downsmail.co.uk Bring your garden to life
Whether you have a tiny balcony or a huge garden, anyone can connect with nature and create a wilder environment in their patch as Jade Schopman explains…
A FEW thoughtful changes to your garden can have a real impact when attracting new creatures. No wildlife-friendly garden is complete without a nest box. Even if you do not have a garden, a nest box attached to the wall of your house could be the perfect place for birds to set up home. Hanging bird feeders in your garden is another excellent way to entice the more agile species such as sparrows, finches, and woodpeckers. The smallest of ponds can be valuable – let the
creatures find your pond naturally and it will soon become a thriving habitat for anything from mayflies to hedgehogs.
A pond can also attract frogs, newts and dragon-
flies, and gives wildlife a place to drink and bathe. Take an old washing up bowl, add gravel and pile rocks on one side to help animals climb in and out. Senior keeper at Wildwood Trust, Sally Barnes
said: “If we all did just one small, positive thing, the impact on our local wildlife would be immense. “Plus, it’s a chance to get muddy, build fun things and perhaps spot some unusual garden visitors.”
Spring gardening | Feature
l Build a home for nesting birds. Buy or build your own nest boxes to help wild birds raise this spring’s chicks. Hang them high and sheltered, where cats can’t reach them. l Provide nesting materials. Small birds, particu- larly blue tits and some finches will collect dog hair and wool from any kind of dispenser hung alongside the bird feeders. l Make a wildlife hotel. Get the kids engaged in collecting piles of rocks, twigs and rotting wood in your garden to create shelter for everything from important insects like beetles and spiders to hedgehogs, toads and mice.
l Create a hedgehog highway. Help hedgehogs in their nightly search for food by creating small holes in the base of fences and walls so they can move freely between gardens and allotments. 13cm by 13cm is sufficient.
07958 134282 p25
CALL US TODAY
halfwayhottubs.com
07958 134282 |
richard@halfwayhottubs.com Stones garden centre, Halfway road ME12 3AA Sheerness, UK
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