More About Wildlife Gardening (5)

When planning a wildlife garden there is much to think about, in the beginning there is so much excitement that plants tend to be put in where ever, this doesn't matter. Part of the charm of a wildlife garden is that it is not regimented, turning corners can bring delightful surprises. For instance flowering plants can be tucked in to any space and later on if you wish you can move them. Share plants with friends and neighbours, never discard them. Choosing plants with wildlife in mind means that sharing them will help wildlife, not only in your garden but all around you as well.

Never refuse a plant, pop it into a little corner or space and in time it will reward you. Don't be tempted to cut off seed heads in the autumn, seeds attract many hungry birds and if you look into the seed head, you will be surprised at how many insects overwinter in them, also food for birds. We enjoy goldfinches in our garden all year, however throughout the winter whole flocks are drawn to the garden by the little headed geranium with its dark purple flowers, Geranium Phaeum or otherwise known as the Dusky Cranesbill or Mourning Widow. It is a useful plant having quite a neat habit, it has medium sized fresh green leaves with dark purple blotches, it flowers for a good time and is happy anywhere, even in very dry earth and under the deep shade of trees.

We enjoy goldfinches in our garden all year.

Buying a plant? Look for nectar rich flowers, these will encourage bees, butterflies and other insects to your garden. This also applies to to shrubs, but look for shrubs that flower in spring, summer or autumn and then produce autumn and winter berries. Cotoneasters are a good example of this, their branches are thickly covered in spring with flowers that are so attractive to bees that they smother the flowers. In the autumn the branches on this wonderful plant are weighed down by the  amazing amount of  bright red berries covering them, by late November these will have disappeared down the throats of very hungry birds. These berries also attract redwings and fieldfares mainly from Scandinavia to our garden, as well as our own thrushes and blackbirds. Cotoneasters can be grown as trees or kept as shrubs by pruning.

Always be aware when gardening with wildlife in mind, you are trying to supply wildlife with their needs which are much the same as ours. Creatures need a place to shelter, rest, hide and nest and if the place provides food as well then it is perfect.

Next time woodpiles and ponds.

Wildlife Gardening (4) Borrowed Views and Covered Areas

Look beyond the boundaries of your garden - are there areas you'd rather not see, then cover them up. Plant accordingly - you could put up a trellis and grow climbing plants up it or think longer term and grow trees or shrubs. These may take time to grow, but the unwanted view will probably be there long after the trees and shrubs have covered  the unsightly view.

A third option is to combine the two above methods. The trees or shrubs will need to be planted two or three feet inside the boundary, so why not put the trellis on the boundary with climbing plants, roses, clematis and honeysuckle. After the shrubs or trees have grown allow the climbers to scramble through their taller growth, this looks wonderful, smells amazing and the birds love to nest in it. Hedgehogs also love to snuffle along the bottoms of areas like this, why not give them their own hedgehog house in this area. Remember each year to also put a good layer of leaves at the bottom of the hedge, these will rot down and provide nourishment for the trees or shrubs above them. They will also attract many insects for the hedgehogs and birds to enjoy, and the earth worms living here will grow to enormous dimensions, if they are not eaten first.

Beautiful views of the countryside, nearby attractive woodland or of a neighbours eye catching garden are known as borrowed views,  they have much to recommend them and can be left as view points and add to the attractiveness of your own garden. Neighbours either side of us have commented on their enjoyment of our garden, in time your garden might be the one supplying the borrowed views.

We have two beautiful borrowed views from our garden, the first is a countryside view from the end of the garden, which I have often written about in my blog, the second is a view seen looking in an easterly direction and I have never written about it before.

The view is of quite ordinary trees, however with the setting of the sun they are alight and suddenly full of highlights and new life, their leaves are much brighter and seem to glow. The best time to see them though is during the winter when their leaves are shed and the dull brown branches are bare.

Then as the rays of the setting sun fall upon them, they are suddenly bright shades of gold and orange and the whole vista becomes eye catchingly breathtaking.

To be continued.

Wildlife Gardening (3) Trees and Shrubs

Building a wildlife garden from scratch is a fascinating project, it doesn't matter how large or small the garden is, build it to suit the amount of land available. Within a short time you will be both pleased and surprised at the amount of wildlife visiting, so keep watching because the more you watch, the more attuned you will be and the more you will see.

Trees are the backbone of the garden and both trees and shrubs give structure to the garden, when considering planting trees, it is important to give some thought to both positioning and type of trees.

When choosing trees take into consideration, the size and shape, whether or not they flower and if they have berries, also important is how attractive they are to wildlife. Trees such as hawthorn, whose flowers are good for bees, its berries are great for birds and when used as a hedge its thorny branches are almost impenetrable, so it is perfect for birds both nesting and sheltering.

Oak trees support more wildlife than any other tree, but of course are far too large for most gardens, however if you have a garden of a fair size next to open ground or on the edge of a field then it begs for an oak tree to be planted. If children are involved then there is much fun to be had, collecting acorns planting them up in pots, watching them grow to a small but sturdy size. Replanting the one of choice in your chosen spot and taking the others out into the countryside and planting them, where you can take the children each week with bottles of water, to water them until they are established. These trees will always be precious to your children, even when they are grown and have their own children, the memory of the time spent with you doing this will remain with them for ever. They will also have the knowledge that for hundreds of years, the acorns they planted as children will still be standing strong, and even when their children's children are grown up "their" tree/s will still be growing, and will be supporting an enormous amount of wildlife.

When planting trees think about where they are best sited, remember small saplings will grow into larger trees and some will grow much larger. imagine them at full size, will they overpower or shade the garden too much.

