Hedges for Wildlife

Go native and plant the ultimate wildlife hotel! Winter is the perfect time for hedge planting, and if you seriously want to put conservation into action, planting a native hedge is an easy and effective way to help some of our most threatened UK species.

For most of us, large trees and woodland patches are beyond the scope of our modestly sized gardens, but native hedges function as mini woodlands which are absolutely teeming with wildlife. Supporting up to 80 per cent of our woodland birds, 50 per cent of our mammals and 30 per cent of our butterflies, the benefits of hedgerows to wildlife are indisputable. However, in some parts of the UK, up to 50% of hedgerows have disappeared. This is where gardeners can step in and make a real difference.

So, get planting your Hedgerow Hotel! Here is an introduction to just some of the wonderful guests who will be eagerly waiting to check in.

Hedgehogs

Hedgehogs are suffering catastrophic declines in their population, numbers plummeting by around 50% just since the turn of the century. The highest numbers of hedgehogs are found in suburban areas where badgers are scarce, and this means that gardeners have a vital role to play in helping save this unique and much-loved animal.

Don’t fence me in!

Hedgehogs may look small and cute, but their nights are spent on strenuous long distance runs of 1-2km every night! Incredibly, each individual will cover a territory of  10-20 hectares. They need to be able to move about freely, but enclosed gardens surrounded by impenetrable walls and fencing carve up their habitats and leave them dangerously isolated. Native hedging composed of species such as beech, field maple and hazel provides essential wildlife corridors for hedgehogs, linking habitats whilst providing shelter and food. The leaf litter from these deciduous trees accumulates at the bottom of the hedge, providing a warm and cosy bed. Meanwhile, the hedge supplies a bountiful larder of juicy earthworms and ground beetles to fatten them up for the winter. Protected by thorny species such as blackthorn, hawthorn and holly, hedgehogs can safely hole up and hibernate.

 

Hedgehogs are the ultimate gardener’s friend. Help them out by planting a hedge and enjoy the magical sight and sounds of Tiggywinkles snaffling up enemy slugs, caterpillars and earwigs.

Field Mouse

Your hedge will provide a home for many small mammals, such as this field mouse.

Other small mammals such as mice and voles will also hide out in your hedge. Not to be confused with the unwelcome house mouse, the field mouse or wood mouse commonly lives in gardens although, as they sleep in burrows during the day, they can be hard to spot. Keep your eyes peeled in the evenings when they venture out to forage for food and you might catch one making a lightening dash from underneath your hedge. As well as gobbling up snails, insects and fungi, wood mice will collect berries and tree seeds from hedges. Hazel nuts, sweet chesnuts, beech mast, hawthorn berries and cherry stones from wild cherry will keep their winter larders in underground burrows and old birds’ nests well stocked with food supplies.

Birds

Birds will quickly use your hedge for nesting sites. Take care not to disturb them during the breeding season from March to August.

In urban and suburban areas with little woodland, birds rely on hedges. Many of the species most commonly associated with gardens such as blue tit, great tit, dunnocks and chaffinches were originally deciduous woodland birds.

Hedges provide excellent opportunities for roosting and nesting. By incorporating evergreen species such as holly and ivy you will create additional cover. At the bottom of the hedge, wrens, robins, dunnocks and whitethroats will build their nests. Whilst song thrushes, blackbirds, chaffinches and greenfinches will nest higher up. To avoid disturbing breeding birds, do make sure you avoid cutting your hedges from March to August.

Hedges also offer protection from predators such as sparrowhawks and of course, the domestic cat. Meanwhile, Robins and blackbirds will exploit hedge tops as conspicuous but safe song posts to show off their musical repertoire.

This colourful bullfinch is tucking into the juicy berries of Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus).

