In the garden

There are now more than 15 million gardens in the UK, which tells us that their importance as a wildlife habitat cannot be underestimated. Each garden on its own might be small, but together they form a patchwork of interconnected habitats, allowing species to disperse and move around along wildlife ‘corridors’.

Gardening for wildlife doesn’t mean that you have to let your garden become unkempt – beauty and wildlife are not incompatible. Click on the links on the left to discover some tips on how to make your garden both visually pleasing and a good home for a variety of wildlife. The links below are to websites with more comprehensive information about wildlife gardening.

Remember to record the wildlife you see in your garden! From the common to the rare, the Wiltshire and Swindon Biological Records Centre want your records.

It would be great if you could let us know what you have done in your garden to try and make it wildlife friendly, and also if you could tell us about the wildlife you have seen. This will help us find out what individuals in Swindon have been doing that is contributing towards the BAP, and towards restoring biodiversity.  It will also help us to monitor progress towards BAP targets, such as promoting green gardening techniques like water saving, composting and putting up boxes for house sparrows, as well as targets to increase recording and knowledge of the species inhabiting Swindon’s gardens. 

Further resources

Reference is made within the following sections to the ‘Wild about Gardens’ website.  The Wild about Gardens website is a joint venture between the Royal Horticultural Society and the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts.

A range of leaflets is available from the old English Nature, Nature in the Garden website including:

• Birds and your garden
• Wildlife on allotments
• Amphibians in your garden – your questions answered
• Composting and peat free gardening
• Focus on bats – discovering their lifestyle and habitats
• Reptiles in your garden – your questions answered
• Plants for wildlife-friendly gardens
• Wildflower meadows – how to create one in your garden
• Wildlife friendly gardening – a general guide
• Mammals in your garden
• Enjoying moths and butterflies in your garden
• Dragonflies and damselflies in your garden
• Garden ponds and boggy areas – havens for wildlife

English Nature’s (now Natural England) Gardening with wildlife in mind website, aims to help gardeners choose those plants which are likely to attract wildlife.  You can search a database of wildlife and plants to find out what eats what in the garden, and how to attract particular species.  The website also gives practical advice on wildlife gardening. 

Top tips

Provide a food source
Berry-bearing plants provide a good food source for birds in the winter months, while insects can be encouraged into your garden by growing plants that have plenty of nectar, or are larval food plants.  Any native plant with a simple, open-structured flower is likely to attract pollinating insects, especially single-flowered members of the huge daisy (Compositae). 

Examples: ivy is a late provider of berries and nectar, buddleia is an old favourite nectar-provider for butterflies, foxglove, mullein, Sweet Williams, Verbena bonariensis and Michaelmas daisies are also good nectar and scent providers.  There is a huge list of wildflowers that you could plant in your garden and which are likely to attract insects, such as the common poppy (Papaver rhoeas), cowslips (Primula veris) and Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia).  The berries of the Firethorn (Pyracantha augustofolia) will attract several different bird species.

Provide shelter
Any wildlife garden should provide shelter, and this can be achieved with the use of hedges, trees, shrubs and ground-cover plants for smaller species. These also help provide nesting sites.  Sheltered gardens are favoured by blackbirds, robins, hedgehogs and bats.

Examples: shrubs suitable for hedges include blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus), privets (including wild privet, Ligustrum vulgare) and cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera).
Plants suitable for shady areas which flower early before trees are in full leaf include: bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta), foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), ground ivy (Glechoma hederacea), lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) and primrose (Primula vulgaris)

A water source provides drinking and bathing water and a habitat
A bird bath or shallow bowl of water will provide drinking water for birds and small mammals.  On a larger scale a pond or shallow pool will provide essential water for drinking and bathing, as well as a habitat for many other species.  A garden pond does not need to be deep, particularly as most pond animals are found in shallow water a couple of centimeters deep. Try and fill your pond from a water butt or downpipe, as tap water contains high levels of nutrients that can promote algal growth in your pond.  Ensure your pond has shallow sloping edges to help animals get in and out easily, and plants around the edges to provide cover and interest. 

