Whilst we created our garden for it to provide us with food and look pretty, without doubt our main reason was to create a home for wildlife.
And this year we have certainly reaped the benefits of all our hard graft, as the wildlife has flourished.
Today’s blog is written by me and my Mum & Dad, as we reflect on observations we had over the growing year. Hope it inspires you to consider gardening with nature in mind, such as including a pond, growing more flowers, shrubs and trees and allowing areas of your garden to grow wild.
Damselflies & Dragonflies
- Damselflies rest on a sunny stone, newly hatched and drying their wings.
- After years of effort, the aliens of the pond world finally arrive with stained glass wings and long metallic bodies.
- A broad bodied chaser, blesses us with her presence
Bats & birds
- Blackbirds & sparrows splash around bathing in the pond, a robin searches for worms, while overhead a goldfinch hops around in the ash tree.
- An acrobatic bird hangs upside down on the peanut feeder. He has a blue beak and robber’s mask, he is a nuthatch
- A still, silent night in summer, disrupted by the successive clicks of bats as they hunt for moths
Butterflies
- A long distance flyer from Africa comes in mass on a warm day in August
- It’s butterfly central on the purple buddleia, as 10 painted ladies feast on its rich nectar, accompanied by tortoiseshells, peacocks and red admirals
- A graceful comma snoozes on a potato leaf
Moths
- As day becomes night, out come the moths in search of nectar, only to be pursued by the dashing, diving bats, accompanied by the splash of a frog enjoying an evening swim.
- An army of enormous yellow underwing moths, feast on the sweet smelling buddleia
Bees
- The lazy hum of bees as they hover over the rosemary and thyme.
- A giant of a bee sat on the thyme, waves at me with it’s arm, or so I thought…
The pond
- It is a year round beauty, from frozen ice to cool pool in spring. A provider for dragonflies and sparrows. The blackbirds bath there in the morning and the fox drinks there at night
Frogs & toads
- Its glazed skin reflects the sunlight as he floats in the pond; he keeps an eye out for gardeners’ wellies, before disappearing into the black depths
- His contrasting warty skin is bathed in witchcraft as he hides from cats underneath the logs and leaves
A garden alive with insects
- On a sunny summers day, ladybird larvae feasting on green fly; to then become adult ladybirds themselves and so produce the next generation.
- Hoverflies, bees & butterflies jostle for position on the best flowers; while below a myriad of spiders scuttle and scramble through the undergrowth, in search of prey and centipedes and ground beetles compete for lunch
A place for investigation
- The garden is my science lab
Our gardens have the potential to be mini nature reserves as they provide a considerable amount of habitat for wildlife. There’s a ton of advice about how to attract more wildlife into your garden; I always say, ‘build a home for wildlife and it will come to you’, it will bring you so much joy.
Watching the wildlife in your garden enlightens you, it’s just breathtaking. When you’re in that moment everything else in your mind, whether it’s school or work, just disappears and you become entranced by the bugs, bees, butterflies, birds and bats. Wildlife gardening has the ability to take all your worries away. We LOVE it!
Green Fingered George 
Wow your family garden is a paradise for wild life, love it, it’s wonderful to see just how much you CAN do in your own garden well done all, I hope our green space will follow your lead, and build a wild garden too, you are a imprecation to all, if we all try to just do a little wild corner, it would be a better world for us all. Brilliant.
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I think creating a wildlife garden is just the best, it means we are all doing our bit to help protect nature and the environment. Hope I can help you at some point this year Joan
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