Hedges are also living larders, supplying an abundance of seeds, nuts and berries for hungry birds with each species having its own preferred food. Blackbirds favour the haw fruits of hawthorn, but are unfussy in their tastes, enjoying rosehips, sloes, dogwood, buckthorn, elder, yew and holly. Redwings and Fieldfares will feast off holly berries, whilst the larger mistle thrush will happily tackle the bigger blackthorn sloes. Many native hedging plants also produce seeds and nuts which birds enjoy, including alder, beech, hazel, hornbeam and silver birch.

Bats

Bats like this Common Pipistrelle become lost and disorientated without ‘hedge highways’.

 

Think you don’t have bats in your garden? Look again. A number of bat species frequent gardens, the most common being the Common Pipistrelle and the Soprano Pipistrelle. Turn your lights off at dusk, look outside and you may catch one flitting by.

Hedges are vital to bats. They use them as navigation features to orientate themselves in the landscape and prefer to move about along these ‘commuter routes’ rather than open areas. Hedges will provide them with roosting sites and plenty of food in the form of moths and other insects.

Butterflies & Moths

When you are thinking about attracting butterflies to your garden, hedges may not immediately spring to mind. But our native hedgerows supply important larval food plants for butterflies and moths, as well as nectar-rich flowers and vital shelter from the elements.

In summer my holly hedges are swarming with holly blue butterflies, whose inconspicuous green caterpillars feed on them along with other hedgerow species such as Spindle.

Holly blue butterfly on Holly (Ilex acquifolium)

In spring, the caterpillars of the rare Black and Brown Hairstreak butterflies emerge from eggs laid on the leaves of blackthorn and wild cherry and begin feeding on them. Blackthorn is also an important food plant for many moth caterpillars, such as the beautiful Magpie and the ghostly Swallow-Tailed Moth.

Blackthorn is a food plant for many moth caterpillars including this Magpie Moth.

I frequently catch the spectacular pink and green Elephant Hawkmoth in my garden moth traps. Encourage them by planting some honeysuckle to ramble through your hedge as they feed on its nectar-rich flowers. Watch the adults flying at dusk, and in the day keep an eye out for their crazy looking caterpillars which sport huge eyespots to scare off predators.

 

The caterpillar of the Elephant Hawkmoth

 

The adult Elephant Hawkmoth feeds off honeysuckle.

Bumblebees & Beneficial insects

Compared to individual garden flowers, a hedge provides a surprisingly large volume of pollen and nectar for foraging insects. By selecting a variety of species which flower at different times of the year, you can ensure that there’s food for bees all year round as well as blossom for you to enjoy. Moreover, different flowers will attract different pollinators, so the more variety the greater the diversity of insects your hedge will support.

Early spring is a crucial time for hungry bees. We often fail to notice the inconspicuous flowers of native hedgerow tree species such as willow, hazel and field maple, but these flowers produce an abundance of early pollen and nectar. Hedges come alive in the spring, first with blackthorn blossom and then the creamy white scented flowers of hawthorn, wild cherry and crab apple. In late spring and early summer our native Viburnums,  the wayfaring tree and the guelder rose, begin blooming. In early to midsummer, come the strongly scented flowers of elderberry and the wild dog rose. Adding ivy to your hedge provides nectar sources in the autumn when few other sources are available and for this reason a clump of ivy will hum with hoverflies, bees and other insects when in full flower. These late sources of food will fatten up new bumble queens so they are in tip top condition for hibernation.

As well as sources of food, hedges also provide homes for insects. Bumblebees nest and hibernate in the bases of hedges where they are protected from predators and the weather whilst remaining close to food. The cover provided by hedges will also provide plentiful nesting sites for spiders and other insects.

Selecting native hedge species

Traditionally, hedgerows contained predominantly hawthorn and blackthorn, with about 60-70% of the hedge being composed of these thorny species which quickly provided a dense hedge and a prickly barrier to livestock. If you are using hawthorn or blackthorn, bear in mind that these are very vigorous and plant your other chosen varieties in groups of two or three so that they aren’t outcompeted by them.

