How to create a Wildlife Friendly Garden
Laura Thomas, our Specialist Income Management Team Manager, is passionate about wildlife and conservation. She is a member of our recently formed Staff Environmental & Sustainability Group and is keen to share ideas on how we can all get involved in supporting local wildlife. Having volunteered for Essex Wildlife Trust for several years, she is South Essex Homes’ nature expert and here she shares her top five tips on how you can make your garden, or even your windowsill, wildlife-friendly…
Plant insect friendly plants
Encourage wildlife into your garden and give them the things that keep them coming back, time after time! There are lots of different species of insects, birds and small animals and their tastes in plants are all different so try to plant a variety. Here’s a few suggestions to get you started…
- Sunflower (grow these from seed and see who’s grows the tallest)
- Crocus (plant bulbs in autumn and they will pop up once winter is over)
- Lavender (I think this smells great and the bees agree)
- The snapdragon (my personal favourite, I used to call these bunny rabbits as a kid and it’s great watching the bumblebees prize them open)
- Foxgloves (so pretty and will come back year after year)
- Bluebells (for any wooded areas)
- Buddleia (butterfly bush but good for bees and other insects too)
- Viper’s Bugloss (the ultimate bumblebee plant!)
- Honeysuckle (quick-growing)
- And we don’t want to forget the forget-me-nots!
To save on costs try planting from seed or if a friend has a plant that you quite fancy you could try growing from a cutting.
Don’t have a garden? How about planting some flowers in a window box?
Compost heap or compost bin
How about creating a compost heap or using a compost bin? You can use kitchen waste to reduce what goes to landfill whilst creating a haven for minibeasts! If minibeasts aren’t your thing, they are a great source of food for other wildlife such as birds and hedgehogs. Worms who do all the hard work creating compost help to improve soil drainage and transfer important nutrients to the surface so make sure you spread some compost all round your garden to help your plants. Slugs and snails are important recyclers too so if you see them munching on your pretty flowers you can just relocate them to the compost heap!
You can buy compost bins (or find preloved), make your own or just create a compost heap.
Add a pond
Now maybe you think I’ve gone a little mad here suggesting you install a pond in your garden but how about a little bucket pond? In my previous home I had a completely decked garden so I had to be creative with how I encouraged wildlife into my garden. I created a little bucket pond and I must have done something right because a frog moved in! You’ll need a couple of pond plants (such as hornwort) to keep the water oxygenated but otherwise you can use things that you might have laying around such as a old bucket and some stones/old bricks. The stones/bricks are important so your new little frog friend can climb in and out safely. It’s worth having some stones/bricks around the outside too.
Create a woodpile
This one is a really quick win especially if you’ve got some rotting wood knocking around! I recently moved into a new house and there was a dead tree that needed pulling up. I pulled it up, broke it up a bit and TADAH… woodpile! I’ve popped it in the corner of the garden and am desperately trying to discourage my daughter from climbing on it! It’s only been in place a few days and already we’ve seen lots of snails, slugs and other bugs. Butterflies will also use woodpiles as a place to hide and hibernate in colder months. You might even be lucky enough to find slow worms, newts, frogs and toads sheltering between the logs. Larger logs with bark still attached work best and even one log provides a great habitat. Find an area that is partially shady and keep it topped up with any wood and leaf litter.
You could even get fancy and make a bug hotel instead! Pallets work well for these so maybe ask your local shop if they have any going spare.
Let things grow a little wild
I’m not suggesting you let your whole garden grow wild, I know we all like a bit of patio or decking and besides that, mown areas are important for birds such as blackbirds and robins to be able to find worms, but think about letting an area of your garden “go wild”. Longer grass provides shelter, allows wildflowers to bloom and is a good spot for insects, such as butterflies, to lay their eggs. You could have an area of longer grass with a path cleared through it so you can enjoy all the wildlife the longer grass encourages. Plants that we call weeds such as dandelions, nettles, thistles and ragwort are important for insects so let them grow too. If you’re worried about nettles spreading you could plant them in pots. I’ve heard nettle tea can be good for hay fever sufferers too.
A variety of habitats in your garden is what’s best for a variety of animals. Use some of the ideas above to create little habitats and see what creatures pay you a visit! We’d love to see the wildlife in your gardens, please share your photos with us!