The Natural Gardener
It’s a jungle out there and that’s even after I’ve done the weeding. Each of our back gardens is a veritable wonderland of creatures of all shapes and sizes, and none more numerous than the minibeasts. That is, the invertebrates such as flies, beetles, moths, centipedes, bees, spiders, caterpillars, butterflies, lice, wasps, slugs and snails…phew!... that colonise our gardens eating, being eaten and coexisting.
Now the weather’s got warmer, they all seem to be everywhere you look, too. Sat in my little wild patch with a book the other day, I noted a complete deluge of hoverflies and other little flies, beetles and other buzzing beasts. Tiny flies were feeding from my herb Robert flowers, while different bees carried bursting pollen sacs like shopping bags around the borage and centaurea.
Yes, our garden wildlife is carrying on as normal, even if we’re not. Of course, it’s because I’m spending more time in my garden lately that I’ve noticed more life – it’s just the normal onset of spring that’s always there, hiding beneath the surface.
Invertebrates are endlessly diverse and fascinating. They account for 95 per cent of all animal species and they really are all our friends (even the pests). If we cater for them – with lots of hidey-holes, plenty of flowers, lawns, piles of stones and twigs – and they’re largely left alone, they’ll attract all the other ‘star’ animals, too. These stars – hedgehogs and birds, for example – will only visit your plot if it’s well-balanced. Sir David Attenborough said it best, as he usually does: "If we and the rest of the back-boned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But if the invertebrates were to disappear, the world’s ecosystems would collapse."
So spare a thought, then, for these unsung heroes.