Making a garden: A PLACE FOR WILDLIFE

Keeping nature at the heart of the garden, Alan Titchmarsh shows how to encourage wildlife in and still have a beautiful outdoor space that you can enjoy, too

-  Alan Titchmarsh

It always saddens me that Americans call their garden a 'backyard'. The very sound conjures up images of a concrete jungle that needs nothing more than a broom to keep it in good order. 'A garden', on the other hand, brings to mind a green haven erupting with blossom, abuzz with bees and a-flutter with birds.

And it is wildlife that makes a garden special, transforming it into a living, breathing piece of nature. Yes, the gardener likes to be in control, but the wise and thoughtful gardener - the kind gardener - understands that a garden is a place where all forms of life can meet and co-exist for mutual benefit, and that includes humankind.

Without bees and butterflies, birds and amphibians, mammals and insects a garden is a sterile thing, a place that might look neat and tidy but which offers little in terms of environmental enrichment. We have a duty of care to the natural world, but it is a duty that can be far from onerous. As gardeners, we are at the sharp end of conservation and ecology, and on our own patch, by adjusting the way we intervene, we can make a real difference to the lives of those creatures that share our space and they, in turn, add so much to our own existence.

The wildlife garden

No matter how small your patch, the way in which you manage it will make all the difference to its value to the natural world. For a start, stop being so tidy. I don't mean that leaving out plastic toys and the whirligig washing line is acceptable (the whirligig is a regular bone of contention in many a garden), but stop and think before you manicure every inch of your plot.