Let's all go wild in the garden

MANY of us think of our gardens as places to relax - somewhere to catch the sun or enjoy a beer and barbecue.

Those who are proud of their gardens like to keep everything neat and tidy, making sure there is something to look at all year round.

With a little bit of thought, however, our gardens could be much more than this. They could be little wildlife parks right on our own doorstep.

The Wild About Gardens survey by the Royal Horticultural Society and The Wildlife Trusts published today reveals that the hedgehog is our favourite wild garden visitor. Other wild creatures to make it into the top ten include frogs, blackbirds, robins, butterflies, ladybirds, blue tits, goldfinches and bees.

Further down the list, there are some surprises. Our top 30 of garden creatures includes toads, slow-worms, dragonflies and even the humble earthworm. Yes, really. "Our kids have hours of fun looking for worms," a colleague exclaimed, on hearing this.

Barry Potter, vice chairman of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and a keen 'wild gardener' himself, says you can get every bit as much fun from the wild creatures who inhabit your garden as from the plants and shrubs you plant.

His favourite garden feature is a pond.

A pond is a little world in itself, he says, home to a dizzying array of creatures from frogs and newts to water boatmen, diving beetles, dragonflies and damselfies. He likes to lie on a wooden plank across his pond and gaze down into the water.

"You can look down from a few inches and a whole new world opens up for you," he says. "You can lie there for hours and watch this drama going on a few inches from your nose."

Quite apart from being an endless source of pleasure and fascination - and a great way for children to learn about the wild world - gardens can also provide habitats for native creatures that might otherwise be in danger.

They are no substitute for natural wild habitats, says Barry Potter - and no developer should be allowed to get away with claiming that they are - but they do have enormous potential as mini wildlife havens.

This is especially true when lots of gardens back on to each other, which is what happens where he lives on the west side of York. Such close gardens provide vital open spaces because wild creatures do not respect boundaries.

"If you look down on them from the air, it is almost like open woodland, with trees, clearings and paths," says Barry. "It is a fertile habitat for all sorts of wildlife."

Michelle Lindsay, the RSPB's York-based conservation officer for North Yorkshire and Humberside, agrees.

In an increasingly urban society, gardens are vital for wildlife, especially in an age of intensive, almost industrial agriculture, when so much farmland offers a comparatively poor environment for wild creatures.

And you don't need a massive garden to do your bit - and to enjoy a touch of wild Britain on your doorstep.

Even if all you have is a balcony, there are still things you can do, Michelle says.

So here, with thanks to Michelle, Barry Potter and Carolyn Vickery of the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, are our top tips for turning your garden into a wildlife haven...

Less can be more

MANICURED lawns, weeded borders and pruned shrubs may be easy on the eye, but they're not necessarily great for encouraging wildlife.

If you can bear it, try to leave a corner of your garden that is not spick and span. Longer grass, slightly wilder shrubbery and flower heads that you manage to resist chopping off the moment they are dead all provide cover for insects to survive in over the winter - and insects attract birds and other wildlife.

If you love butterflies, it may even be worth keeping a few nettles in your garden. Adult butterflies like plants such as buddleia but caterpillars, such as those of tortoiseshell butterflies, for example, feed off nettles.

At this time of year, hedgehogs will be seeking out places to hibernate. So check under logs in the bonfire before you set light to it on November 5 - and bear in mind that piles of leaves swept into a corner of the garden, while possibly unsightly, make for great hedgehog beds.

By and large, says Carolyn Vickery, when it comes to attracting wildlife, less is often more.

"Put your feet up, sit in front of the fire, and let the wildlife enjoy your garden," she says.

Mind the pests

YOU may not love insects but plenty of wild creatures do, as food.

So if you want to tempt wildlife into your garden, look after your six-legged friends. That can be hard when you see them eating all your plants, but there are ways to cope.

If you can, try to reduce or cut out altogether the use of pesticides, says Michelle Lindsay.

If you are horrified by what the slugs are doing to your hostas, try to manage your pest control, adds Barry Potter.

Instead of carpet-spraying the whole garden, spray only those areas which are most affected by a particular pest. And try to avoid 'revenge spraying' - which is what happens when blackfly, for example, have ruined your roses. Spraying then is too late. You may as well leave the flies as food for birds and other small creatures.

Feed the birds

PLANTING native plants with lots of berries - elder and hawthorn, for example, if your garden is big enough - is a great way of encouraging birds, says Michelle Lindsay. In smaller gardens, pyracanthus, with its bright orange berries, is also good.

Encourage birds by putting out food - seeds, nuts, and 'seedcake' made from fat or dripping mixed with seeds.

Try to provide a small birdbath too. It doesn't have to be big, says Michelle, as long as you keep the water clean, changing it every day if possible. The birds will drink it and also wash in it - which is important for their health. In deep winter, if there is ice around, water topped up in the bird bath every day may be the only water birds can get and can be a life-saver. Very often, if there are several gardens together, all putting out food but only one with a bird bath, that is the one that will attracts birds.

Control the cats

CATS are one of the biggest menaces when it comes to attracting birds and other wildlife. Make sure any bird bath or bird table is at least six feet away from shrubs or other cover cats could creep up in. Try to keep your cats indoors early in the morning and at dusk, when birds are most active. And if you can, fit their collar with a quick-release bell, so that birds get plenty of warning of their approach.

Make a pond

IT'S not difficult, says Barry Potter, and you'll have your own little wild world right there in your garden. Line your pond with plastic, followed by a more natural-looking liner on which you can throw a layer of soil. He advises allowing the grass to grow right down to the water's edge, rather than paving the pond's border - that will make it more accessible for frogs, newts and other creatures. Then enjoy - within a year, you'll have a pond that looks entirely natural.

The RSPB has free information packs on how to encourage wild birds into your garden. Call 0191 233 4300 to find out more.

Hedgehog factfile

- Hedgehogs will be finding spots to hibernate at this time of year and undisturbed log and leaf piles provide adequate shelter until March. Always check bonfires for hedgehogs before lighting them. Move any hedgehogs found to a ready-made hedgehog box or somewhere dry and safe well away from the fire.

- The hedgehog is the UK's only spine-covered mammal (up to 7,000 spines), giving it formidable protection when it curls into a ball. Newborn hedgehogs are born with their spines under their skins which then emerge a few hours later.

- Hedgehogs are known as the 'gardener's friend' as they will eat slugs, snails, beetles and caterpillars, feeding on at least 100 invertebrates a night, and do no harm to plants.

- Each night, when not hibernating, hedgehogs will travel between 2-3kms (1-2 miles) in search of food.

- Hedgehogs like to visit several gardens in one night, and 'your hedgehog' may be up to ten different individuals over several evenings.

- Hedgehogs have changed little over the last 15 million years. Their ancestors roamed the earth before mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers.

Our favourite garden wildlife

UK

Hedgehogs

Birds (any species)

Robin

Frogs

Butterflies

Blackbird

Blue tit

Ladybirds

Bee

Squirrel

Yorkshire & Humber

Birds (any species)

Hedgehogs

Frogs

Blackbird

Robin

Butterflies

Ladybirds

Blue tit

Goldfinch

Bee

Updated: 10:10 Wednesday, November 02, 2005