eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Also included is a mini field guide, which will help you to identify the birds and other creatures that you are likely to spot in your garden. Kate gives tips on particular species, explaining what to look out for and how to cater for specific birds, mammals, bees, butterflies, moths and pond life.
The Wildlife Gardener is a passionately written, practical book that is essential reading for those who would like to make homes for wildlife in their garden.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781526712912 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Pen & Sword Books Limited |
| Publication date: | 10/30/2017 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 120 |
| File size: | 20 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Where To Start: Creating Wildlife Habitats
Habitat: the natural home or environment of an animal, plant, or other organism
Our gardens provide wildlife habitats in their own right, but the trees and shrubs, pond, lawn and borders within them loosely represent traditional habitats such as the woodland edge, hedgerows, wetlands, scrubland and meadows.
You probably picked up this book because you'd like to share your plot with wildlife, but have you considered which wildlife? You may want to encourage hedgehogs to breed under your shed or a garden full of song birds. Perhaps you'd rather spend your summer evenings watching bats fly above you, or your summer days watching bees and butterflies visit your flowers.
Location is also a factor. Try to find out which species are living locally – whether you can attract hedgehogs, slow worms and bats, or if creating habitats for frogs and blue tits is more realistic. Most gardens are visited by bees and butterflies, but these are typically sun-loving insects. Can you give them what they need?
IT'S NO SACRIFICE
You don't need to dedicate your whole garden to wildlife, turn it into a messy tangle of brambles or stop gardening altogether. You can do as much or as little as you would like to. Gardening for wildlife can involve as little as allowing a strip of grass to grow long and tussocky, or planting a particular type of tree or a small hedge. Maybe you just want to grow the best plants for pollinators. It's your garden; it's up to you.
PROVIDE WILDLIFE CORRIDORS
It may seem obvious, but the first thing to do is physically open your garden to wildlife. You might see your plot as an individual, closed space, but many wild species see it as just one part of a much larger habitat, which not only includes your nextdoor neighbour's plot but could also include the gardens in the adjoining streets. Birds, bees and butterflies should easily access your garden, but what about animals that walk, crawl, slither or hop? Look around and ask yourself, 'how will frogs find my pond, how will hedgehogs access my borders?'
Providing a way in (and out) essentially increases the availability of food and shelter to garden wildlife. A hole under a fence is normally all that's needed – simply dig one on either side. You can also remove the lowest slat of a fence panel. Walls are more tricky, but it's not impossible to knock out a brick or two without damaging the structure. If you're worried your dog might run amok in neighbouring gardens, just make sure the hole is smaller than the dog – reinforce it if necessary. Hedgehogs only need 5in/13cm to squeeze through. Talking of neighbours, why not encourage them to make holes beneath their boundaries, too? A whole street of linked gardens means your local hedgehogs need never see a car again.
Choosing Your Habitats
No matter how big or small your garden, you can create a variety of habitats for wildlife. Even small steps such as growing a greater variety of flowering plants or composting your garden waste can make a difference.
In creating habitats for wildlife you are providing shelter, food or water, or a combination of the three. One habitat may not meet every need of one animal, but it can fulfil some needs of many. For example, a pond provides shelter for frogs, toads and newts to breed, but it also provides drinking water for birds and hedgehogs and a hunting ground for grass snakes. Larger ponds may even attract the Daubenton's bat, which has evolved large, hairy feet for the special task of scooping insects off the water's surface.
Outside breeding season, frogs spend the majority of their lives on land, sheltering in damp, secluded spots such as a log pile. They may eat other inhabitants of the log pile as well as take shelter, so this habitat meets more than one of their needs. A log pile is also a good habitat for wood-boring beetles, wood mice and wrens, and all for different reasons.
So, if you like frogs (or just want them to polish off your slugs and snails), then it's a good idea to dig a pond, but it's also worth providing habitats for them on land. But if frogs aren't high on your list of species to attract, digging a pond might still be a sensible option if you want to cater for other species.
Creating one habitat provides a piece of the jigsaw puzzle of needs for two, three, or even a hundred species. We can fit the pieces together to create a mosaic of habitats within our gardens, or team up with our neighbours to spread it over a wider area. As such, garden habitats can comprise different habitats that appeal to a number of species. You simply need to establish which species you're most interested in attracting and adjust your garden accordingly.
Shelter
I once spotted a queen bumblebee zig-zag into the garden and squeeze herself into my willow fence a second before the heavens opened. I fetched an umbrella, popped on some Wellington boots and ventured out into the rain. Wet tyres amplified the noise of traffic on the road; people ran into doorways shrieking and laughing; and I stood, a small puddle forming beneath me, rain hammering down on my umbrella, watching a bee.
I stayed for a while, barely sheltered from the rain myself, while the bumblebee snuggled up in the thatch. She had obviously been there before; parts of the fence had started to become wet but not the area sheltering her. I went inside, occasionally returning to find her still there, before she moved on. The bad weather had lasted for hours and the bee stayed longer, but she will have eventually risen, sleepily hauling herself out of her den and off on her way. I'd never thought of the willow fence as being anything more than a barrier between me and the area beyond the garden, but now I viewed it in an entirely new light: as shelter.
