Want to do your bit for the planet by transforming your garden into a beautiful wildlife haven?
Then check out this feature written by Dave Goulson in Countryfile magazine.
I will summarise it for you here OR you can visit the countryfile website to read the entire article.
Selecting insect-friendly plants.
The first step Turn in your garden into a haven for insects is to choose the right plants. Flowers of all to attract in sex some 300 million years ago so you might think about all the flowers would be good for insects but sadly this isn’t so.
Plant breeders have tinkled with flowers over many years, selecting double varieties, larger blooms, unusual colours and so on, and in doing so have often created flowers that have lost their original purpose and they no longer attract insects.
Most annual bedding plants such as busy lizzies, begonias pansies, and petunias are hopeless for insects as they are most double varieties which have extra petals instead of the pollen producing anthers.
The next few pages pictured from the article are recommended flowers by Dave Goulson to attract insects into your garden.
Other ways to attract wildlife:
Aside from growing the right flowers, there are many other ways you can entice more wildlife to come and live with you.
Bee hotels provide nest sites for some solitary bees, while a hoverfly lagoon might attract some types of hoverfly that have aquatic Larvae. You can also buy bug hotels for your garden, ladybug houses and butterfly feeding stations.
If you have enough room in your garden, ponds are of course wonderful habitats to add for insects such as dragonflies, damselflies, caddisflies and Whirligig Beetles.
A compost heap bull team with insect life. If you have room for a flowering fruit tree even, a small one you’ll provide blossoms for pollinators and a host of nooks and crannies for insects to live as well getting your own zero-food-miles fresh fruit.
Of course don’t use insecticides, there’s no need if you have a healthy garden with natural pest control such as, ladybirds and lacewings, you can easily have a chemical-free garden.
In my garden the additions I would like to add is:
- More bee houses.
- Butterfly feeding station.
- Ladybug Station.
- Fruit trees.
- I’d love a pond but I don’t have room so I may look into how to build a DIY pond or hoverfly lagoon.
I hope you enjoyed this article and find it helpful.
Happy gardening!
Love, Faye xxx
The gal chasing the green dream with chronic illnesses 