Planting for Wildlife

The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is about to start so it seems like a great time to think about how we can use our gardens to attract the three Bs - birds, bees and butterflies.

Birds

I am often asked about how we can encourage more feathered friends into our lovely spaces and it usually helps to think about shelter, food and water.  If we can provide those three things we’re off to a fantastic start!  A few tips then…

Have you ever noticed how blackbirds will pick at leaves and drag them onto the lawn?  They are ground feeders so ensure that you have a good supply of leaf mould on your borders which they can peck through to find insects and earthworms.  The leaf mould will also be great for your soil.  Feel free to store fallen leaves on beds and borders in autumn - they will turn into this lovely soil improver.

Variety is the spice of life and the same goes for our feathered friends.  Ensure that you plant a good selection of shrubs and trees.  Berried shrubs such as cotoneaster are great sources of food.  Trees like the Sorbus (rowan) provide berries and crab apples are another great source for birds like blackbirds and thrushes.  Their flowers also offer pollen and nectar for insects which are of course food for birds.  Some other plants you can try include:

• Amelanchier and cherry trees,
• Cimbers like ivy and Pyracantha,
• Shrubs like Viburnum opulus, hazel and lavender,
• Hedges including hawthorn (fantastic for nests) and beech.

Water is an easy way to entice your chirpy companions into the garden.  If you don’t have room for a pond don’t worry - a bird bath or shallow container will do just fine.  It needs to be shallow so that fledglings don't drown.

Finally, entice some insects with log piles and insect hotels - these can look very stylish in the right space.

Bees and butterflies

The key here is to add plants to provide a source of food throughout the year so think early spring through to autumn.  And the list is long and not limited to Buddlejas....

English bluebells are great for early spring as is Aubretia.  Aubretia looks fantastic sprawling over a low wall. 

Lavender packs a punch in summer and who hasn’t seen bees buzzing crazily over sea holly when the sun shines?  They don’t seem to mind the prickles!  Herbs are also great for pollinators and they smell great too.

Sedum provides food in autumn as well as gorgeous late red autumnal colour for the garden.  The seedheads last well into winter too.  I usually cut mine down after Christmas when they start to look shabby.

Need some help to get your garden chirping and buzzing this summer?  Jo Manfredi-Hamer Garden Design can provide pollinator and bird focused planting plans and we can instal the plants too - just email us to find out more.