Why not go a little bit ‘wild’ in the garden?
Arecent news item highlighted yet again the importance of green spaces in large towns and cities, flagging up the collective role private gardens play in this.
Reaching beyond the human benefits, it focused on the natural world and positive aspect of such activities in encouraging ecosystems and providing a lifeline for threatened species.
This is so true of gardens anywhere, and as the growing season begins it begs the question “How eco-friendly is your plot?”
If, at the height of summer it’s full of colourful flowers with a pristine, weed-free lawn that’s good. You are making more of a contribution toward nature than you perhaps realise. Flowers supply a stream of nectar for pollinating insects.
So, keep deadheading to encourage continuity of bloom. Lawns support an eco-system of invertebrate life which in turn attracts feeding birds.
A totally weed-free lawn is the stuff of legend if you’re entering a “best garden” competition, the likes of which I do appreciate.
It’s a monoculture of grass raised from the finest quality seed and requires a year-round maintenance programme: raking, aerating, top-dressing, weeding, feeding, watering and mowing. Imagine the reluctance when you are advised by top gardenernaturalists to lay off the selective weed killer and allow wildflowers (weeds to some) a chance to enter in support of pollinating insects.
I confess to having gone down this path years ago and have had no regrets. At first glance the lawns are tidy green areas because they are cut weekly, but for one month in summer the mower remains in the garage.
This allows clover, daisies, self-heel et al to bloom and attract a diversity of bee species. As the flowers fade the lawns are easily brought back into line and we feel the better for it.
Some gardeners find the next steps more difficult to take because they involve tampering with the garden’s formal appearance, when everything is neat and tidy, under control. But why not try to create a mini natural habitat in a corner where grass grows freely through a pile of logs with a patch of nettles nearby as fodder for red admiral butterfly larvae? Sow wildflower seeds and introduce homes and nesting boxes for insects, birds and mammals.