| Tayside Biodiversity
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Plants For Wildlife - Ideas for Your Garden |
Some plants are rich in nectar and pollen
for insects like butterflies, bees and hoverflies. Other plants
provide seeds, berries and hips for birds. Many more provide
food and shelter for mammals, birds and insects that can be allies
for the gardener.
Discover the wildlife in ten different areas in the garden.
Choose the plants that appeal to you and see the benefit they
will have for our local biodiversity. |
PLANTS- Grow pots of herbs on the
patio—Chives,
comfrey, sage, mint, borage, thyme, lavender and marjoram all
provide an excellent
source of nectar and smell wonderful too!
- Plant an ‘edible’ hedge— Dog
rose, holly, hazel and hawthorn provide a valuable habitat
for a range of
creatures, help feed the birds in the winter and provide you
with privacy.
- Flower beds can be a feast of colour
and scent— Michaelmas
daisy, mallow, phlox, ice plant, sunflowers, golden rod, foxglove,
native bluebell and primrose attract butterflies and bees.
-
Use
climbing or wall shrubs for a wildlife wall— Honeysuckle,
clematis, wisteria, dogwood, cotoneaster and ivy provide food
for birds, bats and beneficial bugs.
- In a very small garden
use containers or window boxes— Pot
marigold, nasturtium, wallflower, lobelia, bizzy lizzie and
candytuft for bees and butterflies.
- Small trees can provide a focal
point—Crab apple, rowan and
bird cherry provide fruit and berries for birds. Grow an old Scottish
variety of fruit tree and share the fruit with your wildlife visitors.
- Even
a small rockery can benefit wildlife — Thyme, aubrieta,
poached egg plant, rock rose, sedum and hebe for butterflies
and bees.
- Shrubs come in all shapes and sizes — Buddleia
for butterflies, flowering currant, hebe and mahonia for bees.
WILDLIFE
- Create
a wildlife meadow even if it’s only a corner of
your garden—Campion, scabious, cranes bill, poppy and cornflower
provide seeds for small birds or nectar for butterflies and bees.
- Make use of small ponds and wet areas—Marsh marigold, purple
loosestrife, ragged robin, water avens and water forget-me-not
for caddis flies, damsel flies and a variety of other insects which
will in turn encourage frogs, toads and hedgehogs. Make the pond
sides sloping and different depths to safeguard wildlife.Include plants that encourage
birds and butterflies—Planting native wildflowers and some
types of non-native garden plants can help attract birds and
butterflies. Try to avoid species with double rows of petals
as these often do not provide as much nectar as species with
only a single row.
- Protect birds during the nesting season—Only cut down bushes
and prune hedges at the end of the year to avoid the nesting
season, or preferably leave until February/early March.
- Create a ‘housing estate’ for your wildlife! — Put
up a mixture of bird and bat boxes on a tree or on the outside
of the house or garage. Consider a hedgehog box or a bee or butterfly
hibernating box.
- Provide suitable nest-building materials for birds—In
spring leave suitable nesting materials out in the garden for
the birds
to collect. This can include dog combings, short lengths of human
hair, natural wools, hay, straw. Swallows and house martins will
appreciate an area of damp soil they can use to construct their
mud nests.
COMPOST- Reduce
waste—By composting
your garden and household waste you can then add it back into
your garden the following
year to improve your soil structure and help retain soil
moisture. It will also reduce the amount of waste going to your
local
Landfill site and save you money. Check the base and sides
of your compost for sleeping wildlife before using though.
- Choose
Peat-free compost—If you have to buy compost
then choose one of the peat-free alternatives such as coir
that are now widely available in garden centres. This will
help protect Scotland’s fast disappearing peat bogs.
- Practical, low cost ideas and
ten tips to encourage wildlife into your garden. Any
part of a garden, no matter what the size—small
pots included—has the potential to be a valuable
haven for wildlife. Choosing plants and creating areas
for wildlife
will add to your garden’s character and so provide
pleasure for all. And there’s no need to stop at
just your own patch: there are opportunities to enhance
your surroundings
at school or work, or at your local church, community
garden or allotment.
TOP TEN HINTS
This leaflet was produced by the Tayside Biodiversity Co-ordinator.
The Tayside Biodiversity Partnership is working to protect
and enhance the region’s biodiversity in the three
Local Authority areas of
Angus,
Dundee
and
Perth & Kinross
“ Be the change you want to see in
the world”
Ghandi
Gardening for Life
Go Wild in the Garden
The Tayside Local Biodiversity Action
Plan can be viewed on www.angus.gov.uk or www.pkc.gov.uk,
or further details
are available from tayside.biodiversity@ukf.net |
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