TIPS FOR A WILDLIFE FRIENDLY GARDEN

n Insects are the base of the pyramid upon which the health of our wildlife population is built, so make your garden a haven for them. The easiest way to do this is to take The Wildlife Trusts’ Action For Insects pledge (visit wildlifetrusts.org) and stop using chemicals or sprays. These do far more harm than good, are expensive and largely ineffectual in anything but the shortest term.

n Having some long grass in the garden is the single most important way of attracting and maintaining insects. It is also ideal for voles, frogs and other small animals. It can be cut in August and again in late October. You can then plant bulbs into the short grass in autumn – these will flower in spring before the grass grows tall again.

n Grow wildflowers. They tend to be the best source of pollen and nectar for bees and other insects, and the foliage is a food source for Monty and many caterpillars. The easiest way his beehive. to grow wildflowers is from seed Growing wild sown onto bare soil, but many, flowers will such as cowslips and primroses, help the bee population can be bought as plugs and thrive planted through existing grass. Many so-called ‘weeds’, such as

g g es, andelions and clover, are excellent for insects too.

Introduce water to your garden, and dragonflies, frogs, newts and water boatmen will appear seemingly out of nowhere. Birds such as blackbirds (pictured) and bats will then be attracted to the extra insect life. Everything will be improved. Ideally this should be a dedicated wildlife pond with plenty of marginal planting, a shallow section of the surround to allow creatures to get in and out, and perhaps a floating log and submerged stones. But even a half arrel with a single water lily ill make a difference.

Plant trees, shrubs and edges. The more the better. hey give somewhere for birds nest and perch as well as roviding a habitat for smaller ammals such as wood mice. edges form a corridor for irds and bats and the fallen aves of deciduous varieties uch as beech or hornbeam rovide cover in winter.

Plant shrubs that produce erries, such as hawthorn, pyracantha and cotoneaster, for birds to feed on.

Don’t be too tidy. By all means gather most leaves to make leaf mould, but leave some in heaps or pushed back under a hedge. Make bundles of sticks for hibernating mammals, and leave the dried stems of herbaceous perennials over winter for insects to hide in. Not only insects will appreciate this. I was clearing my grass borders one March when a hedgehog popped out of a mound of fallen miscanthus leaves, where he’d been sleeping happily all winter!