Nature-friendly Gardens
- Want to attract more wildlife to your garden?
Want to do your bit to restore nature in Pyrford?
It’s been shown that a mixed garden with some well-kept areas and also some “not so manicured” bits are also the most biodiverse and therefore nature friendly type of garden. Collectively we can all contribute in our own small way to address the overall loss of natural habitats even in a semi-urban location like Pyrford.
So how do we do it?
- Lawns Consider alternative grass to the usual rye grass often with a mixture of seeds including drought–resistant grasses, clover, herbs or wildflowers. Above all don’t replace a lawn with artificial grass as this is an obvious reduction in biodiversity. Install a robot mower. – these ingenious devices allow you to effectively re-mulch your grass as they go, so you don’t need to dispose of your clippings elsewhere, which keeps the good stuff where you need it “in the lawn”. It can also reduce, if not eliminate, your need for fertilisers and also reduces your need for composting or a green bin. Add “no mow” areas to your garden with mown pathways through them for interest. Kids and animals love them.
- Wild Areas Consider a wild area of your garden with wild flowers and native shrubs & tree’s. It doesn’t have to be huge and even a wild border or two can make a big difference. Wild areas often need less maintenance but can still look impressive and certainly more naturalistic. Consider wildlife friendly plants and shrubs within your planting plan to provide food for insects, birds and small mammals.
- Ponds & Water Features Create a wildlife pond. Ponds are a huge source of food for wildlife and invariably lead to a diverse variety of habitats and ecosystems that surround them. Make the most of any existing natural features e.g. ditches and watercourses to create a natural looking wet area that can create additional biodiversity improvements. Ponds can also help with or be part of a flood mitigation plan if you are in one of the many urban areas prone to flooding. Filling in a ditch, which was probably at some point dug to alleviate a historical flooding problem, will invariably lead to an intensification of flooding on or nearby your property.
- Trees Planting trees is an obvious way to help nature and can provide other benefits as well such as provide screening and shade.
- Try and choose varieties that are native and/or wildlife friendly such as Oak, Beech, Hornbeam, Elm, Lime, Field Maple, Scots Pine and Yew.
- Smaller trees like Ash, Aspen, Silver Birch, Cherry, Elder, Hawthorn, Hazel, Holly, Juniper, Poplar, Rowan, Willow, Whitebeam.
- Fruit trees such as Crab-apple/Apple, Plum, Pear.
- Wildlife friendly trees and shrubs such as Buckthorn, Blackthorn, Bird Cherry, Cotoneaster, Crab Apple, Elder, Guelder rose, Hawthorn, Hazel, Holly, Juniper, Rowan, Willow.
- Chemicals Be careful what chemicals you use. Many of these are actually carcinogenic or can cause other harm to you, your pets and wildlife. Surprisingly many are banned elsewhere in the world but the UK has yet to catch up! Anything containing Glyphosate e.g. Roundup/Resolva/Weedol weedkiller should not be used as it has been proven to cause cancers and Roundup has been banned in the US as a result. A garden that is wildlife friendly will also encourage birds and small mammals e.g. hedgehogs who will eat pests like slugs, snails and caterpillars for free rather than you having to invest in expensive and potentially dangerous chemicals.
- Fertilisers Avoid if possible. Artificial Fertilisers are expensive to produce in energy terms and often require the burning of large amounts of fossil fuels thereby producing greenhouses gases.
- Fencing & Hedges Rather than panelled fences use hedges to delineate boundaries. Ideally these would be a mixture of native plants (e.g. a mixture of Hawthorn, Holly, Blackthorn, Dog Rose, Field Maple & Hornbeam) but even laurel is better than nothing. Avoid conifers like lleylandi as they invariably outgrow themselves and are not very neighbourly. Some of these are evergreen giving year-round privacy and security. One thing for certain is that by planting a hedge you don’t need to worry how many fence panels will need replacing after a storm has passed! If you do need to add hard fences and walls leave small gaps here and there to create ”wildlife corridors” for small animals e.g. Hedgehogs to move between gardens when foraging for food.
- Bird Feeders Add a bird feeder or two but keep them up reasonably high (around 1.5-1.8m off the ground) to keep the birds safe from domestic cats (their biggest predator by far). Put food out all year round if you can and almost any kitchen scraps will do – and its far better than putting it in the bin and another form of natural recycling whilst helping nature at the same time.
- Patios & hard surfaces Whilst it may be tempting to add lots of hard surfaces e.g. patio’s and paving try a more subtle mixture of more natural materials e.g. gravel and bark chippings for paths in particular. Hard surfacing will also increase the likelihood of flooding if installed in large quantities and/or where the ground does not drain very easily e.g. with clay sub-soils and especially in extra-urban areas.
