Attracting Wildlife to the Garden

Hello everyone, 

I've spent quite a bit of time writing today's blog as the subject is something I not only find very interesting and fun, but also incredibly important. It's about boosting and attracting British wildlife back into our gardens. 

I always remember having loads of wildlife in my garden when I was younger; voles, bumble bees, butterflies, slow worms, frogs and all sorts were always jumping, flying and running around the garden.  Then we moved to a house with a larger garden and the wildlife was overwhelming! My parents bought me a British Wildlife book and I would spend hours exploring the garden to see how many different species I could find.

However, in recent years I have most certainly seen a decline in wildlife in my garden. The swarms of butterflies aren't there anymore, neither are dozens of bumblebees that would torment my dogs, nor the slow worms that would appear from nowhere only to quickly disappear again. Now, the only wildlife I see are the half chewed mice my cat brings me. 

So how on earth do I get them back? Wildlife is essential for our gardens; they prey on the bugs and aphids and horrible little things which will attack fruits and vegetables. They also pollinate trees and flowers which again helps the garden.

With a a bit of research and doodling, I have compiled a list of ways to get the wildlife back in our gardens.

Here are some ideas on how to attract certain species:

Butterflies
These colourful beauties love flowers with plenty of pollen and nectar, so flower choices should revolve around this. Bright colours will not only make your garden beautiful, but will also attract a range of butterflies, which have seen a decrease in population in recent years, especially the Monarch butterfly. Plants flowers that will be in bloom from spring until autumn so as to give a long season of foods for the butterflies. Hopefully this small gesture will help the butterfly population, as a garden, in my opinion, is incomplete without them.

Bees
Bumble bees are such lovely little things, it's such a pity there aren't as many of them around. So, to boost their numbers, plant flowers such as foxglove and honeysuckle to welcome them into your home.

Birds
A good way to attract a variety of birds to your garden is to have bird feeders available throughout the year. Bird boxes are also a good way to encourage birds to continuously inhabit your garden, and bird baths are an excellent attraction for birds.

Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs are such pretty little creatures and are friends to gardeners as they eat slugs. They like dark and warm nests, so to build a little home for them is simple enough. A conical shaped log pile would be perfect as it would shelter them from the cold and from rain, and would also provide space for them to move about and have their little hedgehogs (or hoglets, but I think that's a horrible name for such cute little spike-balls). Any pile of sticks, branches, leaves or logs would be a good home for them, however, if you're thinking of burning the pile of wood in the future, please make sure there are no animals in there before you light it. Nobody should have the death of hedgehogs on their conscience.
If you come across a little hedgehog venturing outside of the lovely home you've made for it, they like cat food or dog food (break and milk makes them poorly pups).

Frogs and Toads
We used to have so many frogs in our garden when we first moved here. There was an old car pit which was full of frogs, and we also had a well in our boiler room (it used to be a salting room back in the day) and frogs used to occasionally wander into the house from there. The garden was also full of frogs as the garden was relatively unkempt, so there were lots of stagnant water holes. Since the garden has been well looked after and the back field of ferns has been destroyed, there haven't been many frogs or toads leaping around. In fact, I can't remember the last time I saw one.
To remedy this, I just need to simply add H20.
I'm not going to build a full sized pond as 1) I don't have the space and 2) I cannot be bothered. However, I most certainly can build a mini-pond from a large container, some pond liner, some rocks and some pond flowers.
I will be giving an in-depth "how-to" on building a mini-pond as I will take pictures of when I do it and put it on my blog.
Not only will this pond be a place for frogs and toads to hang out, but hopefully it will attract other creatures such as dragonflies to the garden.

If you're more like me and want a little bit of everything in the garden, then these simple yet effective ideas are just for you!

Flowers
Helen Bostock, a Royal Horticultural Society wildlife gardening specialist, did some research into which plants attract the most wildlife. According to her research, these are the top 10:
1. Sunflower
2. Foxglove
3. Thyme
4. Lavender
5. Honeysuckle
6. Rowan
7. Ice plant
8. Firethorn
9. Barberry
10. Purple Loosestrife

Trees and Shrubs
An assortment of trees and shurbs will create food and shelter for wildlife. In addition to that, depending on what shurbs and trees you get for you garden, it may well be that it will provide for you and your family! What a bonus! Trees and shrubs such as crab apple, elder, blackthorn, hawthorn and barberry will produce flowers for the bees and butterflies, but also produce fruits and berries that you can turn into jams, jellies and chutneys. You can even pick the flowers from the elder tree and make delicious Elderflower cordial.

Log Piles
These will make a beautiful shelter for any little critter that needs a roof over its head, whether its frogs, toads, mice (hopefully not rats), voles, shrews and all sorts of insects. Hedgehogs may also be attracted to set up home in a log pile, although they may find it more homely if the pile is arranged in a tee-pee shape as they can happy nest in the hollow. Sticks, twigs, leaves and branches can all be assembled to make a log pile which is also an attractive addition to a garden.

Build Homes and Shelters
As previously mentioned, log piles make wonderful homes for hedgehogs. However, they will also make brilliant shelter for all sorts of insects, spiders and other creepy crawlies. Damp, dark spaces are ideal for these little ones.

