IN THE GARDEN Grow your own
NOVEMBER is a time for planting and planning. You might rearrange things or consolidate your gardening for wildlife, with extra berry-bearing shrubs or seed-bearing flowers and herbs.
The general idea is to provide the best crop of food for birds and other creatures, and not to cut it all down by heavy pruning and hedge cutting in late summer and autumn, so these foods aren’t wasted, as so often happens in our countryside hedgerows.
Ivy, especially, continues to provide nectar for insects late on in the year.
Watch out for stunning (and harmless) hornets! You can still plant things that look attractive in a garden, too, but native shrubs are ideal if you have room, with plants such as Common Hazel, hawthorn, Dog Rose and holly all recommended.
Try adding a few well-composed piles of twigs and sticks and decaying bark, mixed with some nice bits of stone, to give both a natural look to the edge of the garden as well as scope for all kinds of small creatures to hide and hibernate. Rob Hume