One of the prettiest trees is an alder, but it does need a damp spot to grow. They are often to be seen by the side of rivers, and at certain times of the year they display last years catkins, last years tiny brown cones and this years catkins also. Alders are a good size for a largish garden and are attractive to both birds and insects.

We have three yew trees in the garden and one of them is home to a robin who nests in the depths of its dark greenery each year.

Fruit trees are great in any type of garden, bees will benefit from the flowers and the fruit will be enjoyed not only by you but also wildlife to the garden. Our fruit trees, apples, plum, pear and cherry and crab apple trees (Malus) are enjoyed by several types of birds as well as deer, foxes and badgers. In the mid autumn we are visited by redwings and fieldfares who feast on the windfalls, I don't think that we would have these birds if we had no fruit trees. Blackbirds and thrushes will also eat the windfalls, while blue and great tits and blackbirds will eat the fruit while it is still on the trees.

The difference between a tree and a shrub is that a tree has one trunk and further up branches leading off it, whereas a shrub is multi- stemmed from the ground upward.

Given the chance many shrubs will grow to the size of small trees, for instance Cytissus Battandierii, known as the pineapple shrub. It has blue green leaves and upright racemes of the brightest yellow, wonderfully pineapple scented flowers, each one covered in tiny black beetles, which are very attractive to small insect eating birds.

Eucryphia Nymansensis "Nymansay" is another tall shrub, which if left will happily grow to at least sixteen feet high, and four feet across, in a columnar fashion. The whole shrub will be covered in large white flowers which bees find magnetisingly attractive.

Buddleias are excellent in a wildlife garden and are extremely attractive to butterflies, hence their other name of butterfly bush. They are also attractive to bees, moths and insects.  They come in many colours and varying shades, colours include purple, mauve, violet, red, pink and even yellow. A few buddleias have small globe like flowers, but the majority of flowers are on long terminal panicles, of beautiful colours and are very fragrant. Plants can either be left to grow on year after year or can be cut back each February, surprisingly they will often make as much as six feet of growth in a season.

Cotoneaster is one of my favourite shrubs, in the spring it is covered in small white flowers beloved by bees and in the autumn bright red berries, which are loved by thrushes, blackbirds, and will also draw in redwings and fieldfares.

Wildlife gardens need trees and shrubs both coniferous and deciduous, these serve many purposes, most important is pleasure to both yourselves and wildlife. Think food, shelter, shade and for birds nest building also.

To be continued.

Wildlife Gardening

Wildlife gardens must be attractive to all creatures and a home to a wide variety, including insects. Buy or have fun making insect homes for them to overwinter. The more insects there are the better as they are an important food source for so many creatures, also you increase the chances of having bats either roosting and/or feeding in your garden.

Birds will naturally be drawn to your garden, but if you supply their needs other than what they find naturally then they will happily nest and stay. Once you have put feeding stations in place around your garden - where you are able to watch them, and added nesting boxes of various types, at the correct height  and in the right position (remember not facing direct sunlight), then birds will be encouraged to keep visiting and to stay. Birds also need to drink and bathe, feathers must be washed to keep them in prime condition and birds need to drink as much as we do, make sure the water is kept fresh and available at all times. There will be more about birds at a later stage in the wildlife gardening series.

With the right conditions your garden will soon be a home to short tailed field voles, bank voles, mice, moles - yes even moles. The first time you see a weasel disappear down one mole hole and appear from another, you will be enchanted and for quite a while you will have no more moles! Weasels are also great fun to watch as they energetically "play" round a pond, of course they are hunting really but they do it by leaping and jumping with such zest that you will be laughing every time you think of it.

I like to take photographs of the wildlife in the garden, however I have missed so many great opportunities because the camera is often in one room and I can't take my eyes off long enough to fetch it and if I do quite often it is too late. I know a couple who have successfully put up tawny owl boxes in the mature trees on their land and a shelf in an outbuilding for barn owls. Mature trees with holes are perfect for many birds to nest in, and as long as the tree is safe, leave it for the birds, dependent on the size and position of the tree and hole, one or another type will use it, tawny owl, starling, woodpecker, etc. We even had a great tit nest in a hole in one of our trees.

Wood piles are home to many creatures, more insects than you could imagine and so many types that you would never find unless you were searching for them. Weasels can be seen hunting all over and inside wood piles. Woodpeckers can be heard and if you are lucky seen drilling into old wood, searching for grubs. Hedgehogs often make their home underneath them and if there is a pond nearby, then under the woodpile will provide a welcome winter home for frogs, toads and grass snakes.

To be continued on next blog post.

A Wildlife Garden

A garden, for those lucky enough to have one and enjoy it, is a wonderful place. Even in the most formal garden, wildlife will abound, if not immediately in the main body of the garden then it will thrive in secret corners and unexpected places, giving sudden pleasure when it is found.

Most folk who have gardens love flowers, I also love flowers in our garden, however they are chosen with care, so that not only will their beauty shine forth and give pleasure but also each flower must be attractive to the wild life within or visiting the garden. Every plant introduced to our garden over the last thirty years has been with wildlife in mind.

I have kept a log of birds in our garden since we moved in, so far we have had visits from sixty-two varieties, actually in the garden. Four different varieties have been spotted in the field at the end of the garden, four others have been seen flying over the garden and if I include the river down the lane then there are another four to be counted.

There is so much joy to be had from a wildlife garden, once you start looking there are more creatures to be found than could ever be imagined, insects are so many and varied, beetles are so useful in the garden and many of them are so beautiful.

I have decided to make wildlife gardens the subject of my next few blogs, there is so much to write about them.