WILDLIFE TREATS

THE ground beneath apple and pear trees may be littered with fallen fruit. The best can be gathered for use.

Before you discard unwanted windfalls, give wildlife some thought. Blackbirds, starlings and winter thrushes love to feast on fallen apples.

Late butterflies feed on the juices and hedgehogs hunt for slugs and beetles which also forage among windfalls.

So endure the mess under your trees for a while longer, if you can. If mowing becomes essential, you could move the fruit to somewhere more convenient. I throw mine into a area where the wildlife soon finds them.