However, you can compose your native hedge mix with whatever native species you wish. Our Native Hedging Collection includes 5 species which will provide varied interest. Alternatively make your own selection from the list below. Aim for a range of woody species and to maximise wildlife value, include some rambling plants such as wild rose, honeysuckle and ivy.

Of course, there is no law which says you have to use native species. Although our wildlife has evolved a unique relationship with native trees and shrubs, there are also non-native hedging plants which provide wildlife value. For a full list, consult our Native & Wildlife Hedging page.

Maintaining a hedge may seem like more hassle than putting up a fence but think again! Fencing requires painting, goes rotten and is frequently toppled by storms. Whereas a well-maintained hedge lasts a life time.

Bushy is Best

To grow a good-looking dense hedge which will also harbour plenty of wildlife, you need to encourage lots of side shoots from the outset. Hawthorn and Blackthorn are especially vigorous, so on planting be brave and cut them back to about a foot (30cm). Lightly prune other deciduous species but leave evergreens like holly alone.

Ongoing pruning regime

How often and when you prune your hedge will depend on how big you can allow it to get and how tidy a hedge you prefer. However, the more regularly you prune and the smaller your hedge, the less value it has for wildlife. Therefore, try to affect a compromise which suits your situation whilst maximising wildlife value. Above all, avoid pruning between March and August when birds are nesting.

Smaller, tighter hedge

Regular pruning in the early autumn will keep your hedge in check. Native hedge species are vigorous and pruning at this time helps to restrict vegetative growth. However, autumn pruning will inevitably remove some berries, seeds and insects over the winter when birds and mammals need them most.

Larger, less tidy hedge

Leaving your regular pruning until Jan or February allows wildlife to feast on insects and fruits during the winter months. However, winter pruning encourages the growth of vigorous new shoots which will leave your hedge looking more straggly for the rest of the year.

Rotational Pruning

Most flowers and fruit are produced on 2–3-year-old wood and so annual pruning will reduce the amount of food available to wildlife. To ensure plenty of spring flowers for pollinating insects and autumn/winter berries for birds, then adopt a rotational system. Instead of cutting it every year try trimming it every other year or cut alternate sides. As well as encouraging wildlife, it will also save you time and effort.

Go wild about hedges!

Whilst planting a legacy woodland is beyond the scope of most gardens, planting a hedge is also leaving a lasting legacy. Over time, a hedge will develop a complex ecological web, supporting a diverse community of animals all the way up the food chain, from the humble bumblebee to the much-loved hedgehog.

So, if you are thinking of planting a hedge this winter, don’t hedge about! Go wild and plant some native tree species. Not only will wildlife enjoy it, but you will enjoy the wildlife too.

Find hedge-growing help and planting guides at our tree and hedge hub page.

BUZZING WITH EXCITEMENT… GOOD NEWS FOR GARDENERS!

We are in the midst of somewhat dark and difficult times. Newspapers, social media and television constantly reminding us of the troubles that loom uneasily around us. Every day seems like a battle. And yet, there is one battle that continues to fly beneath the radars of far too many of us; let alone the political leaders across our planet.

Soiltary bee on cornflower

©Shutterstock – A solitary bee visiting nectar-rich Cornflowers

Bee populations in decline

Our bee population is in a worrying state of decline. Without bees and other pollinators, there is no pollination of crops, 70% of which feed the world. And without food crops the survival of the human race itself is questionable. If current trends continue some bee species will be lost from Britain altogether; and one in ten of Europe’s wild bees will face extinction. It’s serious.

A number of factors are at play here including the ever topical climate change, the destruction of bees’ natural habitats and the continued overuse of bee killing pesticides.

Wildflower Meadow

©Shutterstock – 97% of our wildflower meadows (a natural habitat for wild bees) have been lost.

Pollinators need food, water and shelter, and since World War II, 97% of our wildflower meadows (a natural habitat for wild bees) have been lost. As such, pollen and nectar rich flowers in our own green spaces provide both much needed food and indeed shelter for the beleaguered bee.

