Wild things

Here is another interesting gardening article from our Magazine by Jonathan Wild. I had to give a presentation yesterday to a group
 of Council leaders and parks professionals on
 the pros and cons of introducing more naturalistic landscapes into public open spaces. you know, meadows, wildflowers and the like... landscapes which need little input but which give a huge amount of benefit to both people and our beleaguered wildlife. at the end of the talk, virtually every question was about how to create these ‘wild spaces,’ leading me to suspect (and hope) that most of them were going to go home and create their own little haven for bees and butterflies.

For those of us who can’t be bothered or are physically incapable of spending all our spare time weeding and preening our garden, making it more wildlife-friendly is manna from heaven. the fact
is that the current fashion for ‘re-wilding’ means that you will not be pilloried by your fellow tidy gardeners for your unkempt plot and, anyway, if
it’s good enough for the garden of our future king then (depending on your views, of course!) it’s good enough for his subjects!

So, what’s the best way to go about it? is it really just a case of flogging all your garden tools and the lawnmower at the local car boot sale and letting nature take its course? the reality is that it is a more relaxed way to garden and mistakes aren’t as obvious or important as in a normal garden. however, there will still be plenty of work to do – but your efforts will be concentrated on making sure that you are maintaining the right balance of plants and nest boxes and that feeding stations are kept clean and full of goodies, rather than just mowing the lawns every few days. So, keep those tools to hand!

When you leave part of your garden untouched with good access to other gardens or wild spaces, you are creating a safe area for wildlife away from human influences. Just make sure that your garden is accessible to all those little creatures such as hedgehogs and frogs (by cutting holes in fences and burrows under walls) and don’t be too tidy
– a pile of logs or old bricks makes an excellent hideaway for an incredible number of insects, including the extremely rare and beautiful Stag Beetle.

Planting for wildlife is actually quite easy and the crucial things to remember are to try and offer a good variety of trees, shrubs and smaller nectar rich flowers to provide a diverse habitat, as well
as plenty of food. for instance, a ‘native’ hedge made up of holly, Blackthorn, hazel, dog roses and field Maple will be a thing of beauty for both you and the hundreds of birds and small mammals that will find food and a safe nesting place in it. A good selection of honeysuckle, lavender, Sedum, Loosestrife, Sunflowers and Foxgloves are perfect for creating a colourful and relaxed border which, if combined with some annuals such as Marigolds and nasturtiums, ticks just about all the eco- friendly boxes.

longer grass is essential for egg-laying insects such as butterflies so, if you want to do your bit to conserve these national treasures, why not leave part of the lawn to go back to nature? What could be nicer than drifts of clover, daisies and orchids (yes, you might get lucky!) instead of a boring and lifeless lawn? Equally, in the borders, leaving seed heads untrimmed and planting taller daisy-type flowers such as Rudbeckia will attract plenty of flying friends like bees and dragonflies.

for any dracula fans (the kids will love you for this), can i suggest planting some night-scented plants such as buddleia, evening primrose and night- scented stocks to provide a nectar feast for the moths? you will be rewarded by squadrons of bats that will magically appear to scoff the moths - isn’t nature wonderful?!