Elderflower for the flowers and berries. Pollinators and birds. They do good in clay and part shade, and you should prune them down to about 2 feet tall each year after the 3rd year of planting.. which will help control the size in your small garden.
I was thinking about elderflower the other day actually for this purpose. Was a bit put off about the size and it being such a dinky garden. I think I've ruled it out because it has a habit of inhibiting growth of surrounding plants - and in my garden basically everything would be near it
Berries, depending on the dogs you have, mine won’t touch fruit.
Insects also require a breeding spot for example stagnant water is good for Hoverflies or rotten heaps of organic matter. It wouldn’t be pretty. But making space for nature is part of the aim? Dogs are not conducive to a harmonious connection to nature
Alas rotten heaps of matter wont work around here - rats. And we get a few too many gnats for my liking too so try to avoid stagnant water. I realise that means I won't be catering for all wildlife - but I'm sure other people will have things like that covered, so I'm not too worried about it, particularly when there just is a limit given the size of my garden and I ultimately do have to pick and chose.
When growing plants for pollinators, dong forget to grow the food plants for their larvae … they’re often in shorter supply than the flowers.
This is a great point that I think a lot of people forget - always got to consider larval foodplants! I like to grow some sacrificial nasturtiums for example and make sure the cabbage white caterpillars end up there for a good feed.
Those are very good questions, and I can't believe I entirely missed them out!
- In terms of birds - the main ones we have here are: robins, tits of different types, crows, magpies, parakeets, couple of woodpeckers, seagulls (I do not want them!), starlings. - Wider habitat - suburban, lots of trees immediately around my house with quite a lot of variety including an ash tree in mine, and small fruit trees, then a range of evergreens. There is a playing field and a wood basically next door. - Location - London, England.
Hope that helps!
That helps. The best thing for creating a wildlife garden is to introduce a pond, even a small one is beneficial. Birds will come to the garden to drink and some will also find food there, especially if you grow native plants lots of invertebrates will be attracted to it.
Have you got room for a tree. Silver Birch and Rowan are great for the berries. Both are attractive and silver birch is second only to oak for having the greatest numbers and varieties fauna species living on/in it. Crab apple and amelianchar also both very good and neither get too big if you are worried about that.
Based in Sussex, I garden to encourage as many birds to my garden as possible.
I know those of us with dogs are very protective but generally dogs in gardens aren't anything to worry about. I have had dogs all my life and we haven't, nor do I know of anyone who's dog has been poisoned by plant material. I am not suggesting it's never happened but often when things are classed as toxic it is only half the truth and you need to eat a lot of it to do any really harm (plus most taste horrid so aren't eaten anyway). You will obviously know your dog best but I wouldn't rule every plant out if it may be toxic.
As for plant suggestions, a apple tree on dwarf rootstock may be nice. You could also grow other fruit like currants and blackberries (you can get thornless blackberries now) and they will provide cover and food in the summer until autumn. A carpet of wild strawberries might be fun and ours were still flowering up until recently.
Our birds like nothing better than flipping all the fallen leaves looking for food in the winter and we add halved apples for the blackbirds. The best thing is to not be too tidy, have some food but as mentioned above all else, cover. The cover doesn't even need to be wildlife motivated so in a perfect world you might use ivy but the birds will happily nest in a big clematis or climbing hydrangea.
Rowan performs well in my garden with flowers and fruit and they’re very easy to keep in check. The berries don’t last long because the birds quickly make off with them. I grow a clematis Jackmanii up mine for a bit of extra interest. There’s superstitions around cutting them down though so if you salute magpies, don’t walk under ladders or get uptight breaking mirrors they may not be for you. As habitat for insect and bird life ivy takes a bit of beating but needs controlling. Hazels are also good habitat shrubs with nuts thrown in as a bonus. Pruned properly they can also provide a supply of plant stakes.
Pampas grass although not very fashionable these days provides large amounts of seed for birds in late summer/autumn. Goldfinches in particular.
Posts
https://www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/foodplants.php
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
As for plant suggestions, a apple tree on dwarf rootstock may be nice. You could also grow other fruit like currants and blackberries (you can get thornless blackberries now) and they will provide cover and food in the summer until autumn. A carpet of wild strawberries might be fun and ours were still flowering up until recently.
Our birds like nothing better than flipping all the fallen leaves looking for food in the winter and we add halved apples for the blackbirds. The best thing is to not be too tidy, have some food but as mentioned above all else, cover. The cover doesn't even need to be wildlife motivated so in a perfect world you might use ivy but the birds will happily nest in a big clematis or climbing hydrangea.
As habitat for insect and bird life ivy takes a bit of beating but needs controlling. Hazels are also good habitat shrubs with nuts thrown in as a bonus. Pruned properly they can also provide a supply of plant stakes.