Despite the weather, the garden is still buzzing with life
It’s all change in the wildlife garden as the turning season ushers in wetter weather, longer nights and a lot of fun planning! The last cheerful faces of the Cosmos flowers peep through the morning mist, the starlings return like metallic pirates in their droves, and the smell of bonfires cloaks the air.
This time of year, I am reminded of the ant in the parable of the Ant and the Grasshopper; the ant planned ahead, was fully prepared for the winter and enjoyed the fruits of his labour (quite literally). We have, through trial and error, discovered that the golden rule for a successful wildlife garden is to make sure that there is food and shelter available for the invertebrates, birds and mammals all year round, but especially in Winter. This month’s blog is therefore a high-level guide to what you can plan for now to be ready in Spring, and what you can plant throughout the year to be ready for Winter and ensure that all-important continuity.
What to order and plant now for late winter
Winter aconite bulbs, muscari bulbs, early crocus bulbs. These will provide a riot of colour and all-important nectar for pollinators at an otherwise barren time of year in January/ February
Winter-flowering violas. Very pretty and dainty, but also helpful for Buff-tailed bumblebees who are active in Winter and require nectar at this time. They can be planted out immediately from jumbo plugs.
Winter-flowering Heather. This can be found in many garden centres at this time of year
What to plant during Spring for Autumn/ Winter pollinators
The wildlife garden has provision for both food for the birds and any mammals that are not hibernating, as well as providing nectar and colour in the form of pollinator plants. Here are some plants that can be ordered now for delivery in the Spring
Fatsia Japonica (pictured). Flowering from late October through November, this is a superb Autumn pollinator plant and produces blue/black berries which birds love
Ivy plant Hedera Hibernica (pictured) The ivy plant is a wildlife garden dream. In our garden we have both Hedera Hibernica and Hedera Helix. Not only does it cover our ugly new build fence to provide shelter for birds and invertebrates, it also offers nectar during late Autumn and is beloved of wasps in particular. The birds then devour the berries of Hedera Hibernica. If you have one plant in your wildlife garden above any other, then Ivy should be very high on the list.
Salvia microphylla ‘Cerro Potosi’ (pictured). After a deep snow last winter, only 2 of our salvias survived out of 6. By far the hardiest, latest-flowering and in my opinion, the prettiest, is the ‘Cerro Potosi’. It can happily survive freezing temperatures due to its native habitat being in the high Mexican mountains. Don’t believe the RHS website; this magenta beauty happily flowers through to end of November in our Kent climate.
Mahonia ‘Winter Sun’ (pictured). Mahonia is a rather ‘marmite’ plant; some people cannot stand the prickly leaves, but I love them for their interest, and in particular they are a fantastic winter pollinator plant. ‘Winter Sun’ is a bright and cheery addition to any garden. We keep ours in a large pot to stop it growing too large. The bright yellow plumes of flowers are abundant in November/ December, with glossy blue berries which birds love to eat following on.
Callicarpa Bodinieri (pictured) This is a highly ornamental shrub and grows well in semi shade/ damp conditions. We have ours in a ‘difficult’ spot at the back of the garden. The very pretty bright purple berries are a great winter food store for birds.
Finally, we’d like to share our favourite ‘success story’ of 2023 in the wildlife garden. Using a Blink camera which is movement activated, (you can buy these fairly cheaply online) we were able capture footage of some special visitors to our garden in September/ October.
We have hedgehogs!
The hedgehogs look like a good weight and are fit and healthy. We have observed them eating slugs and walking around the pond. They do a brilliant job of keeping slugs and other pests at bay!
There are key things you can do to encourage hedgehogs into your garden:
Allow them access. Cut a small hole in the fence or have gates high enough that a hedgehog can squeeze through. You won’t see any hedgehogs if your garden is like a fort. New build houses like our often have high fences which go down to grass-level, so it’s worth having a chat with your neighbour to create access holes.
Don’t use insecticides and never use slug pellets. Slugs ingest slug pellets. Hedgehogs can find the slugs and eat them before dying an agonizing death. Slug pellets are also highly poisonous to dogs and cats, (and it’s very hard to keep cats from wandering in your garden)
Have a compost heap made with wooden slats. Not only is it an excellent way of recycling waste and saving money on buying bagged compost it provides a winter lodging for hedgehogs, grass snakes, slow worms, toads, lizards and yellow necked mice. Our has a hedgehog hole cut in the bottom which also allows us to scoop out the compost in Spring/Summer. The golden rule is not to turn or touch the compost after mid-October as the hedgehogs will be looking for somewhere to hibernate and may have moved in.
Autumn is a time of ends and the hope of new beginnings. A time of planning, storing and saving up for a fresh start and to try out new ideas for the garden next year. The hibernating animals have made their preparations to be ready for the winter period, and we can do the same with the garden in order to help them. Or as I like to say, ‘Be more ANT.’