Planting to attract pollinators

As gardeners and plant lovers this is a call to arms. We need to stand shoulder to shoulder, trowel to trowel and do what we do best.  Eliminate the usage of harmful pesticides and most effectively, plant, plant and plant more.

The plants that we so adore, that we spend our last single penny upon are the single most important factor in this worrying dilemma. Luckily, it’s a rousing cheer for us gardeners as we can cheerfully proclaim to our long-suffering but significant other halves, that we are helping to save the planet by buying more plants.

But what plants too choose?  Like many garden centres and online plant retailers, Thompson & Morgan have adopted the beneficial ‘RHS Plants for Pollinators’ logo which highlights plants which will attract pollinators into our gardens.

RHS Plants for Pollinators logo

©RHS – RHS Plants for Pollinators logo highlights plants which will attract pollinators into our gardens.

Scan through Thompson & Morgan’s catalogue and you’ll see the ‘RHS Plants for Pollinators’ logo sprinkled liberally across its pages.

Attract pollinators all year round

As gardeners our endeavour is to attract these precious pollinators into our plots year-round. In the depths of our dreary winters plant cheerful, yellow winter aconites and beautifully scented Mahonia x media ‘Charity’.  Spring heralds the much anticipated arrival of our beloved snowdrops, drifts of golden narcissus, stunning hellebores and a bounty of beautiful tulips, all of which will have the bees buzzing for joy. Summer naturally brings with it a seemingly never-ending parade of pollinating plants; a confection of Cosmos, fantastic fuchsias and geraniums galore. An endless summer bouquet of blooms. And finally, into the listless, mellow days of autumn, delightful dahlias, echinaceas, asters and the ever-popular bee magnet, sedums provide a final hurrah for our busy bees.

Flower border with nectar rich plants

©Shutterstock – As gardeners our endeavour is to attract these precious pollinators into our plots year-round. Cosmos, Dahlia and Monarda are all valuable plants for pollinators.

No matter what size our garden, be it a solitary, veronica packed window box, a hanging basket crammed with a cascade of lobelia or perhaps a single patio container playing host to exquisite agapanthus, there is no excuse. 

It is estimated that there around 27 million gardeners in the UK (from a current population of 64 million). Think of the positive implications of each of us 27 million gardeners planting just one container of pollinating plants.

We have to take action before its too late.  Let’s make sure the sting in this tale is ensuring we still have a bee population that has a sting in their tails. Find even more information and advice about plants for pollinators over on our dedicated hub page.

It’s a Jungle Out There

We all love creatures great and small, right. I would far rather employ the birds and bees than use chemical bug control and so we go to great lengths to entice them into our garden. But then there is the small matter of our six cats to consider. And so we constructed the Catio: By encasing the pergola surrounding our 27ft x 8ft patio with wire mesh, we created a safe outdoor environment for our cats to enjoy fresh air and exercise, whilst protecting the wildlife in the garden from their basic killer instincts!

Cats in the Catio

© Caroline Broome – Cats in the Catio.

It also allows us to enjoy watching the birdies on our several feeding stations, the main one being no more than a metre from the enclosure. And most pertinent of all, I’ve got myself an amazing micro climate in which I can grow tender perennials such as Cannas, Abutilons and Eucomis and extend the annual summer displays well into November.

All creatures great and small seem quite relaxed in each other’s company, especially the starlings: their manners certainly are! I think pigeons get a bad name; we have two ferals and one wood pigeon as regular visitors and they never mess on their own doorstep, obligingly hoovering up all the scattered bird seed that the aptly named chatter of starlings fling all over the show. 

