Where The Wild Things Are

Turn your garden into a sanctuary for visiting creatures, says Alan, and they will help look after your beds and borders

- Alan

The re-emergence of garden wildlife is one of the great joys of spring and a little time spent spotting should notch up a good tally of species. But birds and insects aren’t just fun to watch. Many also provide free, organic pest control, so it pays to do all you can to attract them.

Birds

Songbirds are feeding chicks right now, so you’ll see busy parents collecting the extra food they need for their families. Blue tits take greenfly from fruit trees and roses – so don’t spray your plants. Blackbirds pick through freshly dug soil or newly spread mulch for worms, while robins hunt for larvae of soil pests exposed by weeding and hoeing and often follow gardeners while they work – so that’s another incentive to get on with those jobs. Wrens feed on small insects near compost bins, so recycle your lawn clippings and soft prunings to provide natural food for these tiny and delightful birds.

Even when there’s plenty of natural food about, it still pays to put out wild birdseed. Adults need high-protein insects for their chicks but they will eat seed themselves and a well-stocked bird table keeps them coming back. Invest a few pounds in a mealworm feeder and a supply of mealworms from a fishing shop to increase the number of your feathered visitors many times over.

Leave a patch of moss in the lawn and a muddy area by the pond for blackbirds to use for nest-lining material, and put out a wide, shallow bowl of water for bathing. Keep it clean and refilled.

Beasts