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'Just one thing' to help wildlife in Barham and district.
In April many of us enjoyed a talk on wildlife in our garden from Maureen Rainy of the Kent Wildlife Trust. During that talk she commented that everyone could do 'just one thing' in their garden to make a positive difference for wildlife.
We thought it might be useful to provide some ideas here as to what some of the 'one things' might be.
We live in a beautiful area of the country and are surrounded by a rural landscape. It can lead us to think that our gardens are not important for wildlife but, our gardens can help to increase the diversity of environments available for our wildlife - so why not do 'Just one thing' to help our amazing wildlife - and right on our doorsteps! If you already garden with wildlife in mind, then maybe try just one more thing.
Photo courtesy of Richard Coleman
Here are some ideas for just one thing you could do to help our wildlife though you can of course do much more!
- Choose flowers that are open so that nectar is easy for bees to access
- Plant shrubs with berries for the birds
- Leave seed heads for birds in the winter- for example teasels or sunflowers
- Feed birds all year round
- Build or buy an insect house and site it in a sunny location
- Let some of your ivy grow tall enough to flower, the nectar is invaluable at a time when little else is in flower
- Plant a good selection of plants for a year round nectar supply
- Build a pond with easy access for frogs etc
- If your existing pond has steep sides use stones or plants in pots to make it easier to creatures to get in and out
- Allow an area around your pond to be a little overgrown and/or wet to give shelter
- Plant iris or reed in your pond for dragon flies to emerge from the pond (if you don't have fish your dragon fly larvae are more likely to survive
- Provide water for birds and small mammals with a bowl on the ground or a bird bath
- Leave an area of grass uncut between March and September
- Make compost, its good for the garden and the wildlife in it
- Clear your flower borders in spring rather than autumn to leave more shelter for insects to over winter. 16. Put up a nest box
- Put a log pile in a sheltered/shady spot. 18. Leave a pile of rocks undisturbed
- Plant a tree
- Plant a Buddleia bush
- Leave an area of the garden un-disturbed
- Garden organically
- Reduce of remove peat use in your garden
- Put up a bat box
- Build or buy a hedgehog box
- Plant a wild-flower area
- Plant a tree
- Plant a hedge
- Plant a nectar bed
We hope this has given you lots of ideas to choose from - this list is not complete so do please let us know any other ideas you may have and how successful they were!
Photo courtesy of Jan Borgioli
To provide further information here is a selection of website links to help and inspire you.
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust - See how Bee friendly your garden is
University of Sussex - The best garden flowers for bees
RHS/TWT joint project - Go Wild About Gardens. Has links to other websites & book lists
Natural England - has downloadable leaflets
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society - Shows how to make a hedgehog box
Froglife - Frog and toad homes
Garden Organic - Factsheets can be bought by non members
Butterfly Conservation - Gardening for butterflies
The Wildlife Trusts - Downloadable fact sheets
Photo courtesy of Richard Coleman
Saturday