Share experience of encouraging wild life

Posts

• wild edges Posts: 10,497

  July 2020

  This is a big question. Pollinating insects like any flower that provides a lot of nectar and pollen at the time of year when they're flying so native flowers aren't necessarily what they prefer. Non-natives can be the best option for providing food sources at odd times of year for example. However it's the foliage of native plants that are often what the larval stage of the insects feed on (or what the prey items of the larval stage feed on) so without those plants the insects can't complete their life cycle. Some insects, some hoverflies for example, need still or stagnant water for their larval stage, others need plenty of damp and rotting vegetation. In a small garden balancing habitat and human needs is hard but gets easier with larger areas to work with. It also depends on your local area. If there's an abundance of wilder areas locally you can concentrate on feeding the bugs knowing they have somewhere to travel to when they want to lay eggs.
  

  Dave Goulson's book The Garden Jungle is very good, all his books are very good but the other have more of a bee focus.
  

  If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  

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• Sue.lines78 Posts: 2

  July 2020

  LOVE  and recommend Dave Goulson's books!  I was told that I made a big mistake by composting Garlic Mustard rather than leaving it for the Orange Tipped butterfly.  I do have a cultivated flower garden and do know that I should go for open throated flowers (Pompom type Dahlias are a no no!?) i have Nettles, Fat Hen, Chickweed, Speedwell and Willow Herb but I don't know why I should leave these in. Any information would be useful including a book title that would help one to build useful information like Hoverfly preferences mentioned by "Wild Edges".

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• GemmaJF Posts: 2,286

  July 2020 edited July 2020

  I think the book you might be looking for is  Wild Gardens, what to grow, how to grow it by Jenny Hendy
  
  Rather than being a general book on wildlife gardening, most of it is written as a guide to specific plants with details of the benefits to particular insects.
  
  

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• Bee witched Posts: 1,295

  July 2020

  Hello @Sue.lines78,
  
  I'm a beekeeper and garden with the bees very much in mind.
  
  My favourite book is 'The Bee Friendly Garden'  - Ted Hooper & Mike Taylor.
  It gives great information about flowers, shrubs and trees that are useful sources of nectar and pollen throughout the calendar year.
  
  Bee x
   
  

  Gardener and beekeeper in beautiful Scottish Borders  
  
  A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime
  

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• edev08 Posts: 56

  July 2020

  https://naturescape.co.uk/  Sells a whole manner of wildflowers and also linked is the RHS plants for pollinators amongst British Wildflowers list that is printable. Hope this helps
  https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/conservation-biodiversity/wildlife/plants-for-pollinators
  

  Grow wildflowers in your garden

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• Buttercupdays Posts: 4,546

  July 2020

  Nettles are a food plant for Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Comma Butterflies, other plants create diversity and may be good for bees - willowherbs always seem to have lots of pollen - or fulfil a need for other smaller insects that are at the lower end of the food chain. Fat Hen is a good foodplant  for insects and birds, green finches, linnets and yellowhammers eat its seeds, it is related to quinoa and was grown for human consumption in the past.
  

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