3 minute read
Wild Things
As the colder weather approaches, many birds, mammals and insects begin to rely on our gardens for food and shelter. Get your kids involved in some home based, nature inspired activities with one of these wildlife projects. Perfect for now and through the changing seasons.
Grow a range of trees, shrubs and climbers. They’ll provide food and shelter for wildlife, plus roosting and breeding sites for birds.
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Choose plants that provide pollen and nectar for as long as possible and avoid those with double-flowers, as most contain little or no pollen or nectar.
Bushes that bear fruit are a good source of food for birds and mammals during the autumn and part of the winter.
Create your own meadow with a mixture of grasses and wildflowers. Don't have room? Simply allowing patches of lawn to grow longer will provide shelter for small mammals.
Make a nest for ladybirds by tying a bundle of bamboo – or even short lengths of drinking straws – and placing in the nook of a tree or a crack in a wall.
Don’t get rid of the dead wood, it’s good for beetles and other specialist beneficial insects, fungi and mosses. Preserve old walls and sheds. The spaces beneath old roofing tiles and holes in bricks are used as nesting sites by mason bees, which are vital for pollinating fruit trees.
Hang up a ‘bee hotel’ – yes it’s a real thing. These provide an array of suitable nesting places for solitary bees and are also popular with other insects such as ladybirds and lacewings.
A bat box provides roosting sites for bats, a pile of leaves may be used by a hibernating hedgehog and a bird box provides somewhere for house sparrows to raise their broods.
Attract birds into your garden with supplemental feeding and a supply of clean, unfrozen water. It can be the difference between life and death in winter.
Hedgehogs like cat and dog food, dried fruit and cooked vegetables. Milk and bread often given to hedgehogs can make them very ill.
gardener, a large pot or even a dustbin lid will do. Don’t introduce fish to a pond primarily designed for wildlife as they’ll eat anything that moves.
Ensure your pond has different depths. Shallow areas for bathing and drinking birds, emerging dragonflies and for amphibians to lay eggs. Deeper areas help aquatic insects survive cold spells.
Composting your garden waste helps plants and wildlife, as it speeds up the natural recycling of nutrients. Cut down on digging and let the worms and bugs keep the soil healthy.
Don’t be a neat freak. A pile of leaves or twigs can provide food and habitat for many species. Piles of stones and old pots also create shelter for hibernating reptiles and amphibians.
Finally, wildlife rarely recognise physical boundaries, so try to view your own garden as part of a wider nature reserve of interlinked gardens and green space.
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