Easy but effective ways to Garden for wildlife

A SUCCESSFUL garden relies on attracting lots of insects and mini beasts, and learning to appreciate how they interact. But as gardeners we’ve been taught to separate these creatures into ‘saints’ and ‘sinners’. In practice, this doesn’t really work. For example, you might loves thrushes and hate snails, yet snails form a major part of a thrush’s diet in early summer. Similarly, you cannot have hedgehogs without at least some slugs on which they can feed.

It’s all a question of balance: we need just enough sinners to keep the saints healthy and happy; not so many that we are overrun with them.

In spring, you may find your broad beans are covered with blackfly – a type of aphid. Leave them alone and in a well-balanced garden the seven spot ladybird will soon find them. She’ll lay clusters of 30 oval eggs near the colonies and the larvae