Susie’s Garden Lavender
When choosing what plants to use, do consider shrubs that will attract wildlife to your garden and give them a helping hand
My lavender ‘Hidcote’ is in full bloom and covered in bees and I can see it from the kitchen window. It’s deliberately planted where I can most enjoy it, and I like to position special plants so that I can view them from different parts of the house. The French lavender was in full flower in late May and I could see that from another window. It’s good to consider the lines of sight when you are choosing a spot for a new plant or a garden ornament.
Last summer I visited Kirky Cottage, a garden open for the National Garden Scheme, and sat on the sunny terrace surrounded by a mass of lavender. A painted lady butterfly was feeding on the nectar rich flowers and the scent in the air was relaxing
and calming. The garden, which is near Coldstream, is open this week on July (see NGS.ORG.UK for details). It’s a relatively newly planted cottage garden full of old roses, violas and herbs.
Lavender is a small shrub so benefits from being pruned after flowering. If you grow shrubs among border plants, they give bulk and stature to the garden. I like to consider how useful they are to pollinating insects as well as how they look. Winter flowering heathers and berberis give nectar early in the year when bumblebee queens are busy feeding up so they can establish colonies. Other flowering shrubs for bees are cotoneaster, ceanothus, flowering currant, buddleia and ivy.
Privet was always the hedge of choice in town gardens because of its ability to withstand pollution, a green buffer between house and car exhaust fumes. If you grow privet as a flowering shrub it’s an abundant source of food for bees, butterflies and hoverflies. Prickly pyracantha is often planted as a hedge and makes a protective nest site for birds. It’s frothy white flowers attract a mass of pollinating insects and are followed by shiny red, orange or yellow winter berries for blackbirds and thrushes to feed on.
So when you choose shrubs for your garden, think about the amazing wildlife you could also be helping.