Wildlife Gardening
Making room for wildlife
Wildlife garden
Did you know that there are over one million acres of private
gardens in the UK – more acres than all the national nature reserves
combined? At a time when wildlife is declining in the open countryside,
these green spaces have become a haven for butterflies and damselflies,
frogs and hedgehogs, and the birds and the bees. Even the plants and trees
that were once common in our meadows and woodlands are now seeking sanctuary.
Wildlife gardening was once seen as a rather radical pastime and celebrity
gardener Chris Baines, President of the Wildlife Trusts, was at the very
forefront of this new approach.
Chris says: “Twenty years ago, I introduced the idea of rich habitat
gardening during a BBC Gardener’s World programme. The whole idea
of 'planting weeds’ met with shocked resistance from the horticultural
establishment, though the public seemed to love it. In 1986 I built the
very first wildlife garden that Chelsea Flower Show had ever seen, and
again, while the public and the papers lapped it up, the Royal Horticultural
Society mistakenly inscribed my medal 'To Chris Baines, for a Wildfire
Garden.’”
Chris continues: “Now, wildlife gardening has come of age, with
gardening diva Charlie Dimmock enthusing with me over mini-meadows, dragonfly
ponds and woodland wildflowers. Bird feeding has become big business,
and the millions spent each year on sunflower seeds are paying dividends.
Ten years ago just 17 species of birds were known to visit feeders –
now the species count is up to 80. Wildlife gardening is a satisfying
way for each of us to make a positive contribution and once there’s
nature on the doorstep, the revolution is bound to spread into the streets
and fields beyond the garden fence.”
It was the pioneering work of people like Chris who began the gardening
revolution all those years ago, when the idea of an untidy garden still
brought sleepless nights to a whole generation of householders. The idea
that by changing the way you manage your garden, avoiding pesticides,
providing water and feeding birds could transform a backyard into a nature
reserve took some time to catch on. But it did – and wildlife gardening
has become increasingly popular in the past years, with television gardening
programmes bringing the principles to a wider audience.
The beauty is that anyone can do it at any scale. A window box, a vegetable
plot bordered with herbs or a patio full of bright and fragrant potted
plants will all attract butterflies. And it has never been easier to feed
birds, with supplies sitting on the pet food aisles in most supermarkets.
Start off by feeding birds, banning insecticides and providing food for
butterflies. Choose to grow simple flowers like cottage marigolds so that
bees, moths, butterflies and other insects can feed on the nectar and
pollen. Start a compost heap, create a log pile and watch the wildlife
move in. Collect rainwater in a butt to water the garden. Put up bird
boxes and feeders. Build a pond. You can choose from a great menu of wildlife
friendly actions, and once you’ve begun and seen blue tits feeding,
or found a hedgehog in the log pile, you’ll never look back. Wildlife
belongs in our backyard just as completely as it belongs in a David Attenborough
programme.
A year in the wildlife garden
Spring
As spring arrives, your garden will burst into life. Listen out for birdsong
as the nesting season begins and watch out for the arrival of summer chiffchaffs
and black caps. On warm days you may spot early butterflies such as tortoiseshells
making the most of the sunshine. Life in your pond will also begin to
stir. Keep watch for frogs and toads which will arrive to mate and spawn.
In no time your pond will be alive with wriggling tadpoles.
Summer
Summer is a great time to explore the garden. Swifts and swallows fill
the skies and young birds leave the nest. Butterflies arrive to feed on
summer flowers. Why not see how many you can spot? Peacocks, orange tips,
red admirals and painted ladies may all visit. Take a closer look and
you may find a world of hunting spiders, shield bugs, grasshoppers, longhorn
beetles and solitary bees. Keep watch at dusk and you could be lucky enough
to see bats appearing to hunt for an evening snack.
Autumn
Autumn is the time to stock up before the cold weather sets in. Autumn
berries are a favourite with hungry birds. Keep watch for flocks of redwing
and fieldfare which arrive from Scandinavia. Late butterflies, such as
red admirals, can also be seen feasting on fallen fruit. Keep an eye out
for your local hedgehogs too, as they start to get ready for hibernation.
Underweight young may be seen during the day searching for food to fatten
up for the winter months.
Winter
Winter is a time of shortage for garden wildlife and animals may venture
closer in search of food. You could see all kinds of birds at your bird
table from blue tits and chaffinches to nuthatches and woodpeckers. Look
out for the tracks of foxes and badgers, especially after a fall of snow.
As night sets in, listen out for tawny owls, the most common owl to visit
town gardens. They start to arrive in January, setting up territories
for nesting in early spring.
