FEATURE: GARDEN & LANDSCAPING
HOW TO TURN A BACK GARDEN ‘BLANK CANVAS’ INTO A
WILDLIFE HAVEN
New-build homes present a unique opportunity for homeowners to make a beautiful new space completely their own. With summer here and plenty of gardening opportunities and jobs to attend to in the coming months, our attention naturally turns to outdoor spaces.
I
f you’ve recently moved into a new-build home, Oxfor dshir e housebuilders Blenheim Estate Homes and Pye
Homes are here to help with expert advice and top tips, to help you make the most of your own ‘blank canvas’, bringing your garden to life by turning it into a haven for all types of wildlife, including birds and pollinating insects like bees. An extended living space with opportunities all year around, there’s a number of ways to create a wildlife-friendly new-build garden: Create natural habitats - Provide essential cover for wildlife by planting shrubs along the edges of the garden. Dead wood is vital for many species; create log piles or features by burying logs partially or arranging them in a criss-cross fashion. Beetles, fungi, and possibly reptiles or amphibians will soon inhabit these areas, adding diversity to your garden. Installing nest boxes, bat boxes, solitary bee boxes, bug hotels and hedgehog houses are also effective and relatively straightforward ways to welcome a hive of activity in your outdoor space. Provide a rich variety of food - Maximise the food sources for wildlife in your garden by planting
28 DIY WEEK AUGUST 2024
a variety of nectar and pollen- rich flowers and shrubs, ensuring blooms year-round. Include scented plants like Jasmine, Lavender, Clematis, and Wisteria. Consider dedicating space to wildflower seeds or a native hedgerow like Field Maple, Hazel, or Holly. One of the easiest ways to incorporate food sources in your gardens is to install bird feeders and tables to attract feathered visitors, using either store-bought or homemade bird food. Ensure a good supply of water
- Water is crucial for a wildlife- friendly garden. Consider a small pond to attract frogs, newts, and dragonflies. For smaller spaces, a simple bird bath works well and can be created by using rainwater collected in a water butt for your bird bath and plants. Make your garden accessible -
Wildlife movement between habitats is essential for garden biodiversity. Enhance your garden’s positive impact by creating small openings at the base of your fence behind shrubbery, enabling hedgehogs and other wildlife to freely traverse between gardens or areas. Go chemical-free - Minimise chemical use in your garden and opt for peat-free compost and plants whenever possible. Composting
organic waste provides natural fertiliser and creates habitats for amphibians, reptiles, and worms. By implementing these affordable practices, homeowners can attract more wildlife to gardens. Together, as a community, collective efforts can significantly benefit local wildlife populations. Embrace these changes, be patient, and watch as bees, birds, bats, and hedgehogs thrive. Weeds - Weeding your garden may be tempting, but consider leaving some plants such as nettles, dandelions, groundsel and brambles as they serve as vital sources of food for many insects including butterflies and moths. Plant climbers - Investing in climbers is a great way of covering walls and fences to hide wildlife and help them nest. Ivy is especially useful as the autumn flowers are sources of pollen for insects and the winter berries are loved by birds. Honeysuckle is also great for wildlife, and it goes without saying that the vertical greenery makes your garden look evermore charming.
Provide shelter - The wildlife in your garden needs a place to hide from predators and Mother Nature’s harsh elements, and creating a shelter for them can easily be done with piles of leaves, dense shrubs,
hollow logs and rock piles. Remember your night time visitors - Even though we don’t see much of our nocturnal wildlife, they are there, including bats, which you can help by reducing or removing artificial lighting from your garden. Honeysuckle and evening primrose are great garden components as they are night-blooming flowers that release their scents after dark, attracting pollinating insects. Know your compost - Turning waste into compost will not only naturally enrich your soil but it may also provide a warm hiding place for many creatures including slow- worms. Top compost tip: To avoid attracting rats, never add bread or cooked foods, instead add green materials such as fruit and vegetable scraps, used tea and coffee grounds, crushed eggshells, grass clippings, old flowers and weeds. Andrew Mills, Head Gardener at Blenheim Palace, commented: “A new-build garden is the perfect opportunity to build a haven for all types of wildlife, including birds and pollinating insects such as bees, beetles and butterflies, with no compromise on your space remaining beautiful. The trick is to let a garden really come into its own and try not to be too clean and tidy - if the space is too open and kept, wildlife will have nowhere to shelter and feel safe.
“By adopting some simple and
cost-effective ideas, we can all encourage more wildlife into our gardens; and the more we come together as a community to take collective steps, the greater the local impact will be on local wildlife. Make the changes, be patient, and our bees, birds, bats and hedgehogs will come.”
For more information on Blenheim Estate Homes, visit
www.blenheimestate.com/ property
www.diyweek.net
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