Attracting wildlife - is it even possible?

pogofish

Mixing niger seed/blackseed with my sunflower hearts greatly increased the number of small finches coming ot my garden - Previously, with nuts and seed mix I had mostly sparrows with the occasional blue tit/chaffinch, whilst the nuts mainly attracted greenfinches, sometimes in quantity.

Now after three/four years of adding-in the niger seed/sunflower heats, I have a much greater range of finches and tits - especially around a dozen goldfinches, which I'd never even seen on this side of town before - it started with just one pair and they also pick the seeds out of thistle/erignium type plants..

Oh and two kestrels and a sparrowhalk that you can set your watch by - they take the occasional small bird, despite the cats, who are more into small furry things, not feathered.

Leaning old wood against the neighbour's wall to make a bit of shelter and letting a holly bush grow-out to create an open but covered area and letting a bit of ground each side of it go a bit jungly with mixed wildflowers has brought the butterflies and hedgehogs back and they are breeding again. I thought they had gone altogether when my neighbours dug-out the hedges and replaced them with walls/fences and a dog run,

Dense low ground cover plants keep the soil surface moist and provide a home for slugs and insects that keep many birds happy and the hegehogs love rooting about in them at night - they pick out the slugs and clean their spines in the foliage.

Apodemus

margaretclare wrote: »

I hate Leylandii!!! Anyone who gets rid of them is my friend for life...

While there are many reasons to hate Leylandii, it does act as a good habitat for nesting birds and bats and a safe corridor for other wildlife. I've seen badgers, red squirrels and newts in or under my Leylandii and we have various birds nesting in it. In other places it is popular with starlings as a winter roost.

Chris25

as others have said, you'll probably see more in winter - sometimes it takes ages before birds use new feeders.

If you don't have room in the ground for shrubs, could you plant one in a pot - they're so good for cover. Have one that flowers and berries if you can.

Do have a birdbath - and keep it regularly cleaned & topped up - even a large terracotta saucer will do. I could spend ages watching the antics of some of the birds using ours.

We have bark chippings on one bed and the blackbirds, in particular, make me laugh so much as they throw out the chippings to get to the worms and insects underneath. Have to sweep up regularly but it's a small price to pay for the entertainment

Rather than use plants that have double blooms, if you have single flowering varieties, the bees can easily access the nectar.

There are some pretty buddlieas (sp?), some small for tubs and others that grow larger but can be cut back down in spring to grow new shoots and they're an absolute magnet for bees & butterflies.

Grenage

Definitely get shrubs or hedging back into the mix. My garden isn't very big but it has one medium sized tree, a lot of shrubs, and a pond. I've two seed feeders and a fat feeder, and I need to fill them twice a week.

The feeders are all around the trees/shrubs/Jasmin, as they like the cover. The sparrowhawk visits are frequent.

Half a mile down the road, my friend's bird feeder doesn't get touched. His garden is just fencing and lawn.

trailingspouse

Thanks all!!

I'll be patient with the climbers, which will eventually provide a reasonable amount of cover (hopefully), look at adding water into the mix, continue to plant more in the border, and encourage more bugs where I can in the hope that they in turn will encourage the birds. Maybe this winter will be the winter we start to get the birds!!

Fen1

Look for native British plants, not just flowers. Butterflies are dependent on nettles as egg-laying sites. If you have a lawn, think clover, daisies and mixed grasses, not the "perfect" wildlife-devoid mono-green.
Let there be bugs! I never spray my climbing roses - eco spray or otherwise. The blue tits adore the aphids, as do the ladybirds. My roses are perfectly healthy as they are being managed completely naturally.
Also think about your night-time visitors: different bat species eat different insects, from midges to moths. Make your garden moth friendly by planting night-flowering plants, and start to love ivy. Think rambling cottage garden, not the sanitized formal 50's: double begonias and petunias and hydrangeas are awful.
If you have falling leaves in the autumn leave them alone, or at most brush into a pile. Bugs and bees nestle under them, so completely clearing the leaves denies insects winter protection ( and food for the birds.)

trailingspouse

We get a lot of leaves in the garden thanks to the large copper beech tree, so I've made a mental note to leave them be (saves a job!!).

I'm off to the garden centre tomorrow to find some bug-related bits and bobs, and some more plants, and some bulbs for next year. That should keep me out of mischief for a while!!

mickeymouse303

I've never really had many birds over the years, but hoping to try and get some more bees by planting some purple plants. Hopefully this works.

Farway

mickeymouse303 wrote: »

I've never really had many birds over the years, but hoping to try and get some more bees by planting some purple plants. Hopefully this works.

Also try some with large flat heads, like wild carrots, fennel, sunflowers, and with a 100 guarantee, sedums