alternatives this year, a promise that nearly 20 per cent of respondents to the census have already made.

One of the first species to benefit from this will be hedgehogs. ‘It is such a delight to see hedgehogs snuffling in our gardens in the evening, but their numbers have declined significantly in the past 30 years,’ says Dr Cartwright. ‘Although 28 per cent of respondents to the survey said they’d seen them, the message is stark: this great British species needs our help.

‘The correlation between reduced hedgehog sightings where poisonous slug pellets are used should be a wake-up call to anyone still using them. Slug-eating birds such as song thrushes, and toads too, will benefit if you stop spreading pellets. It’s fantastic to see so many people saying they won’t use bug sprays or weed killer either.’

And the good news is, as more gardeners heed this

advice, hedgehog sightings are holding steady. ‘They can really thrive if we give them a helping hand,’ says Dr Cartwright. ‘Their natural food is earthworms, so it’s encouraging that 77 per cent of people saw these in their gardens. You can support your earthworm population by letting leaves gather on flowerbeds, creating a rich layer of mulch that is ideal worm food.’

GO WILD WITH FLOWERS

One of the best things we can do in our gardens is sprinkle wildflower seeds. These will add colour and attract a wealth of insects. ‘Wildflowers will really set your garden buzzing,’ says Dr Cartwright, ‘and just over half of our respondents are cultivating them. If you know anyone who has wildflowers in their own garden, just ask them at the end of the flowering season if you can snip off a few seed heads to sprinkle on your own flower beds.’

BE GOOD TO BUTTERFLIES

Some plants that until recently were regarded as weeds, such as nettles, are now recognised as an important food source for the caterpillars of butterflies and some moths. But one butterfly gives rise to the single greatest cause for concern in our survey. Sightings for the small white, once so common that many gardeners regarded it as a pest, are down 13 per cent. ‘It’s a worry,’ says Dr Cartwright. ‘Butterflies are an indicator species: their abundance is a warning about the health of less visible species. If the small white is in trouble, there could well be significant declines in all sorts of insects – including the ones that are harder to spot.’

Last year a group of Wildlife Trusts published their Action For Insects report, which found that insects are dying out eight times faster than larger animals, and that more than 40 per cent of insect species worldwide are facing extinction. ‘The extinction crisis is real,’ says Dr Cartwright, ‘and last year’s drop in small white numbers is one of the ways we might be witnessing it on our own doorstep. That has to galvanise gardeners to do everything possible to reverse the trend.’

ATTRACT POND LIFE

For the second year running, the Weekend survey highlights that the surest way to attract a wider variety of garden creatures is to have a pond. Even a small pond made from an old sink will benefit lots of animals. ‘It creates an aquatic ecosystem,’ says Dr Cartwright. ‘It’s the single best way to attract aquatic insects such as dragonflies and water boatmen. More than two-thirds of people with ponds report seeing stunning emperor dragonflies and azure damselflies, which are absolutely reliant on wetland habitats.’ Both emperor dragonflies and damselflies have decreased in numbers by about five per cent since 2018, so every pond helps.

CREATE A COMPOST HEAP

A compost heap is another feature that’s easy to create. Gardeners often worry that rotting food will attract rats but this can be avoided by making sure you add only vegetable matter to the heap, with no eggs, dairy or meat scraps. A heap of composting grass cuttings makes a warm, safe habitat for grass snakes – one of the least reported animals in the census.

AND SOME POSITIVE NEWS...

Another bit of good news from the survey is the increasing prevalence of seven-spot ladybirds – up 22 per cent on the previous year. Other insects showing a healthy rise are the green shield bug, the marmalade hoverfly and the lacewing. Ladybirds are especially good for gardens because they eat aphids, which can wreak havoc on plants.

One unexpected sign that your garden is insect-friendly at ground level might be a green woodpecker... not on a tree trunk but stalking the lawn. They eat ants, and their numbers seem to be holding steady. One rarely seen bird that does sometimes roost in gardens can make its presence felt in another way – by its distinctive call. Tawny owls hoot an unmistakable call-and-response mating call. ‘They need mature trees for roosting and seeds and insects – not to eat, but as food for some of the small mammals they prey on,’ says Dr Cartwright.

Once again, it all comes back to insects, so make sure there are plenty of bookings at your bug hotel.