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This Blog will teach you how to create a garden that is both beautiful and beneficial to wildlife. You will learn about the importance of variety, how to provide food and shelter for wildlife, and how to avoid using pesticides. With these tips, you can create a garden that will be a haven for wildlife for years to come.
Hawthorn, also known as Crateagus monogyna, is a true champion of the wildlife garden....
Robin (Erithacus Rubecula) I have a keen interest in studying the wildlife that frequent my garden, particularly when I have the opportunity to observe them for sketching purposes....
Winter is here and the days are the shortest during this month, there shouldn't be much left to do....
Lots of wildlife is currently hibernating, but there are some species that are still out, such as birds, mice, voles, and foxes....
Fatsia Japonica, also known as Japanese aralia, is a beautiful and versatile plant that can be grown indoors or outdoors....
Ladybirds are a familiar sight in gardens and parks around the world....
With winter around the corner, it's time to consider how you can help wildlife through the colder months ahead....
Like most people with busy lives I didn't notice the lack of birds in my garden until I watched a wildlife program....
British wildflowers are a fantastic way to bring a touch of the countryside into your garden....
Generally October feels colder than previous months....
September is when the cooler weather starts to come in along with wind, and the days are noticeably shorter....
All you need to know about planting, propagating and caring for all kinds of salvias....
Propagating Your Favourite Plants: Cuttings, Pruning, and Division Many gardeners find immense satisfaction in propagating their beloved plants, creating new individuals from the existing one....
August can be one of the hottest months of the year....
August is possibly the best time of year in the garden, flowers should be putting on their best displays right now, and it's also the time when you can put your feet up and enjoy all the hard work you've put in over the year....
Butterflies are a delightful addition to any garden, their vibrant colours adding a touch of whimsy to herbaceous borders....
All you need to know about growing erigeron, or fleabane....
July is usually the hottest month of the year, now is the time to sit back and enjoy the results from all that hard work....
Find out ways of helping wildlife in your garden this July....
Discover 10 plants that will bring butterflies to your garden....
Family: Asteraceae Height: 50 cm Spread: 30cm Attracts: Butterflies, bees, other pollinators but especially beetles Colour: Yellow Foliage: Green Position: Full sun Aspect: South facing, west facing Position in border: Middle The botanical name Glebionis segetum has recently been changed from Chrysanthemum Segetum....
Rewilding: A Powerful Tool for Carbon Sequestration Beyond Traditional Forests A recent study by Nancy Burrell challenges traditional assumptions about carbon storage in rewilded landscapes, highlighting their potential as significant players in mitigating climate change....
June has the longest day of the year, it's getting warmer so those weeds will be popping up everywhere....
There is plenty to do in a wildlife garden in June, from topping up bird baths to building amphibian hidey holes....
Cosmos became a delightful addition to my garden in 2023....
If you're looking for a beautiful and easy-to-grow flower that's great for filling a space, adding colour and gives the wildlife somewhere to hide under....
May can be quite a busy time in a wildlife garden....
By now you should be noticing more plants coming to life and wildlife activities increasing....
Find out how to help the wildlife visiting your garden in April with our practical guide below: Wildlife gets busy in April! Many bumblebees and birds will be establishing nests and plenty of other species, such as moths, leaf miners and other insects are already breeding....
By the time we reach mid-March Spring should have arrived....
March is a difficult month for wildlife....
Poppies were one of the first wildflowers I introduced to my garden and I have never looked back....
Bringing Back the Buzz: Create A Haven For Frogs And Toads In Your Garden Embrace Nature's Pest Control: Imagine a garden teeming with life, where vibrant flowers entice pollinators, while industrious amphibians keep insects in check....
The Enchanting Campanula Portenschlagiana: A Gardener's Delight and a Haven for Wildlife Sow Seeds: March or April Plant: May or June Divide: March to May or September to October Cuttings: March to May Prune: Early spring or late winter Flowers: Spring to late summer The delicate, bell-shaped blooms of the Campanula Portenschlagiana, commonly known as the Dalmatian Bellflower, have graced British gardens for centuries....
I've been growing cornflowers in my garden since 2017, I can't image my garden without them now....
Discover the Joy of Growing Forget-me-nots Imagine a sprinkle of vibrant blue clouds adorning your spring garden - that's the enchanting beauty of forget-me-nots, or Myosotis....
Farmed honeybees, along with pets, pesticide use, and our preference for tidy gardens, contribute to the decline of wild bees and other pollinators by increasing competition for food and nesting sites....
We are now in late winter, during February you'll be able to see the first signs spring is approaching, with bulbs appearing and wildlife becoming more active now day light and temperatures start to increase....
Most wildlife is still hibernating at this time of year....
Common Vetch Vicia Vicia sativa (common vetch) Vicia hirsua ( hairy vetch, hairy tare) Type of weed: annual Family: Leguminosae Uses: Edible Poisonous: Uncooked seeds are toxic Vetch: A Versatile and Helpful Plant Vetches are considered weeds by most gardeners, but they are a beautiful and versatile plant that can be used for a variety of purposes....
