Pets
Wildlife Friendly Back Gardens
How wildlife friendly is your back garden? Wildlife can struggle during particularly warm spells and heatwaves. This might be from a lack of water or suddenly having limited food supplies. As humans we enjoy a cold drink or dipping our feet in a paddling pool to cool down. So do our garden birds, pollinators and hedgehogs. Providing fresh, clean drinking and bathing water, along with some shade will help immensely. What can you do specifically? Planning is a good idea in order to create an attractive and productive wildlife habitat. Think vertically as well as horizontally when you are creating a new environment for your garden wildlife. Trees and shrubs provide wonderful amounts of shade and food for small animals. Include varieties like hosta, japonica and even rhubarb for their large leaves. Ground covering plants are also valuable additions to your garden and enjoyed by a wide range of creatures and insects. Consider installing feeders and nesting boxes for the local birds. If you keep them well stocked and in good
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condition you will have plenty of regular visitors. Bird baths are increasing in popularity and can either be homemade or shop bought. Garden Centres and nurseries are getting much better now at providing us with information about which plants are bee friendly. Again, plan carefully where these will go in your garden – perhaps away from the main walkways and seating areas. Selecting fruit or nut bearing varieties of plants will be very much appreciated by the local wildlife. There are some shrubs that produce berries all year round. Deciduous trees and shrubs can be planted along a south facing walls to provide summer shade. If you haven’t got a garden, then worry not. Patios and balconies are great locations for container gardens! Autumn is round the corner It is worth noting we will be slipping into Autumn after the heatwaves of summer. Quite often we like to ‘tidy’ our gardens and fill our green wheelie bins with leaves, cuttings and other plant material. Much of our wildlife actually relies on the leaves and dead flower heads that we like to completely remove. Consider whether you can have a ‘wild’ area of your garden this year that you do not completely clear, and marvel at the little creatures who make it their home – and larder! Similarly, there maybe areas of your garden that you chose to leave and allow to grow wild. Resisting the urge to weed sections, allowing plants to grow without being pruned back. Have a potter around your garden this week and see if there are any small changes that can be made, to help the wildlife flourish during these warmer months. If you need to contact our Branch (North Bedfordshire) for any reason we can be reached by the details below, or for an animal welfare issue or emergency, contact; 0300 1234 999. Lines are open 7 days a week 24/7. Email: info@rspcabedsnorth.org.uk Tel: 01234 266965 / 01234 930304
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