Shelter includes space to hide, breed, feed and hibernate, and can be provided by anything from a pile of plant pots to a purpose-built 'hibernaculum'. Almost every part of your garden may be home to some creature or other; even a well-mowed lawn is home to leatherjackets and ants, and therefore provides food for starlings, blackbirds and green woodpeckers. Even a paved area can be home to worms, ants, centipedes and solitary bees. And a willow fence can shelter bumblebees from the rain.
Yet almost every area of our gardens can be improved for wildlife. A bare fence or wall will provide opportunities for insects to bask in the sunshine. Spiders and other invertebrates may hide in the cracks, and mason bees might make little nests for their young. But if we grow a choice selection of climbing plants up the wall it will come to life. Birds will nest in thickets of honeysuckle and ivy, bees and butterflies will feed from the flowers and moths will lay eggs on the foliage.
Shelter also includes the following.
A Hedge
A mixed, native hedge attracts anything from nesting hedgehogs to bees, moths and butterflies, not to mention all the insects that are relied on by other species for food. As well as nesting in, and feeding from it, birds will use a hedge to dive into to escape danger; a bird table placed near a hedge will attract many more visitors than one it in the middle of a lawn with no nearby cover.
For the best wildlife potential, chose varieties such as hawthorn, beech, spindle, blackthorn, hazel, holly, field maple and buckthorn. You can add interest by growing clematis and honeysuckle through the thicket, or planting low-growing flowers along the base. Avoid trimming the hedge until late winter and its berries will provide an additional food source when insects are in short supply, and allow leaf litter to accumulate beneath it.
A Compost Heap
A pile of rotting plant matter is a central hub where bacteria, yeasts and fungi, and worms, centipedes and woodlice help return nutrients to the soil. Because of all of the smaller creatures a compost heap attracts, it becomes a feeding ground for anything from beetles to birds, slow worms, frogs and hedgehogs.
A large, open pile is the most wildlife-friendly composting option as it's easily accessible. If you'd rather contain your heap, a slatted wooden box is the next best thing as many species can still access the goods within. Theoretically, a closed, plastic bin is the least wildlife-friendly method of composting. But it needn't be a 'closed shop'; simply raise the bin on bricks so amphibians, reptiles and small mammals can enter and exit easily. These bins can be the warmest of all, so if access is easy, you may attract a family of slow worms.
Position your heap in a sunny part of the garden and add grass clippings and other garden waste, as well as cardboard, newspaper and kitchen scraps (including eggshells but excluding dairy products, cooked food and meat). Keep the waste moist, but not waterlogged, and turn the heap to aerate it if it appears to have stopped breaking down. If you do need to turn the heap, try to do so in April, as you're less likely to disturb hibernating animals and most species won't yet have started breeding. But, regardless of your timing, make sure you check the heap beforehand and go in carefully; garden forks can easily spear frogs and hedgehogs.
A Log Pile
Replicating a habitat traditionally found in woodland, a log pile attracts a huge variety of wildlife. If you have the resources it's a good idea to use wood from local, native trees, but such logs can be difficult to get hold of, especially if you have a small, urban garden. My log pile is made from prunings from fruit trees on my allotment, half of which I leave there and the other half I carry the half mile home to my garden. It's teeming with beetles, woodlice, centipedes and other invertebrates, and may eventually attract amphibians and small mammals. If the best thing you can do is buy a bag of logs destined for a wood-burning stove then so be it – removed from the bag and piled in a corner they will make a wonderful habitat. Partially bury the bottom layer and fill a few gaps with fallen leaves, moss and soil to attract the greatest number of species.
A Leaf Pile
A leaf pile, too, replicates conditions found naturally in woodland, where leaves fall from trees and eventually break down to condition the soil. While they're breaking down, they provide habitats and feeding opportunities for wildlife, which in turn help recycle nutrients.
The easiest way to recreate this process is to gather fallen leaves from your lawn and sweep them under your hedge or to the back of your borders. You can also make a wire cage for your leaves using wooden posts and chicken wire. Worms, beetles and other invertebrates should still be able to access the pile easily, while a gap at the bottom will provide access to hedgehogs and amphibians.
Project: Make a Log Pile
Your log pile needn't be a messy affair – they can be attractive and interesting to have on display. If you have room, consider making two piles, one in a shady spot and another in a sunny part of the garden. Those in shady corners will remain damp and cool, appealing to beetles, woodlice and amphibians, while log piles in sunny locations will warm up and dry out quickly, providing the perfect basking spot for insects and common lizards. Any wood with bark still intact will offer nooks and crannies to squeeze into.
If you don't have a hedge or room for a large metal cage, simply gather leaves from your lawn and pop them into permeable jute sacks (or plastic bags with holes punched in), then store them behind your shed for two years. Hedgehogs and amphibians won't seek refuge in the sacks, but detritivores and their predators will still use the resulting leafmould when it's emptied out on to your borders, and it will give your soil a lovely boost, too.
