Plants for a wildlife-friendly plot
Q Please could you recommend some wildlife-friendly shrubs and plants for our new garden?
Mike and Lesley Crouch (via email)
A When choosing suitable plants, it is important to know whether your soil is acid or alkaline, and buy the right plants for the site that may be sunny, shaded or a mix of both. There are lots of wildlife-friendly plants to choose from:
Berberis: Either a deciduous purple-leaved one such as Berberis thunbergii or an evergreen one such as B. darwinii.
Viburnum opulus: This has wonderful flowers and berries and looks attractive.
Leycesteria (Pheasant berry): This is an attractive soft-stemmed shrub with burgundy bracts and berries.
Shrub roses: Rosa canina (dog rose) and Rosa rugosa have sweet flowers and lots of jewel-coloured hips in autumn.
Buddleja: These will attract lots of butterflies. Pruned annually.
Hippophae: Sea buckthorn is ideal for coastal gardens and is a fantastic plant for flowers, fruit and autumn colour.
Pulmonaria: good for early pollinators.
Sunflowers: they brighten every garden and the seeds are popular with birds.
Globe thistle: The spherical blue heads open gradually.
Teasel: Biennials with purple flowers for pollinators and seedheads for finches.
Echinacea: Summer and autumn colour.
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