Creating a WiLDLiFe-FrienDLY garDen

• Leaving a wild patch in the garden with nettles and wild flowers will help attract butterflies. • Small piles of flowerpots, rocks or leaves will benefit resting insects and provide somewhere for small mammals, amphibians and reptiles to hide out. • A bee hotel will provide a place for solitary bees to nest. Brigit recommends a type where the tubes are lined with paper which can be removed after use, so preventing the spread of any disease or parasite. • For early flying bees in spring, when food is scarce, willow pollen is a godsend; for autumn’s late bees, it is ivy pollen. • For further reference, Brigit recommends the books Plants for Bees by W D J Kirk and F N Howes and Solitary Bees by Ted Benton, and also a website called The Pollinator Garden, which has been compiled over many years by Marc Carlton and can be found at foxleas.com