TIP: Sadly, hedgehogs and toads can't tell the difference between a lovely bespoke hibernaculum and an unlit bonfire. Making the bonfire immediately before lighting or even dismantling it and reassembling prior to striking the match can literally save lives.
Project: Make a Mini Hibernaculum
Hibernaculum: the winter quarters of a hibernating animal It's not as enticing as a great big leaf pile, but little hibernacula like this plant pot filled with leaves can provide short-term shelter for a variety of invertebrates.
Simply fill a plant pot with fallen leaves and half bury it in the ground. Pack as many leaves as you can into the pot to provide the most protection from the elements, and angle it to make sure it doesn't become waterlogged. You can provide even more protection by adding a layer of leaves or sticks above the pot.
Long, Tussocky Grass
Left unmown, a grassy strip will quickly erupt into a busy habitat for hundreds of species. Pollinators will visit flowers that may now flourish, while seeding grasses and dandelions will provide food for sparrows and goldfinches. Butterflies and moths may breed in the long grass and hedgehogs, frogs, toads and newts may use it to find food and shelter from predators.
You only need a small strip to make a difference and it needn't be unattractive. Why not make a feature of the habitat, leaving a circle of meadow around a gnarled old apple tree, or cut shapes or a maze for children to run through?
Project: How to Make a Mini Cairn
Creating shelter can often help you as much as the wildlife. A pile of stones in your border will provide a habitat for frogs and newts, but it will also bring them closer to the slugs and snails ravaging your plants.
There's no real art to this, simply choose some nice rocks or large stones and pile them up in your border. Find a shaded spot so the stones don't bake whatever is sheltering inside, and leave lots of gaps for wildlife to squeeze through. Mosses and liverworts will naturally colonise the stones, but you could speed things along by adding a little soil and moss of your own if you have some to hand.
1 Make a circle of stones and gradually start building up layers to make a pile. Aim for a sturdy triangular shape.
2 Fill in some cracks with a little soil and pieces of moss, to give the pile a 'worn' look and encourage further moss growth.
How often you cut the grass is up to you, but do check the area thoroughly beforehand. You may consider raising the blade height of your mower so caterpillars and other insects can burrow into the thatch.
Spent Plants
In the wild, plants slowly break down during autumn and winter, helped along by frost and snow. Many have disappeared into the soil or the mouths of earthworms, woodlice and millipedes by spring, and new growth conceals any last skeletal remains. Yet, while plants are breaking down, they provide shelter for wildlife such as ladybirds and other insects, which sneak into seedheads and tuck themselves into hollow plant stems or among fallen leaves.
Yet, in gardens, so many insects end up on compost heap in autumn and winter, where they might be exposed to damp conditions and therefore put at risk of developing fungal diseases. By simply leaving your borders intact you can dramatically improve the chances of many species making it through to spring – not to mention earn yourself a grand view of birds eating from the seedheads you've left standing. You don't need to leave the whole border as it is – maybe you could just clear space around the edges to plant spring bulbs, or leave one untidy area concealed at the back.
Artificial Shelter
Natural nesting opportunities for birds and bees are few and far between, so by providing artificial means in our gardens we can directly improve their chances of successful breeding.
Bird Boxes
More than sixty bird species are known to use nest boxes, with blue tits being the most likely, followed by great tits and coal tits, nuthatches, house sparrows, starlings, robins and house martins. Not only do boxes provide shelter in the breeding season, but birds may also use them to shelter from the cold in winter. Swifts, house martins, house sparrows and starlings are all in decline, so provision of nest boxes for them could make a huge difference to local populations.
It's important to choose the right spot for your box, as prospecting birds are unlikely to nest somewhere with strong sunlight, a prevailing wind or where there's a lot of other bird activity (for example, if the box is too near a feeding station). It's generally advised to place the box in a north-easterly direction, but if tall buildings provide shade and shelter from the wind, then you don't need to stick to the north-easterly rule. And remember: birds don't read books. If they don't take residence after a couple of years then move the box to another part of the garden – who knows, for whatever reason the birds might like it there better, even if it's the busiest, noisiest and windiest part of the garden.
Project: How to Make a Bird Box
Bird boxes are easy to make. Each species has different nesting requirements and no one size fits all, so decide which you'd most like to cater for before you start. It's also a good idea to choose the location of the box before you get to work: do you have a fence post the box will screw into easily, or will you need to tie it to a tree? (Please don't nail it to a tree.)
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Wildlife Gardener"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Kate Bradbury.
Excerpted by permission of Pen and Sword Books Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Wild World On Your Doorstep,
Chapter 1 Where To Start: Creating Wildlife Habitats,
Chapter 2 Introducing ...,
Birds,
Mammals,
Amphibians and Reptiles,
Insects – Bees and Wasps,
Butterflies and Moths,
Beetles,
Flies,
Bugs,
Pondlife,
Creepy Crawlies,
Chapter 3 Plants,
Chapter 4 Trouble Shooter,
List of Wildlife Organisations,
Wildlife Gardening Suppliers,
Acknowledgements,