Helpful lp friends
It’s time to welcome them into your garden!
Spring’s in the air and that means a whole host of wildlife – some
helpful, and some less so – will be heading for your garden. We want to attract creatures that will be friendly, and discourage the ones that won’t be.
Aphids can be the bane of many gardeners’ lives but some insects love to feast on them. Among the best are ladybirds and lacewings and you can make a simple nest for them by placing a bundle of bamboo or cow parsley stems somewhere protected such as the nook of a tree.
If you’ve got a damp, shady corner in your garden, simply leave a pile of leaves to break down, and this will make a home for frogs, toads, newts and centipedes, all of which help keep slugs and snails under control.
Planting a wildlife hedge with natives such as holly, blackthorn or spindle will attract birds, who use it as a nesting site, or for hedgehogs to find shelter. Both will keep pests such as slugs, snails, grubs or caterpillars at bay.
And, of course, now’s the time to start encouraging pollinators. Growing pollen and nectar-rich plants will get your garden buzzing, and these are mostly species plants, including many natives. Planting foxgloves now in gaps in your herbaceous borders will attract bees. Borage is great for bees too, with a long flowering season from June until the first frosts. Or sow corn marigold now directly into the soil in some spaces in your vegetable plots. If you grow a mix of different flower types you’ll see a wide range of pollinators as different species of bees, hoverflies, butterflies and moths each prefer different-shaped blooms.