Plants suitable for pond edges and marshy areas include: bogbean (Menyanthes trifoliata), marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), ragged robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) and water plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica). 

Submerged plants will help to oxygenate pond water and offer cover for secretive pondweed, for example: curled pondweed (Potamogeton crispus). It is also good to provide some shade and interest in the form of floating plants like water lilies, while still allowing light to reach underwater areas.

WARNING: a number of pond plants are invasive and are out-competing native plants and wildlife in ponds, lakes and rivers.  Try and avoid: floating pennywort (Hydrocotyle ranunculoides), Fairy or water fern (Azolla filiculoides), curly waterweed (Lagarosiphon major), Australian swamp stonecrop, also known as New Zealand pygmyweed (Crassula helmsii),  and Parrot’s feather (Myriophyllum aquaticum).  If you already have these get rid of them by composting or burning.  See the English Nature publication ‘Garden ponds and boggy areas – havens for wildlife’ for more information.

Compost!
This provides an excellent home for earthworms and other invertebrates, as well as providing a rich mulch for your borders

Resist the urge to tidy…
Leaving small piles of logs and rotting vegetation helps mini-beasts feed, shelter and hibernate in winter

Put up nest boxes/hibernation boxes
A variety of these are now available in garden centres, for example those designed for minibeasts, birds and hedgehogs – or why not try making one yourself

Practice green gardening in your allotment
You can also practice green gardening in your allotment by trying natural solutions to control pests or to fertilise the soil.  The English Nature general guide to wildlife friendly gardening suggests planting French or African marigolds among green vegetables, as these flowers seem to have their own chemical defences against pests.  Similarly, lavender near roses appears to help in deterring aphids.  The well practiced farming practice of crop rotation helps to avoid pest buildup and gives the soil time to revitalise itself.

Water saving

Climate change is now a reality: some parts of England have seen extremely low levels of annual rainfall in recent years, and hosepipe bans appear to have become a regular feature of the British summertime.

A water butt can not only be used to fill your pond, but can also be used to water your garden – this means that you can help conserve vital water resources, and it may also help maintain your garden during hosepipe bans.

By installing a water butt in your garden you can help us work towards Swindon BAP target UP6 – urban ponds target number 6 – 100 water butts installed per year. Let us know if you’ve installed a water butt by filling in the email form below!

Water can also be conserved by growing plants that don’t need as much of it! 
Drought tolerant plants can withstand long periods without being watered, - many originate from South America, the Mediterranean or the Middle East and are well suited to dry soils in full sun.  Drought tolerant plants that you could try include Argentinean salvia (Salvia argentea), Jerusalem sage (Phlomis russelliana), Crocus (Crocus tommasinianus), Sea-hollies (Eryngium spp.), Giant scabious Cephalaria gigantean, Myrtle (Myrtus communi) and Onion (Allium christophii).

To Xeriscape means 'to landscape for water conservation.' The idea is to use plants that require less water. You can also utilise objects for decorative effect such as rocks, bricks, benches and gravel.

Green roofs in your garden

The English Nature guide to Living Roofs gives a good comprehensive guide to building a green roof in your garden, what follows here is just a brief guide.  The website www.livingroofs.org is also a very good resource.

Installation of a green roof, and indeed the type of green roof that can be installed will in most cases depend on the strength of the individual building, and it is vital to seek expert advice before going any further.  If the prognosis is good, then it should be possible to put together a small-scale green roof with materials bought from a garden centre or hardware shop.

Garages with tiled or corrugated roofing might not be able to have a full living roof, and the structure will need to be assessed. However, encouraging moss to grow on the roof is a step in the right direction in providing invertebrate habitats and feeding areas for birds.  Garages with flat asphalt roofs should be able to support a lightweight green roof such as a sedum blanket.  Sheds are generally too lightweight to support even a light structure such as a sedum moss, although you could investigate putting in place some strengthening measures.  As with garages it is easy to encourage mosses to grow on shed roofs.  It should be possible to install green roofs on small extensions, outhouses and balconies.  The type of green roof that the building can support again depends on the structural strength.