ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL
Keep an eye – and ear – out for these garden visitors. The more you garden for wildlife, the more you’ll see of these creatures
Blackbird
A glorious songster, especially in the evening when it sings from the chimneytops. Also useful in foraging for grubs in the lawn, provided the grass is short.
Hedgehog
More common in urban areas, hedgehogs feed on worms and invertebrates. Provide shelter for them in the form of hedgehog houses, and never light a bonfire without first checking that they are not sheltering beneath it.
Frog
Useful in controlling slugs and other pests. Frogs will enjoy a garden pond, depositing their spawn in the shallows in late winter and early spring – a great way to get children started in understanding the wonders of nature.
Earthworm
Worms are vital for creating healthy soil. They aid drainage and help to incorporate rotting organic matter to enrich the earth, as well as being a food supply for garden birds.
Butterfly
There are so many of these beauties – from small tortoiseshells and red admirals to the earliest brimstone and painted ladies. Single flowers with plenty of pollen and nectar will
encourage them and food plants for their caterpillars are vital, too. A patch of nettles in a sunny spot will support several different kinds.
Bumblebee
Without bees we are lost. They are vital pollinators of flowers – ensuring seed is set and that fruit and vegetable crops yield a generous harvest. Relax on removing lawn weeds such as clover and dandelion, which are both rich sources of nectar
Wasp
Not the enemy that many seem to imagine. Wasps have a healthy appetite and do their bit to keep down greenfly and other insect pests of flowers, fruit and veg.
Spider
As any child knows, spiders eat flies, and flies can be garden pests but are good to feed other wildlife. A spider’s web silvered with dew is one of the rewards of getting up early in the morning.
Newt
Garden ponds have become a stronghold for newts – lizard-like amphibians that are one of the treasures of an organic garden, offering children, in particular, a taste of the age of dinosaurs!
Robin
The gardener’s friend. A voracious eater of insect pests and a constant companion to anyone cultivating soil. Without the robin our gardens would be all the poorer, visually as well as biologically.