Top 10 ways to attract wildlife to your garden
1 Hedges
Plant a mixed hedge to provide nesting sites for birds and shelter for a whole host of creatures that you will hardly know are there.
Hedges are great filters of strong winds and can also cut down pollution and noise from roads. They also make a great backdrop to bright beds and borders and look so much more natural than a bare wooden fence.
Trim the top annually as the hedge grows to encourage it to thicken up, rather than waiting for it to reach the desired height before you ‘top’ it – do that and you risk having gaps at the base.
2 Nettles
Have a patch of nettles in a sunny spot to attract butterflies in search of egg-laying sites. You may not love nettles, but red admirals, small tortoiseshells, peacocks and comma butterflies all lay their eggs on stinging nettle, and they prefer the plants to be in full sun.
There will be some years where you see no sign at all of caterpillars eating the foliage, but when the eggs are laid on the undersides of the leaf you will be safe in the knowledge that you have given sustenance to the caterpillars of these valued garden creatures. ‘Animated flowers’ a friend of mine calls them. You can also use the nettles to make your own plant feed.
3 Bird feeders
Put out bird feeders all year round not just in winter, and not just filled with peanuts.
Goldfinches are always said to like nyjer seeds, but recently my goldfinches are more attracted to sunflower hearts, which are part of my usual bird-seed mix. Sunflower hearts will leave less mess than the whole seeds whose husks are removed and scattered on lawn and patio.
Wash and clean your feeders thoroughly every couple of weeks to avoid spreading disease, and make sure that fresh water is always available.
4 Single flowers
Be sure to grow plenty of single flowers for pollinating insects. Not only will they brighten your life, but the fact that they have pollen and nectar (which many fully double flowers do not) means they will attract far more butterflies, bees and other pollinators than the double-flowered versions.
Pollinators are vital for fruit trees and bushes and for many vegetable crops – peas, beans and the like – so planting a few pollenrich single flowers on your veg patch will attract these beneficial insects, and you will have the added bonus of being able to cut a few for the house as well as bringing home your trug full of vegetables and fruits. Turn to p99 for more on helping pollinators.
5 Berry shrubs
Plant berry-bearing shrubs to ensure that garden birds have a natural food source during the winter months. Some folk get irritated when blackbirds and the like, eat the berries of their pyracantha (firethorn), holly and hawthorn, but think of how you are helping them survive the winter. Wildlife gardeners are generous gardeners, and to that end we can spare a few berries for the birds. Crab apple trees provide blossom for pollinators and fruits for the birds – a double whammy!
6 Garden pond
Make a garden pond to encourage birds to drink, frogs to spawn and newts to be a part of your world. The larger the pond the better, but even a small one will offer a refuge. Make the sides gently sloping so that creatures can approach to drink, and get out of the water with ease. Dragonflies and damsel flies are especially beautiful, and the water’s surface will soon be colonised by pond skaters and water boatmen.
It is astonishing how wildlife homes in on a pond, and with bog plants and those that love the shallows at the water’s edge, you will widen the scope of plants you can grow as well.
7 Logpile
Have a log pile where insects can find a home. Ninety percent of our garden wildlife is invisible. Well, unless you really look for it. Just because a creature is unattractive, does not mean that it is not a vital part of our rich ecosystem.
A pile of rotting twigs, tree trunks and branches will support a rich and varied range of creatures, which rely on decay to fuel their lifestyle. Think of them as nature’s undertakers – every bit as necessary in the natural world as they are in ours.
8 Nest boxes
Put up nest boxes so that birds can not only use them to raise their young, but also as roosts in winter. Wrens and other small birds will crowd into nest boxes in winter simply to keep warm, but in
February and March bluetits, robins and other small birds will already be prospecting for nesting sites which should be a couple of metres above ground level and facing away from the prevailing winds. Positioned at a reasonable height they should be safer as far as cats are concerned.
Bat boxes can be positioned under the eaves to encourage these night-time insect hunters, and if there is any chance of being able to put up boxes for tawny owls and barn owls for goodness sake take it. The RSPB offers advice on sourcing and siting.
9 No chemicals
Stop using chemicals and you will discover that the build-up of beneficial insects helps to control the likes of greenfly and blackfly. Interfering with the food chain is one reason why we have outbreaks of particular pests in gardens. Natural predators, especially in the insect world, will help in the battle against the baddies – if you let them. It may take a year or two to get the balance right, but be patient and you will wonder why you never before allowed nature to give you a helping hand.
Even wasps – so frequently maligned – have a part to play in the control of small insects which they feed to their young. Garden birds will help to control slugs and snails, and enriching the earth with garden compost will grow better, healthier plants that are more resistant to attack.
10 Wildflowers
Have a wildflower patch in a corner of the lawn, or an entire meadow if you have the space! You can still have a lawn – we are gardeners after all – but a patch where vetches and clover, cowslips and moon daises are allowed to grow will not only increase the number of bees and butterflies that visit you, but will look beautiful as well.
Mow a path through it and not only will its presence be highlighted, but you will also be able to examine the flowers – and the insects – more closely.
You can sow a wildflower seed mixture (check which one is suitable for your soil and situation) or plant tiny wildflower ‘plugs’ in an existing lawn. Don’t try to sow wildflower seeds on an established lawn – they’ll be swamped by the grass. Cut wild flower patches in early September when the seeds have fallen, and rake off the ‘hay’.