Garden Guide With James Kilkelly

Creating a wildlife haven OVER the past few weeks through this column I have looked at different garden themes and how you could incorporate their stylings within your own patch. From the lushness of the cottage garden to the silver-leaved glory of the Mediterranean style, these suggestions were all about pleasing the garden owner. This week we will look at a fresh style; one both pleasing to the garden owner and also its more wild inhabitants. This is wildlife gardening or to give it its other name, natural landscaping. It's natural because you will be laying out your garden so as to provide the basic needs of shelter, food and water for any wildlife you hope to attract. If you attract them they may decide to stay, however attracting them is the first half the battle you must wage. When we commonly think of attraction we think of the bird being lured by the berry or the hedgehog being enticed into a garden by the prospect of a slug feast. You must bear in mind though that these creatures are unbelievably timid. Imagine yourself spending a night alone in a supposedly haunted castle, now imagine how you would jump in the dark at any little sound, and you are somewhere close to realising just how nervous our wildlife are. Shelter and hiding places SO before you begin to plant your garden with flowering and fruiting plants that will feed wildlife, you must first address shelter and hiding places for these visitors. Take birds for example. They will thank you for any thorny boundary planting that you install as it provides them with great protection from predators. Our native blackthorn hedging (Prunus spinosa) is a favourite hiding place for birds. As humans we usually interpret this plant as just vicious woody thorns combined with thicket-like growth that has the ability to regrow quickly after cutting. Thinking like a native bird, you instead see how its sharp thorns would provide cover and protection, while its thicket would provide nesting for both you and your young. Add to this how insects are also known to flock to the plant, especially in spring when the subtle scents of its flowers attract this group that are vital for pollination. Then you will have the caterpillars of the brown and black hairstreak butterfly that use the blackthorn's leaves for food, and the small mammals that take safe passage along the hedge's base. It's pretty much an all-rounder. Other options THE blackthorn is one thorny hedging native to consider, another is holly (Ilex aquifolium), and how could we forget blackthorn's rival in the spiny stakes, namely Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). If you would like something a little more evergreen you could opt for Darwin's bearberry (Berberis darwinii). Although non-native it is frost hardy and boasts plentiful clusters of yellow to reddish-orange flowers in spring held amongst small dark green thorny leaves. If a hedge is not possible then a mixed border of shrubs and trees can do a fine job of providing dense cover and nesting sites. If you don't mind a bit of an unkempt look then a quantity of your shrub and tree trimmings can be piled underneath the trees to provide additional shelter for other small animals. Shelter can be anything from a mound of local rocks for reptiles and invertebrates to a woodland border for birds and small mammals; the key is to have variety. Different wildlife use different layers, and they prefer different plants for food and shelter. Your gardens edges can be enriched with heaps of logs, brush piles, and decay material in the form of leaf mould, shredded bark, and rotting logs, to appeal to a wide variety of small animals. As an example I have a big pile of log rounds at the back of my site that I had great intentions of splitting for firewood, but that was over five years ago, and the rot has long since set in. Regrets, I have none however, as the pile now acts as a home to timid hedgehogs. My dogs don't like them though, but that's their problem, as I will leave the hedgehogs there as long as I can. Next week, more tips on creating your own wildlife haven. Until then, happy gardening and remember that a weed is just a plant in the wrong place.