FRIEND OR FOE?
No garden has the perfect balance between wildlife which is friendly, beautiful and non-destructive, and the more undesirable forms which are a pain in the neck. Try to be realistic about this and not too controlling in the hope of achieving perfection..
Without a few greenfly on your roses, how will bluetits feed their young and how will the ladybirds and lacewings survive? No one except toads and thrushes loves slugs, but mechanical means (copper collars and sharp grit) will reduce their predations, or you can grow less susceptible plants. Worms are vital to garden health – their irritating casts can be swept off the lawn with a birch broom before mowing to stop them becoming mud pats.
It is, in many instances, a matter of adjusting your mindset so that the creatures you see as pests become less important than the many birds, butterflies, bees and mammals that are vital to your garden’s existence, and huge contributors to the pleasures of tending it.