Mealworms, that’s what’s caused all this riotous behaviour. In early Spring the bird feeder started getting regular visits from a pair of starlings, which I now recognise as a scouting party. Nature having taken its course, within a month or two the fledglings had joined their parents, squawking impatiently to be fed. Ahh, how cute they looked, isn’t nature wonderful. Then word got out to all their relatives and before you know it there were 17 of them (all under the watchful eyes of our cats, a mere paw’s snatch away, under the protective custody of the Catio!) I’m having to refill the feeders twice daily; it’s costing me more to feed the birds than it is to feed the cats, I swear. The chaffinches and tits love the white sunflower seeds, the robins favour the suet blocks as does the woodpecker. Black sunflower seeds, so popular last year, are last resort, so fickle! I’ve even managed to train the squirrels (yeah, right) onto their own bird feeder further up the garden. Yes readers, the caged feeders do deter the squirrels.

Regrettably however, the 25mm mesh surround does not keep out fledglings, frogs or mice. So far, our Siamese kitten Ethel (named after my beloved 106-year-old friend who died last year) has bagged two mice (deceased) and several frogs (survived – clearly more robust.)

Fledglings, frogs and mice

©Caroline Broome – Fledglings, frogs and mice have all made their way through the mesh of the Catio.

The last frog escaped with its life by crawling into the cup of my bra (not, I am relieved to say, while I was wearing it) in the laundry room. But the highlight of our wildlife adventure has been the Female Emperor Dragonfly resting on a Miscanthus grass in the front garden. (Good job that never got in the house.)

Female emperor dragon fly

© Caroline Broome – The Female Emperor Dragon Fly.

We’re very lucky to attract so many birds, due no doubt to numerous large mature trees surrounding us in neighbouring gardens and the church yard. But a mile away in the Hampstead Garden Suburb several Hort Soc friends’ gardens back onto Big Wood. One such garden regularly welcomes woodpeckers, parakeets and goldfinches on a daily basis. Unbelievable racket! Surely Alfred Hitchcock took his inspiration for The Birds from The Suburb! On our NGS Group Open Garden Day recently (we raised £9000 by the way, she mentions nonchalantly) another woodland garden attracted a very friendly bird. It seemed quite at home, hopping around on the drive, amongst the throngs. It even ate out of one visitor’s hand and another identified it as a White Eared Iraqi Bulbul: Many Iraqis owns Bulbuls as pets, and they are considered to be one of the smartest and most intelligent birds on earth. This one certainly wasn’t daft as it soon sussed out the best tea and cake in the group. Hope it was reunited with its owners though, no doubt it was mentioned in despatches on the Suburb Chatline.

 Iraqi Bulbul bird

© Caroline Broome – Me and my new friend the Iraqi Bulbul bird.

Talking of which, when the Hort Soc opened for the NGS in 2017 we held a children’s treasure hunt: a model bird or animal was placed in each of the Open Gardens for the children to find, (on loan – the ornaments not the children – from our very supportive local nursery.) Quite a few garden owners bought theirs afterwards, including our esteemed Chair Doc Page, whose eagle befit his status! Having perched it on the apex of his greenhouse he then posted a photo of it on the Suburb Chatline. Had several residents in quite a flap apparently………(pardon the pun)

Catch up with you all later……..Caroline

How to attract birds to your garden all year round

Redwing bird on berries - photo from Nic Wilson at dogwooddays

This waxwing is a regular visitor to Nic’s garden
Image: dogwooddays

In January, Nic Wilson of dogwooddays was astonished to see a female blackcap in the garden during the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. It was a new species for her and, even better, it turned up at just the right time to be counted! She also has regular winter visits from redwing, feeding on next door’s cotoneaster, and waxwing in the birch trees behind her house.

Here are Nic’s top tips for attracting birds to your garden, including plants that they particularly love…

How to attract birds

Ivy berries on ivy bush - photo from Nic Wilson at dogwooddays

Plan to include a few more berry-bearing plants such as Nic’s beautiful ivy
Image: dogwooddays

In the winter and early spring it’s crucial to provide food for birds, to help them survive the colder months. This can be in the form of seeds and nuts – in our garden the finches love sunflower hearts and starlings flock to feed on the fat balls – but berries, seedheads and overwintering insects also offer hungry birds sustenance in the garden.