This year I am going to portion off a small piece of the garden and create a Wildlife Haven. In this Haven I will build a small log pile, grow some wildflowers nearby and allow the grass to grow slightly unruly (I will have to run this by my father who likes the lawns to be neat and tidy). Then I will plant some shrubs to cordon off the little wildlife area and build a mini-pond amongst the wild flowers. Hopefully this will not only encourage wildlife to visit the garden, but also to create a happy little habitat for them to stay and benefit my garden.

If you'd like to ask any questions or share you ideas or news of your garden, feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.

Hoping you are all well,

Ruth

Flower Power

Good evening,

One of my customers asked me other day what fruits and vegetables I grew altogether. After reeling off a rather long list (and witnessing someone falling asleep with their eyes wide open and staring at me), she asked me what flowers I grew. I explained to this lovely lady that unless I could eat it, I didn't grow it. By the time I got home I started thinking, did I grow anything I didn't have any intention of eating? Yes, I did! FYI: my memory can be awful at times. Despite being able to remember the ISBN number of a box of Crayola's from primary school (1050215304348), I cannot remember simple things from the last year. Inconsistent and annoying to say the least.

I digress. 

Last year I grew lots of nasturtiums in order to attract bees and repel horrid bugs that would eat and destroy my plants. Vibrant little flowers they are, sweet smelling (and edible, of course), these little beauties are a vegetable garden essential. Not only do they trap aphids in their flower-heads, but they repel blackfly and whitfly from nearby plants. This method worked particularly well with my runnder beans and broad beans last year.

This little memory has inspired me to do a bit of digging - pardon the pun - and find some other flowers which will help fight bugs and insects. 

Lavender

A brilliant general pest repellant, lavender, if grown in abundance, will even keep mice and ticks away. Lavender smells great, looks great, and if your plants are getting a bit to wild, then the flowers can be picked, dried and sewn into little fabric patches and used to keep those drawers smelling fresh. Chest of drawers I mean.

Borage

Fun to say and great to grow, borage repels hornworm and cabbage worm. It is a particularly strong ally to the tomato plant, and seeing as I will be growing a greenhouse full of tomatoes this year, I will certainly be needing my fair share of borage plants. Borage has pretty blue star-shaped flowers which are edible.

Petunias

These beauties repel aphids which are the Godfather of pests in my garden. They also deter asparagus beetles, leaf hoppers and other predatory insects. Maybe I should plant more petunia's next year...

Sunflowers 

The mighty giants aren't just eye candy, they attract all sort of lovely pollenators, such as bumble bees which are my favourite summertime critter, which will help surrounding pumpkin, courgette and squash plants. These happy critters they attract will eliminate the horrible little aphids and flies. As if sunflowers couldn't get even better, they also come in the colour red. Totally fabulous. 

French and Mexican Marigolds
The roots of the marigold secrete a substance which repels soil nematodes (horrible little things which can cause havoc underneath the soil where our blessed roots and veggies are).

Herbs are also an effective method of combat against veg-patch nasties... (and used as fresh herbs in the kitchen, it's a win-win situation!)

Rosemary
Deters bean beetle and carrot fly

Mint
Deters aphids, ants and fleas. 

Lemon Balm
Repels squash bugs and many other garden pests. Fresh lemon balm leaves also make a delicious cup of tea.

Sage
Repels cabbage moths and flea beetle.

If you know of any other flowers or herbs which repel garden pests, I would love to hear from you. Especially is they get rid of millipedes/centipedes/earwigs.

Ruth

Beans, Beans, The Musical Fruit...

... the more you eat, the more vitamin C, fibre, folate and iron you have which helps your digestive system and provides important nutrients to your body. Didn't expect that did you?


There are several things that let me know when summer has arrived.

1. The air always smells like mown grass. Lush.
2. There are bumble bees everywhere.
3. The arrival of fresh peas and beans in the garden.

There's something about those tall, spindly plants which defines my childhood summers; picking fresh peas from the pods and running around the garden with the dogs. Of course, I'm now 24 and still run around the garden with the dogs, albeit new ones, and acting like a child. With peas.

I've planted 3 different types of bean and a single type of pea. They are as follows...


Runner Bean "Prizewinner" - one of the most popular and reliable of varieties, a single plant will give you a heavy crop of medium length runner beans. Last year I had 6 plants which kept my family and my other half's family well fed with runner beans. This year I should have 12 plants, which will provide more than enough runner beans for my Runner Bean Relish, a new addition to this year's menu.







Runner Bean "Jimenez" - a climbing variety which has distinct pink pods. They can be eaten as fresh beans, or the pods can be dried and shelled to leave beans which can be safely stored for future use.

French Bean "Amethyst" - a dwarf variety of french bean which has long, purple beans. Adds a beautiful colour to the garden. Sadly, they loose their purple colour when cooked and change to a dark, bottle green colour. Still pretty though.






















Pea "Hurst Green Shaft" - the quintessential summer plant, this traditional pea variety is an excellent cropper with juicy, sweet peas. Sow from March until May to have a long summer full of homegrown peas. Is there anything more perfect than eating peas straight from the plant?










I do love the simple things in life,

Ruth