Summer is a time when the garden comes to life after months of dormancy. One of the most obvious signs of summer is the awakening of pretty flower beds alive with butterflies, birds and bees.
To encourage wildlife to your garden, you need to make it irresistible to them. All creatures share three basic requirements for a happy existence – water, food and shelter. Here’s how to provide them with it:
1) Get a bird table or bird-feeder to bring in native birds such as robins, blue tits, jays and bullfinches. Putting out scraps will help them through times when food is hard to find. As well as peanuts and bought bird food, you can safely offer them kitchen scraps, breadcrumbs, cooked rice, potatoes and currants. Fruit lumps will also bring in butterflies. Try it and see what happens. The kids will love spotting the different species.
2) The buzz of the bumblebee typifies a summer afternoon. A nectar border – think of it as a self-service restaurant for bees and butterflies - is easy to create. “The ideal border should have a variety of flowers, blooming throughout the season. Many old-fashioned cottage garden flowers are great nectar providers, as are wildflowers and flowering herbs such as chives, rosemary and mint,” says Cheshire Wildlife Trust wildlife gardening officer, Sue Tatman.
3) “Providing water, whether in a bird bath or a pond, is a surefire way of attracting wildlife into your garden,” says Dr Richard Burkmar. An area of water might entice all sorts of creatures including frogs, newts, diving beetles and thirsty hedgehogs. But before you and the kids get digging you need to decide what wildlife you want to share your garden with. Your pond’s position, size and shape, as well as the surrounding habitat, will determine its appeal to different species. Will it be a relatively natural pond for wildlife, or an ornamental pond for fish? For advice on how to make a small wildlife pond, check out the RSPB’s advice at www.rspb.org.uk/gardens.
4) Stack some bricks, rocks or broken slabs on some soil in a corner to provide a home for woodlice, earwigs and other creepy crawlies.
5) The less 'manicured' your garden, the more likely it is to attract wildlife. They prefer it a bit rough around the edges! Tortoiseshell butterflies lay their eggs on stinging nettles, for example, while finches eat thistle seeds, and hedgehogs hibernate under leaves and twigs. You may not like the thought of letting stinging nettles grown but if you can devote an unused corner to them, you’ll definitely enjoy the benefits.
Aim for a balance between tidy and overgrown and your garden will be the toast of local wildlife!
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