Winter is also an ideal time to plan simple changes to your garden that will encourage birds to visit throughout the year. It’s estimated that there are 400,000 hectares of garden habitat across the UK, and this could make a real difference if it were used creatively to support birdlife.

Stock up feeding stations

redwing sitting on a bush with red berries and green leaves - photos by Nic Wilson at dogwooddays

A redwing pauses for brief respite
Image: dogwooddays

The RSPB advise us to feed birds throughout the year, but winter is a key time to keep bird feeders topped up and ensure that there’s plenty of fresh water to drink. In colder months, fill feeders and bird tables with sunflower and niger seeds, or a quality wild bird seed mix.

Peanuts are a good food source, but they shouldn’t be provided whole. Only purchase peanuts from a quality retailer who guarantees that they’re free from aflatoxin, a natural toxin that can kill birds. Fresh mealworms, fatballs (remove any nylon meshbags first) and fruit – soft apples and pears cut in half, or bananas – are also ideal winter fare. It’s essential that feeders are kept clean or you can do more harm than good.

Growing your own seed-bearing plants is a great way to feed birds throughout the year. Sunflowers provide huge heads of seed, while poppy, teasel, allium, echinacea, phlomis and many other garden favourites also have seeds that can be left over winter to attract birds like finches to the garden. As I write, a charm of goldfinches has descended on our verbena, bouncing on the seedheads as they pick out the seeds.

Provide nesting places

Gardman Multi-Nest Box With Apex Roof by Thompson & Morgan

Mount bird boxes in quiet, sheltered spots
Image: Thompson & Morgan’s Gardman Multi-Nest Box With Apex Roof

Supplying bird boxes is the easiest way to encourage birds to nest in the garden. We regularly hosted blue and great tits as they nested in boxes my children had made with their grandad.

Hedges and trees are important as they offer sheltered spots for birds to nest. Just be sure to avoid cutting hedges in the breeding season (early March – end of August) to protect any nests that might be in use during this period.

Encourage insects

long tailed tit on a branch photographed by Nic Wilson at dogwooddays

Birds like this long tailed tit are attracted to gardens with lots of insects
Image: dogwooddays

The more insects in your garden, the more birds will be attracted to feed. Avoid chemical products and use organic growing methods to encourage healthy ecosystems that will support large numbers of minibeasts.

A perfect, tidy garden isn’t ideal for wildlife – creating ‘wild’ areas with piles of logs, sticks and stones helps to encourage a range of insects. Leave stems and seedheads over winter to offer shelter to insects during the cold winter months.

Bring on the berries

red pyracantha hedge photographed by Nic Wilson at dogwooddays

This pyracantha hedge looks gorgeous and provides a feast of winter berries
Image: dogwooddays

Trees and plants with berries offer rich pickings for birds, and they add colour to the garden during the bleakest months. More unusual garden birds like fieldfare, redwing, mistle thrush and waxwing love to visit berry-laden shrubs, giving us fabulous views of these beautiful birds. Try planting:

If your garden is too small for trees or large shrubs, try climbers like honeysuckle ‘Hall’s Prolific’ or ivy ‘Glacier’ that grow vertically and provide nourishing berries for the birds throughout the autumn and winter.

Five tips for planting for pollinators

peacock butterfly against a green background

Important pollinators like bees, butterflies and moths are in decline
Image: Marek Mierzejewski

Bees, butterflies and other pollinators are under threat, so there’s never been a better time for gardeners to help by adding a few plants to support them. Here, Mandy Bradshaw from The Chatty Gardener shares five simple tips to help make your garden a refuge for pollinators.

