How to Attract Wildlife to Your Garden
If you want to get more out of your garden it doesn’t necessarily mean having a total makeover. You can improve the atmosphere of the space, and do a good turn, by encouraging wildlife. In this way you enhance the natural beauty of the garden, and give yourself wonderful creatures to focus your attention on when you need to unwind. It’s easy to take for granted, but wild animals are an essential part of what makes a garden truly great.
Bird life doesn’t have it easy anywhere in the world, but in England we’re lucky to have an incredible variety of birds, and with the right precautions they will keep thriving too. You can help. Setting up bird boxes ready for the spring means that you’re cultivating the next generation of songbirds, at the same time as giving a focus to your garden. Also obviously putting out nuts is a great boost to birds. Don’t hold off in spring either – it’s complete rubbish that baby birds choke on nuts.
Some of the prettiest insects in England are having a hard time at the moment. Butterflies, for various complex reasons, are on the decline, and each summer seems to bring fewer to life. You can help by introducing nectar-rich plants to your garden. Buddleias are especially good for this, and they reflect a particular wavelength of UV light that butterflies find irresistible. Also try to encourage bees, because they’re really suffering too, and if we’re not careful they’ll die out.
The countryside brings with it a multitude of mammals that are more than happy to take advantage of the shelter and safety provided by a garden. If you’re incredibly lucky you might have some badgers nearby. These ghostly foragers love peanuts, and peanut butter, and they won’t say no to scraps of meat either, so set those out and keep your fingers crossed and you might just attract a badger.
In these simple ways you can cultivate a relaxing space for yourself, and help to ensure that these creatures are there for people to see in generations to come.
