Jenny has been writing for Organic Gardening Magazine for five years.  If you want to find out more about specific wildlife gardening topics, click on the information below to access this archive of Jenny's articles.

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Growing hardy geraniums   Imagine a group of plants that flowers over a long period, will grow almost anywhere, provides attractive ground cover and has blooms in a variety of stunning colours.  Add to these attributes an ability to bring bees and some butterflies flocking to the garden, and even the odd bullfinch, and you have perhaps the perfect group of plants for any wildlife friendly plot.  I am always on the lookout for plants that have good wildlife value that will survive in a dry garden and one large group of plants has exceeded my expectations.  They are the cranesbills or hardy Geraniums, and I for one wouldn’t know what to do without them.   Read more  Read more.....

Encouraging solitary bees  In these days of increasing awareness of the benefits of organic gardening and farming, biological control is big business.  Introducing beneficial insects into our gardens or greenhouses is now a fairly normal approach to pest control or pollination, and in certain situations can be a very effective way of dealing with unwanted insects such as whitefly or aiding the setting of tomatoes. But however useful this scientific approach may be, many gardeners would still prefer to encourage useful creatures using natural methods, building up a well balanced garden over time, rather than introduce predators in unnatural quantities or bumblebees into areas where natural pollinators are lacking.   Read more......

Knapweeds  Everyone has their favourite wildflowers.  Mine include showy species such as bluebells, meadowsweet, cowslips and scabious as well as more subtle beauties including moschatel, water crowsfoot and eyebright.  If however, I were choosing my favourites from the point of view of bringing wildlife to my garden, then my first choice would always be the knapweeds.   Robust plants with pink, blue or purple flowers, the knapweeds and their close annual relative the cornflower, must be amongst the very best of plants for encouraging garden wildlife.  The ease with which they will adapt to almost any garden situation makes them really special.   Read more.....

Vetches, Clovers and Peas   Most observant gardeners have probably noticed that certain ‘types’ of plant appear to be particularly good at encouraging wildlife to our gardens whereas others are bereft of any insect activity.  Plants with open, starry flowers for instance are often covered with hoverflies, and daisy shaped blooms frequently have bees swarming around them.  There are inevitably exceptions to these generalisations but one group of plants that always provides value in the wildlife-attracting arena is the pea family.  Generally known as legumes, the peas, vetches, clovers and trefoils together make up a huge group of our native wildflowers    Read more.....

Planting Hedges   It is not always easy in the depths of winter to motivate oneself, get outside and complete those all important winter gardening tasks, but I find that visualising the end product, several years down the line, helps me tremendously!  Some tasks may wait but others, such as planting a new hedge, filling gaps in a old one, or making an existing hedge more wildlife friendly, really are jobs that needs to be done now if they are to be done well.  Hedges are wonderful wildlife habitats. Imagine your new hedge in years to come, providing thick shelter for wildlife amongst some of our most attractive native shrubs.    Read more.....  

Winter Wildlife Garden Maintenance   Winter is here, and December can bring major changes to our weather. Rain, frost, wind – even snow occasionally.   It is easy to forget about the creatures outside our four walls when the temperature drops.  Most of us feed the birds at this time and appreciate the enjoyment we get from these garden visitors, but we may overlook the frogs and toads, small mammals, bees, butterflies and moths and a vast array of smaller insects, because they are inconspicuous at this time of year.  But they are still out there and it is useful to know a little bit about their habits and life cycles so we can ensure that the gardening that we do now is not detrimental to them.  We need to know what we should and shouldn’t be doing in the winter garden.   Read more.....

Dead Wood as a Wildlife Habitat   Organic gardeners have known for many years that their plots are important wildlife habitats, but within most gardens organic or not, is a natural substance that a huge range of garden wildlife relies upon.  Stag beetles, centipedes, fungi, woodpeckers, shrews, woodlice, hedgehogs, mosses and bats are just a small number of the animals and plants dependent in some way upon wood.  How we use and recycle wood in our gardens is a subject to which most responsible gardeners give a lot of thought.    Read more......

Getting to Know your Beneficial Insects     Gardening organically affords many benefits to both ourselves and the environment, and all organic gardeners recognise the advantages that gardening with nature brings.  The active encouragement of beneficial insects and their canny employment around the garden not only helps to remove pest species in a natural and efficient way but also maintains the balance of wildlife in the garden environment, making it less likely that any one species will increase enough to overwhelm another or cause problems to crops.  But we are gardeners and not entomologists and sometimes a little help is required to sort the good from the bad, especially if you are new to organic gardening.  Amongst all the insects and other invertebrates in your garden, there are a few worth getting to know better, as they form the backbone of the useful army of natural predators.   Read more.....

© Text and photographs Jenny Steel 2008