Keep your garden alive with visitors over winter
Berries, hips and even lawns all attract wildlife into our gardens, says
AS autumn blends into winter, you might start to see less wildlife activity in your garden – but it’s a time when many visitors, including birds, small mammals and some insects, need us most.
“Plants are the bedrock of a wildlife-friendly garden, and that includes throughout the winter, despite many being reduced to their skeleton,” says Adrian Thomas, gardening expert at the RSPB (rspb.org.uk).
“There are two key benefits that plants offer: cover and food. Getting through the long, cold nights is challenging for garden birds, so plants that offer dense safe cover will allow them to snooze safely out of the elements, saving valuable energy. Evergreens such as holly and ivy are ideal.”
When it comes to plants providing food, Adrian adds: “An easy starting point are the plants that offer food that we can easily see, such as berries and winter flowers. Garden trees that will often hang on to their fruits well into winter include various rowans, such as Sorbus vilmorinii and ornamental crab apples, while ivy berries continue to ripen sequentially through winter and are rich in fat.
“In terms of winter nectar and pollen for insects such as bumblebees that may be on the wing in warm winter spells, winter honey
suckle, winter-flowering cherry and mahonia are good choices,” he continues.
WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY PLANTS
As well as the many plants which produce berries for birds, including cotoneaster, pyracantha, berberis and yew, make sure you plant species where the berries should last beyond Christmas, such as skimmia and guelder rose (Viburnum opulus).
Fieldfares and other birds may visit gardens to feed on windfall apples.
Ivy berries are a valuable source of nutrition for birds in late winter and early spring, when food is scarce. It has been said that one bundle of ivy berries has nearly the same calories as a bar of chocolate, gram for gram.
Red admiral butterflies feed on nectarrich plants such as Verbena bonariensis, while the caterpillars eat leaves of the common nettle.
Native plants including crab
apple, elder and birch also create natural food supplies for birds.
SHRUBS
Winter shrubs including Viburnum x bodnantense, Lonicera fragrantissima and Christmas box (Sarcococca hookeriana) not only provide food and shelter for wildlife, but also give the most amazing scent.
SEEDHEADS
“Think about the value that comes from leaving the seedheads of herbaceous plants standing through winter, everything from lavenders to Verbena bonariensis, rudbeckias and sedums. They’ll look great in frost and will harbour insects and seeds,” says
Adrian.
BULBS
There’s still time to plant late winter and early spring-flowering bulbs including snowdrops and crocuses, which are a magnet for any bees venturing out during late winter sunshine. Other bulbs which are tempting for wildlife include scilla and chionodoxa.
IN POTS
Pollinating insects will head hungrily to your nectar-rich container plants in late winter and early spring. The nodding heads of hellebores are also a good food source for emerging queen bumblebees. Winter-flowering heathers such as Erica carnea ‘Winter Snow’ are among the hardiest of dwarf evergreen shrubs and are ideal for brightening up winter containers, as well as being a magnet for bees.
HEDGING
Hedges make great shelter and provide food for birds, and now is a great time to plant species such as yew and hawthorn, before the ground gets too hard. You’ll save money by opting for bare-rooted hedging or rootballed trees and shrubs, says the RSPB.
LAWNS
Lawns can be invaluable to blackbirds and song thrushes, who venture onto grass in search of leatherjackets (cranefly larvae), worms and fallen fruit. Longer grass provides shelter and egg-laying opportunities for insects on which birds and other wildlife feed.