1. Be part of the solution

bumblebee on a yellow foxglove

Residential gardens and allotments are an important lifeline for pollinators
Image: Paul Stout

I love watching the bees in my garden squeezing into a foxglove flower, noisily feasting on opium poppies in the veg plot or enjoying the winter honeysuckle.

Gardening without chemicals and trying to choose nectar-rich flowers means bees and other pollinators are often buzzing around my plot – good to watch and helping my flowers and veg set fruit or seed.

Increasingly, our gardens are becoming an important lifeline for these beneficial insects and go some way to counter the effects of natural habitat loss and the use of pesticides.

A recent study found that urban allotments and gardens are vital sources of food for pollinators – especially when they have native plants such as brambles and dandelions, and traditional favourites like lavender and marigolds.

So, to hear the sound of bees in your garden, make the decision to actively support our pollinators – it’s the first important step.

2. Choose the right plants

bench in the middle of a wildflower garden in England

A quiet corner of this walled garden has been dedicated to wildflowers
Image: Shutterstock

The very best plants for pollinators are ‘species’, as modern cultivars can be sterile or have low nectar and pollen levels. If you grow vegetables, try to include some heritage varieties among the modern cultivars.

When it comes to the flower garden, plants with open, single blooms are better than double flowers where the nectar can be difficult to reach.

Incorporate some wildflowers in your garden, or even leave a corner where you allow weeds such as nettles and dandelions to thrive. Let your grass wait a little longer before you get the lawnmower out, to allow the clover to flower. Allowing ivy to flower will also provide important food for bees.

Think about adding a few flowers to your vegetable patch to help pollinate your crops. I edge my beds with the common marigold (Calendula officinalis). It looks pretty and draws in those helpful insects.

3. Give a good mix

Mahonia x media collection from Thompson & Morgan - available now

The mahonia’s large yellow flower spikes bloom from November through to March
Image: John Glover

Different insects like different plants, so make sure you have a range of flower shapes to ensure your garden helps them all. Some bees, for example, have long tongues to cope with plants such as aconitum.

Grow a mix of perennials and annuals and don’t forget trees and shrubs. Both can be excellent sources of nectar for bees and butterflies.

Think about planting to cover the seasons. Like the gardener, pollinators need food all-year-round, so it’s important to plant for more than just the summer! Early spring and autumn are the seasons when nectar can be particularly short in supply, but adding just a few of the right plants can make all the difference. Good spring plants are crocus and hellebores, while a winter feast can be provided by snowdrops, mahonia or sarcococca.

Take a look at Thompson & Morgan’s Perfect for Pollinators range which includes a selection of seed and plant varieties known to attract bees, butterflies and other pollinating insects.

4. Ditch the pesticides

Achillea millefolium 'Summer Pastels' (Yarrow) from Thompson & Morgan - available now

Yarrow attracts ladybirds and hoverflies
Image: Achillea millefolium ‘Summer Pastels’ (Yarrow) from Thompson & Morgan

Try to garden without using pesticide sprays as they often kill beneficial insects alongside the pests.

Instead, encourage birds, ladybirds and other gardeners’ friends in to deal with any problems. For instance, the larvae of hoverflies voraciously consume aphids. Similarly, when they hatch, ladybird larvae can eat up to 5,000 aphids as well as attacking red spider mites.

To attract these helpful insects plant things like marigolds, alyssum, cosmos, dill, yarrow, penstemon and fennel.

5. Give them a home

Garden Life Wooden Insect Hotel from Thompson & Morgan - available now

Insect hotels are beautiful and functional
Image: Garden Life Wooden Insect Hotel from Thompson & Morgan

Make or buy an insect house to give solitary bees and others somewhere to nest. Something as simple as an old terracotta plant pot filled with lengths of bamboo can be used as a bee hotel.

I hope this has given you plenty of food for thought. Just a few simple changes can turn your garden into a wildlife sanctuary that provides vital food and shelter for our precious pollinators. For more advice and pollinator-specific recommendations, visit our hub page.

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