Wildlife, such as birds and other animals are fun to have in the garden and they are also beneficial. Encouraging birds, mammals and insects to visit and live in your garden helps to look after local wildlife, keeps valuable green spaces thriving and can help control garden pests by encouraging natural predators. The video shows you what to plant in your garden to encourage bees.
Animals such as Hedgehogs eat slugs, while many garden birds make short work of snails. Birds can are very useful in the flower garden as they eat a lot of pests, such as aphids and caterpillars and you can protect your fruit and vegetables by using netting.
Flowers that attract ladybirds and lacewings are worth growing, as the larvae of these eat large quantities of greenfly.
Ideas
- Surrounding prized plants with slug traps, such as the piece of guttering filled with water, may deter attacks.
- Chemicals can be harmful to all these forms of wildlife, so this is another reason why they should be avoided if at all possible. Larval and adult ladybirds eat incredible quantities of aphids, and so are worth encouraging into the garden.
- Birds love seed beds, so try to deter them by hanging shining kitchen foil above the bed to frighten them off.
- Try to provide places for lacewings and other beneficial insects to over winter. The raised box, which has been stuffed with straw, is an ideal winter home for them.
- Pests may be deterred from attacking certain plants if you use companion planting. Marigolds are a good example of this as the smell of the Marigold prevents insects from scenting out their favourite vegetable.
