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In the growing section

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Gardening for Wildlife

Wildlife Gardening: Contents

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Tips for Meadow style planting for wildlife

Look at your soil first -

  • Wildflower meadows do well on poor soils
  • You may have to reduce the fertility by removing the topsoil and introducing some sand to increase the drainage.

Grasses – use natives or native relatives, eg Deschampsia, Carex, Molinias (cotton grass ) wind pollinated.

Good for field mice and other small furry animals – extending areas from meadows.

Birds – like grasses for nest building and shy bird cover, also seeds.

Tufts and tussocks are good for insects – hibernating and overwintering lavae.

Also plant:

  • Scabious – nectar provider
  • Achillea – nectar plant

Imitate nature by creating drifts of plants in your border.

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Plants for a bee garden/ border – nectar food:

Perennials

  • Salvia
  • Borage
  • Alcea rosea
  • Verbena bonariensis
  • Papaver
  • Digitalis
  • Lathyrus
  • Achillea fillipendulina
  • Eupatorium cannabinum
  • Sedum
  • Scabiosa
  • Eryngium borgattii
  • Dipsacus follonum
  • Circium rivulare

Herbs

  • Lavender
  • Melissa officinalis
  • Foeniculum vulgare
  • Savia
  • Centranthus
  • Echinacea purpurea
  • Allium
  • Mentha

Shrubs

  • Corylus
  • Viburnum
  • Ribes sanguineum

Climbers

  • Lonicera pericleum

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Ynyslas wildlife shelter home

This high-rise accommodation for creepy-crawlies is easy to make from all your unwanted recycled materials so you could create one for your own garden!

  • Basement (reclaimed palette and slate) damp proof course for mini beasts

  • Ground floor (decaying wood) – for beetles, woodlice, spiders, amphibians

  • First floor (air bricks, clay pots/ pipes and slate) - for snails, newts and other small invertebrates

  • Second floor (dried oak leaves, old brooms and wood shavings) – for ground beetles and centipedes

  • Third floor (corks and cardboard) - for lacewings, ladybirds and spiders

  • Loft insulation (grass cuttings and moss) for more beneficial insects and possibly solitary bees

  • Roof (slate and moss )– or try a sedum roof for rain cover for all the mini beasts

Full of nooks & crannies and hidey-holes, there are plenty of corners for ladybirds and spiders to huddle in through a cold winter, or for woodlice and snails to hide out on hot summer days.

Not only that, but as the wood starts to decay, beetle larvae -and other invertebrates - will be able to munch on the rotten wood to gain the nutrients they need.

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