Pruning Apple and Pear Trees The Best Position for an Apple or Pear Trees Fruit trees prefer a sunny, sheltered site, which is essential for a consistently good crop....
Euonymus are great plants to have in your garden....
January can be the coldest month of the year and a time when natural food sources for wildlife are scarce....
Gardening for beginners: Plant types explained There are many different types of plants, each with its own unique needs....
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years....
Tender plants need to be protected from frost, gales and freezing rains....
All you need to know about growing Aucuba japonica (spotted laurel) Aucuba japonica, commonly known as spotted laurel, is a tough, hardy, and easy-to-grow evergreen shrub....
All you need to know about growing catmint (Nepeta)....
Plant: March - May & September - November Harvest: All year, but taste best when its sunny I have planted thyme all over my garden, using it to cover exposed soil, line pathways, and even replace grass....
Autumn is the best time to sow wildflower seeds in Great Britain for several reasons: It's natural....
What Is The Difference Between a Cultivated, Wildlife Friendly, And A Wild Garden The difference between a cultivated, wildlife friendly, and a wild garden is how hands on the human is in the environment they manage....
A beautiful garden can be a source of joy and relaxation for you and your family....
All you need to know about growing beautiful foxgloves....
Our climate is changing giving us prolonged periods of hot dry weather....
All you need to know about growing Achillea....
In their native countries Fuchsias are adored by hummingbirds....
After much research, I discovered that hellebores were a good solution to the two problems I was trying to solve: providing early emerging bees with food and growing a plant in a dry shady area....
Once I started to engage in my garden, I soon found out that bees can still be out and about during winter and spring, especially when days reach 10c in temperature....
An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies....
Fig trees are a big magnet for birds, as the large leaves give them somewhere to hide....
I added Yellow Rattle seeds to the wild areas of my garden last year (2021), I was getting fed up trying to keep the grass under control so the wildflowers would grow....
Wallflowers are nectar rich and attract bumble bees, honey bees as well as many other pollinators....
Ox-eye Daisy (Leucanthemum Vulgare) attracts bees, beneficial insects, birds, butterflies, moths and other pollinators....
Climbers provide shelter and food for wildlife as well as adding interest to your garden....
How to plant, grow and care for cranesbill geraniums Loved by bees and hoverflies and I've often seen Butterflies on them too....
Your garden is the one place where you can do your bit for nature and know that every penny spent, and every minute you dedicate to helping wildlife and wild flowers has been well worth it once you start seeing the results....
How To Grow, Prune and Propagate Penstemons Loved by Bees, and the hummingbird hawk moths that visit our garden....
The secret to getting birds into your garden is very simple....
Most gardeners don't appreciate caterpillars because they think the caterpillar will munch through all of their young plants and vegetables....
If you are looking to add more flowers to your garden, while you are at it, why not pick some that really benefit the bees....
Honeybees visit flowers to collect pollen which is used to feed their babies, and to collect nectar that will be turned into honey to feed the colony over winter....
For seeds to grow they need to germinate, which requires: Water This is important to swell the seed to start the chemical process to get the seed to germinate and grow....
Sunflowers must be one of the easiest flowers to grow....
Here you will find some of the best shrubs that provide a rich source of nectar for butterflies....
All you need to know about growing alliums, or ornamental onions....
Cultivated flowers and wildflower seeds can be collected by hand....
Hebes are a popular evergreen shrub that can flower for most of the year, making them a wonderful addition to any garden....
It's good to have a bit of back ground knowledge before you dive in and create a wildlife garden....
A lot of us are becoming aware that pollinating insects need a bit of help, from providing hedging to slow down strong winds so insects can continue to fly around, through to giving them a larger variety of food in the form of fruiting trees, bushes, cultivated as well as wild flowers....
Wild flowers make a great addition to any type of garden....
Unlike most types of gardening where you change the soil or the garden to match the plant you want to grow, with Wild Flowers you need to judge the existing soil type and conditions and plant a mixture best suited to that situation....
If you haven't had much success with wildflower seeds, then making seed balls could be the solution for you....
When looked after a Buddleia bush can look stunning and brighten any garden through the hot summer months....
Wildflower patches in gardens, or if you are lucky enough to have an entire meadow but don't have access to agricultural machinery, can't be cut in the same way you would cut a lawn....
Here's what you need to know before you consider taking on the task of creating a wildflower meadow or wildflower patch in your garden....
The cottage garden is a distinct style that uses informal design, traditional materials, dense plantings, haphazard self-seeding and a mixture of ornamental and edible plants....
There are many affordable things you can do to your garden to attract bees and other insects into your it....
Herbaceous borders will now start to grow in leaps and bounds, indicating summer has finally arrived....
It is getting harder to predict what our weather is going to do, so months are less defined when it comes to jobs to do in the garden....
As temping as it is to stay indoors in the warmth during January, the days are now lengthening and things are starting to grow....
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