Wild ideas can really enhance people’s lives
IT’S time to get off your couch, turn off the telly, ignore the weather and prepare the garden for birds and other animals by constructing your very own wildlife B&B.
Full board and luxury lodgings can be surprisingly cheap to provide, and it is not just the animals which reap the rewards. I asked a couple of local wildlife enthusiasts what they enjoyed most about their wildlife friendly gardens, and why it really is worth all the effort to keep filling bird-feeders and allowing nature to take over some flower beds.
“There’s nothing like a morning brew watching the birds in my garden,” said Moira Shelton. “This year alone, I’ve spotted bullfinches, song thrush, and they’re getting rare now, all kinds of tits, including my favourites, the long-tails, and every now and then a wonderful great-spotted woodpecker - even a pheasant!”
Another reader, who wished to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, said: “The more effort you put in, the more you get out of it. We have badgers, foxes and hedgehogs - the badgers arrive at the same time every night and we can feed them with the patio doors open. They eat up and vanish into the night.
“As for birds, we have had 30 different species, the highlight being a flock of waxwings feeding on our rowan berries”
Mrs Valerie Brown said: “I’m not sure whether ‘enjoy’ is the right word for how I feel at witnessing a sparrowhawk flying into my garden with empty talons, either skimming out with a small bird close to its undercarriage, or stopping on the lawn to eat a blackbird but I do know it is an amazing thing to see.”
A good wildlife garden is more than just a corner of a garden left to go wild. Soil type, drainage and climatic conditions play a big part in what can grow.
The way it has been managed influences what lives there. If it has been intensively managed, or has less green space and more concrete, it is likely to support less wildlife.
If creating a new garden, look at what grows locally in the wild and in other gardens for ideas. You cannot force plants to grow where they don’t want to, so look to see what flourishes where in your garden
The dilemma of finding what will grow where will largely have been solved if you have an established garden. Major changes can be harmful. If major pruning or removal is needed, undertake it over several winters to give wildlife time to adjust.
Provide as many habitats as possible, but avoid cramming too much in and focus on what can be done well. A lawn, trees and shrubs, flowers and water are key habitats. Look to create smaller micro-habitats within these...
Long grass is a habitat for egg laying and over wintering of caterpillars and leather jackets. Blackbirds and starlings search for leather jackets in short grass.
Different species of tree and shrub and flowering plants provide nectar and other food sources through the year.
Rotational shrubcutting creates different structures and ages of growth, benefiting different wildlife at different times.
A water feature with different depths is great. Shallow areas are used by bathing and drinking birds, emerging dragonflies and for amphibians to lay eggs. Deeper areas help aquatic insects survive cold spells and are good places to watch newts swimming.