Your Garden can serve as more than a beautiful, private space to enjoy within the home, as it could offer a healthy habitat for a variety of insects, amphibians and bird life that are integral to our ecosystem.
There are a number of ways you can improve your large or small garden’s biodiversity without negatively impacting its aesthetics. Here are six ways to attract Wildlife into your garden.
1. Pick the Perfect FlowersWithout bees, butterflies or various other insects, seed and fruit production would significantly decline, as they are integral to fertilization. While most flowers can provide both pollen and nectar for various insects, you should avoid incorporating double flowers or cultivars, as they often feature next to no nectar or pollen.
Instead, you should incorporate flowers that will offer plenty of nectar and pollen throughout many seasons, such as:
- Crocus
- Mahonia
- Ivy
- Michaelmas daisy
2. Add a Pond
Adding a small or large pond can be a quick way to attract more wildlife into your garden. However, if you want to prevent insects from danger, avoid adding fish into the pond. You also can support the local ecosystem by allowing water plants to naturally colonize.
It’s also helpful to feature a sloping side, which will allow various creatures to both easily enter and exit the water. Eventually, your pond could serve as a home to various amphibians, such as frogs and newts. To create your pond, you’ll need to buy a pond liner, OASE pond filters, skimmer, and aerator.
3. Plant Native TreesIf you want to welcome various forms of wildlife into your garden, plant native trees into your outdoor space. By doing so, you’ll ensure the survival rate of the trees in your local area. What’s more, they’ll provide essential food and shelter to various local wildlife.
The best native trees to choose from include:
- Alder
- Ash
- Beech
- Blackthorn
- Cherry
- Oak
- Willow
4. Use Compost
Compost not only supports the growth of various plants and flowers, but it is also good for various wildlife. That’s because it increases nutrients in the ground, which can lead to healthy soil that’s good for everything both growing and living in it. While a compost heap can also provide a shelter to various small insects, such as grass snakes and slowworms.
5. Invite Birds with Food and Water
Many birds depend on kind-hearted people installing bird feeders and water sources during winter, which could be the difference between life and death during cold temperatures. To welcome a variety of birds into your garden, offer a mix of seeds, kitchen scraps, peanuts, and sunflower hearts. You also could provide birds with clean, unfrozen water on a feeding table.
6. Try Not to Be Too TidyWhile your garden doesn’t need to be unattractive to welcome wildlife, it doesn’t hurt to leave a little mess. For example, a pile of twigs or leaves will provide species with food and a habitat. While amphibians and reptiles would happily live in a pile of stones, which can be tucked away in the corner of a garden or behind a shed.
