Gardening for wildlife

 I have been spending a lot of time in my sanctuary recently, and it is glorious.  Cicero said (and I have it written on a cushion, so it must be true) that "if you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need", and I completely agree with him.  The library is of course essential year-round, but takes on a particular significance in winter.  As for the garden, it too can be enjoyed across every season, but it really springs to life about now.

We recently took a trip to Plant World, our lovely local garden park and nursery.  Ridiculously not allowed to open until April (despite garden centres being allowed to open throughout lockdown!) it was very special to visit again.  The gardens were their usual splendour, particularly the azaleas, cherries, and the last of the magnolias, whilst all over there was the promise of colour yet-to-come.  Of course, as well as the gardens themselves, Plant World sells all manner of homegrown plants, which are consistently amongst the best quality you can buy locally, and a fair price too.  Well, we filled two baskets and took note of other things, for which I will likely go back.

Back home for a planting session, and despite the frosty nights, spring has certainly arrived in the garden.  My favourite thing at the moment is my honesty, not least because I grew them from seed myself.  They've grown to a very good size, have billions of buds, and provide a massive splash of colour, leading the charge to May.  They're also brilliant for butterflies - see the orange tip below, my first sighting of the year for one of those - and what's more, when the flowers are all spent and the plant dies, it will leave behind the most beautiful seed pods, well worth keeping in the border all year long.

Butterflies aren't the only wildlife visiting now, for the birdsong and general activity has been brilliant this year.  It has taken a serious amount of time to attract a variety of birds, but our persistence has paid off, and I've now seen more than 25 different species in our garden, which I think is pretty good for a suburban estate.  Most recently I noted the first ever sighting of a siskin, whilst greenfinch and goldfinch visits are massively up compared to past years.  I've put so much effort into increasing feeding spots and observing which locations work best, and I finally think the balance is right - certainly the disappearing food tells its own story.

We've always had frogs in the garden, and frogspawn arrived for the first time last year.  I've already seen the frogs two or three times this year, most recently when doing my annual sorting of the store behind our summerhouse (a truly unpleasant job).  However the one creature I always look out for in spring is the slowworm. To me, they're like the harbinger of the growing season here - a bit like the Ravens in the Tower, gardening doesn't really work properly without them.  If I don't see them by the end of April, I begin actively looking for them (the compost bin is the best place to start), but this year no hunting was necessary, as a mammoth specimen appeared out of the blue as I was carting compost up the steps.  It didn't seem too bothered by my presence, and I lingered to watch it for a minute, its tongue flicking in-and-out in a relatively relaxed manner.  I think it's the biggest one I've seen to date, and I was thrilled.  After enjoying it for a moment, I carefully covered it over and went about my business, safe in the knowledge that the garden season has now officially begun.

So what else?  Well, we've got hedgehogs.  We've suspected it for a while, but after borrowing a trail camera from my parents, I can now confirm at least two regular visitors to our garden.  Again, I'm thrilled, and have quickly fallen into the routine of leaving out hedgehog biscuits, dog food and water, every night.  Hedgehogs visit at least two different parts of the garden, although I've no idea if it's the same pair in each place, or different pairs (which would really be something).  At the moment I'm using the camera to try and establish if they're sticking to a regular route, so I can tailor the garden more to their needs.  In the meantime though, here's some of the best footage I've captured so far:

 

Gardening for wildlife is a passion, and I feel that really for the first time since we moved here, the natural balance is now falling into place.  I don't suffer the same problems with slugs these days, nor any garden pests really, and I think it's because we've tried to encourage nature in all its forms.  I don't use slug pellets; I don't spray chemicals; I don't kill anything; and I leave wild areas.  The result, in all honesty, has been life-changing for me - every day in the garden is a new adventure, I always see something of interest, and I get the sense that the garden as a whole is sending up a little bit of thanks for the style of stewardship we're trying to provide.  We - the garden and I - are on the same page now, and that's a great place to be as we head into the summer months.