Wildlife Gardening
Eternal sunshine of the wildlife garden
Summer is a time when our wildlife gardens really come to life.
The warm sunshine beats down and works wonders as flowers flower, insects
thrive, fruits ripen and grass grows - often more quickly than we’d
like but don’t worry too much about having long grass in your lawn
as it’s good for insects and provides shelter for this summer’s
froglets.
Sunshine is one of the three essential ingredients for a flourishing garden,
the others being water and earth. It’s also the element that is
most ‘universal’, in that as well as being essential to plants
we humans can also kick back and enjoy it in ways that are unavailable
(or unpopular) with water and earth. We can sit on the patio and enjoy
a warm summer evening, but probably wouldn’t sit out in the rain
or roll around in the compost … would we?
Patios themselves have evolved in recent years into mini-garden environments
in their own right. Many people now spend a lot of time cultivating patio
containers for flowers, shrubs, herbs, even trees and vegetables. What
once was parched paving is now more often a garden oasis, which means
it has great potential for wildlife.
But if you’re in the process of building or revamping your patio,
there’s much more you can do for wildlife than provide patio habitats.
It’s a case of looking at the bigger picture and employing wildlife
friendly construction within the garden, which means recycling and reclaiming.
One of the biggest issues we need to address in our gardens, communities
and nationwide is waste, as its disposal via landfill is responsible for
widespread loss of wildlife habitats. However, with a bit of creative
thought and imagination, many household and industrial waste materials
can actually be used in your garden, making it even more wildlife friendly
in that habitats elsewhere are not being dumped on.
Making a patio or path
Old building materials can be used to create paving, or ask your builders’
merchant for a supply of broken bricks or pavers.
To start, draw out your design on paper. Then measure it out to scale
and dig the soil to the depth of the bricks or pavers to be laid. Use
a spirit level and string to get the area level. Arrange the bricks to
fit the design - this is where a bit of creativity can make the
most of broken or irregular edges. Secure the bricks in place with a gentle
tap of a mallet. You can use dry mortar if you wish.
Top tip - to reduce weed growth on patios or paths
lay flattened plastic bags or pieces of discarded builders bags between
the soil layer and the paving.
Mosaic paths
Using old pavers as a base chalk out a simple pattern or design. Construct
the mosaic using broken crockery, broken roof tiles or broken clay plant
pots fixing them in place using exterior tile cement. Finish off by filling
the gaps with floor tile grout. Mosaics can also be used to cover up ugly
concrete walls.
Other scrap habitats
- Broken roof tiles can be used to encircle newly planted
trees
- Gaps in paving can be planted up with low growing
herbs such as thyme and chamomile
- Scrap containers such as teapots or watering cans
make novel nest boxes for robins or wrens
- An upturned dustbin lid provides a bird bath and
a watering hole for smaller wild visitors
- Upturned plant pots are welcome refuges for solitary
bees
- Make a trellis from scrap timber - site ‘open fronted’ nest boxes on trellis where they can be hidden by climbers. Certain butterflies will also use the trellis over the winter months
The Avon WildlifeTrust established its own Wild Waste Garden at Willsbridge
Mill Education Centre last spring to show how household and industrial
waste materials can be used in a wildlife friendly garden. Why not visit
it for some inspiration? There is also an information leaflet available
on request.
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dragonfly |
| West
Garden Survey Help us find out about the region's wildlife by watching your garden over the summer months. We've teamed up with the Western Daily Press to organise this survey see their website for details |
| Articles in this series |
| Making
room for wildlife A year in the wildlife garden |
| The
wildflower garden Go chemical free! |
| The
water garden Help us eradicate pond pests |
| The
night garden Midsummer magic |
| Weeds
of mass domination American connections |
| Love
your creepy-crawlies Home sweet home |
| Childs
play Treasure trove |
| Eternal
sunshine of the wildlife garden Devils darning needles |
| The
bare necessity For peats sake |
Dragonflies - known of old as Devil’s darning
needles. They are bright, beautiful and one of the most interesting groups
of insects to learn about. They are also most active on sunny days and
in the middle of the day.
Dragonflies are quick on the wing and masters of the air, a blur of bright
blue or yellow is often all that we see of these fascinating creatures
that have their origin in pre-history. However, if you are careful and
have the patience, it can be really rewarding to spend a little time sitting
by the edge of a pond or a river on a sunny summer day and let the dragonflies
come to you.
As you sit quietly it will probably be damselflies rather than dragonflies
that you’ll notice first - they’re easily recognisable
by the way their wings lie along the length of their bodies when at rest
(dragonflies always rest with their wings spread out). Blue-tailed, azure
or large red are amongst the commonest of damselflies.
Larger dragonflies are usually to be seen effortlessly patrolling an area
of territory. The hawkers are recognisable by their large bodies with
long thin abdomens, flying along lengths of river searching for mates.
Smaller chasers and skimmers will perch on pieces of vegetation, returning
back to the same post time after time.
It is also worth looking out for rare species from continental Europe
such as the yellow-winged darter, a beautiful rarity noted for the saffron
colour in its wings. There are about 42 species of dragonfly and 17 species
of damsel fly in Britain.Dragonfly factfile
Dragonflies are a good indicator of the state of the environment i.e.
the level of pollution or abundance of smaller insects.
- The maximum speed of large dragonflies is 25-30mph.
- A dragonfly’s eyes have almost 360 degree vision.
- The larger species like Hawkers as individuals can
hold a territory of 50 metres chasing off intruding dragonflies.
- Dragonflies feed on nuisance insects like midges
and mosquitoes.
- Large dragonflies can eat damselflies and insects
the size of bumble bees.
- They have bristle-like hairs on their legs to catch prey.
