Wildlife Friendly Gardening - what you can do to garden with wildlife in mind

Wildlife Friendly Gardening is a very popular search term on the internet these days and actually quite trendy; plenty of column inches have been printed in magazines and newspapers on the subject as well. 

I have always tried to garden with wildlife in mind, I suppose it goes back to tricks my old Grandad and Dad both taught me down the years. People talk about Companion Planting and Plants for Pollinators as if it is a recent discovery but I can remember my Grandad using these tricks back in the seventies when I was no more than knee high to him and I am sure he had been doing the same things for years before that. 

Wildlife friendly Pest Control is an issue that can cause confusion - how do you get rid of the pests you don't want whilst attracting the insects, birds and mammals you do? Down the years there have been a few weird and wonderful practices undertaken by gardeners. As a child, perhaps no more than five or six-years-old, I remember watching my Grandad sprinkling salt all along the drill he had just made into which Carrot seeds were to be sown. When I asked why he put salt in drill he told me, poker faced, 'So you don't have to salt them when you cook them.' It still makes me laugh forty-five years later. There was a theory in the madness though and it was that the salt deters the Carrot Fly and Slugs. Slugs I understand the theory, but to this day I do not know of any science to back up his theory for the Carrot Fly, and I have Googled it, but he always did it. I wouldn't recommend it (sorry Grandad) as too much salt in your soil is a bad thing for most fruit, veg and garden plants. 

For wildlife friendly pest control you are actually best to let Mother Nature get on with it as much as possible. Every year the Runner Beans I plant get Blackfly - its one of life certainties. What is also certain, I am happy to say, is that they will soon be followed by Ladybirds who tuck into them. As soon as I see Blackfly on the Runner Beans I will begin the battle, squashing them by running my fingers and thumb along the stem and blasting them off with the hose but I DO NOT use any insect killer type sprays and if you are diligent you won't need to. This way my plot stays pesticide free and a safe haven for the Ladybirds, Hoverflies, Lacewings and alike. Between me the Ladybirds, Lacewings, the larvae of the Hoverfly that gorge themselves on Aphids and a helping hand from Sparrows as well Blue and Great Tits who pick the little blighters off the plants, I haven't lost a Runner Bean plant to a fly infestation yet. 

If I was using pest sprays, simply put, this mini eco-system would not exist. 

If like myself you grow Lilies in your garden you will eventually be visited by the Lily Beetle. Pretty little things they may be but they will ruin your Lilies. Again, don't reach for the spray. These pests can be picked off by hand and dispatched how you chose. You may wish to wear gloves to wipe off eggs and larvae from the undersides of leaves as its basically a brown sticky glob, they cover themselves in their own excrement! The adults have a trick of dropping to the ground when disturbed and hiding their red back making them very difficult to spot. I spread some paper at the bottom of the Lilies that way, you should be able to see the beetles as they try to escape. 

Many of the plants in my garden have been planted with pollinators in mind hence the number of Lavender bushes I have, brilliant for Bees and Hoverflies. Salvias are another plant that pollinators love and I have three Hot Lips Salvias in 30cm pots in my garden. They were grown from cuttings taken from the original plants a couple of years back that had become a bit woody and very storm damaged after the bad winter of a couple of years ago. That's another bonus to Lavender and Salvias, both are relatively easy to take cuttings from meaning you can make new plants pretty much whenever required. Last spring I purchased a Kojo No Mai and this is another great plant for pollinators, blooming in early spring, and it is a beautiful little shrub for any garden in it's own right and the Bees will literally make a B-line for it! 

If planting for pollinators do remember to go with flowers they can actually get into; double flower varieties may look gorgeous but they have so many petals the bees can't get to the central part of the flower where the nectar and pollen are found. Foxgloves are a great option, as are single flower Dahlias whilst Crocus are great for any Bees out early in the season to name but three. Apparently, Bees see the colour purple very well so Lavender (already mentioned) and many Alliums are other brilliant plants to have on your plot to bring those pollinators in. 

Another example of some wildlife friendly gardening I have undertaken recently would be the use of Bark Chippings for paths, mulch etc. I recently planted a number of bulbs under the Cherry Tree in my garden, nothing much else was likely to grow there and I had a bare patch of earth between the lawn and the Veg Garden. By covering the area in Bark Chippings I not only added a layer of natural material on top of the bulbs but all being well the Daffodils and Bluebells will pop their heads up in spring and look as natural as possible in a garden setting under a tree over a carpet of bark. I have already watched Starlings and Blackbirds pecking around in the bark after little bugs and worms and a Squirrel has certainly had a root around in there as well. Fingers crossed I have created a small but natural little habitat that will be appreciated by the local wildlife year round as well as myself when the bulbs are in flower. 

Also, don't forget, Bug Boxes aren't just for the kids. I have a couple in my garden that I have cobbled together from old bits of wood and one that is simply an old Nest Box with the front removed. I have had Leaf Cutter Bees using them and I for one don't mind finding those little half moon shapes in the leaves of my Climbing Rose and Cherry Tree when I know it's the Bees nesting. 

Bird Boxes are for me a must have and you should add a couple at least to your plot if you can. I have a Tit box that I recently relocated (see a previous post) and one that is supposedly for Robins tucked under the roof of the Log Store at the bottom of the garden, sadly a Robin is as yet to move in. I am planning on, trying at least, to make a third box from pieces an old sideboard that is currently sitting in my garage collecting garage; a post on the success or failure of this project will appear in due course. 

There as loads of things you can do and I can't possibly cover them all in one post. Wildlife friendly gardening needn't be that difficult and there is great enjoyment to be had and a feeling of a job well done sitting in your garden watching birds or listening to the hum coming form a Lavender bed full of Bees and Hoverflies. 

Cheers 🍺