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The Wildlife
Garden at The Crib , Shropshire
Managing your garden for
wildlife adds an extra dimension for the enthusiastic gardener (or even
the less enthusiastic gardener!) It is an exciting way of gardening and
can help our native wildlife by providing food and habitat that may be in
short supply in the wild. Even a small garden can be managed in such a way
that birds and mammals become a part of the fabric of the garden, rather
than occasional visitors.
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 The
Crib in the South Shropshire Hills
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After 12 years creating a
wonderful wildlife garden in Oxfordshire I have moved to pastures
new. Gardening on the edge of a very large village surrounded by other
gardens was an interesting exercise and over those years the wildlife that
came to the garden and made its home there was fantastic - within just
three years we had attracted 24 species of butterfly! However I
am now faced with almost a blank canvas in Shropshire. Over time I will be
making a new garden, and creating wildflower meadows, nectar borders,
wildlife ponds, a vegetable plot and an orchard. To see our apple and plum
varieties
click
here.
The
existing part of the garden had a couple of small flower borders, but otherwise
was simply lawn. However it was blessed
with a few apple trees and a great mixed native hedge which has instantly
provided a good habitat for birds. Over
time I will be documenting, on this website and eventually in a
book, the creation of the garden and the wildlife we attract, as and
when it comes. Progress in terms of
the wildlife we are attracting has been rapid - especially regarding the
bird and insect life. You can click here
to see what we have attracted so far. A few small changes in any garden can make a
huge difference to its value as a wildlife habitat. |
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One challenge
in this garden is to preserve our fantastic views. In the
Oxfordshire garden, the objective was to screen the uglier views around us
to create a protected wildlife haven within a not terribly attractive
area. Here we have the opposite but enviable task of including the
surrounding landscape in our garden. The picture above shows the house in its
beautiful landscape. In
the three years we have been here we have made good progress towards our
aims to create a really wonderful wildlife garden, full of interest all
year round. In that time we have sown a large wildflower meadow,
created three smaller meadow areas by allowing the grass to grow and adding
small wildflowers, planted a herb border and a nectar border,
created two very large borders where nectar plants and grasses are being planted, established 40 fruit trees,
created a bog garden with a winter stream and harvested
lots of vegetables! Plus planted 400 native hedging plants. The small copse has been thinned, a hedge laid
in the midland style and grass paths sown. And the Big Pond now
really is a pond and not just a hole in the ground! Already the
wildlife is increasing day by day - butterfly numbers are noticeably
greater than our first summer here and bird species and numbers continue to
climb. Gardening of any kind takes time and patience
is essential but we have already made a great impact.
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View of the Long Mynd from the garden
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Garden
Update Autumn 2009 Work through the summer
and autumn concentrated on the Copse where suitable shade loving species
were planted, as well as on the Shady Border alongside the copse which has a
selection of native wildflowers that like shady conditions. This
border emerges from the shade to become a sunny border and this area too
was planted with a selection of British natives wildflowers.
It has already proved a popular spot for the wall brown butterflies we
have in the garden, especially the greater knapweed which they seem to
love.
Work on the area at the
front of the house continued in order to make a small, more formal garden with beds
separated by gravel paths. All the plants going into this area are
chosen for their nectar producing properties and lavender will dominate.
We also planted more apple trees and another plum in the orchard area.
A large (recycled) greenhouse was put up in the vegetable garden and was
immediately filled with tomato plants, seedlings and all manner of plants,
so I don't know how I have managed without it until now!
Work will continue next
spring on the 'front' garden especially the bee garden and a new border
especially for flowering trees and shrubs. This area will be created
by moving our driveway - a rather large job but one we hope we can
accomplish by the summer months. We also plan to plant more climbing
plants on the house walls to create nest sites for birds and hope to
include some roses with scent for us and pollen for the bees.
The Copse
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The Bog Garden
and Vegetable Garden |
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The Big Meadow |
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The Back Garden
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The Long Borders
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The Big Pond
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Over time we
hope to create a beautiful garden, where wildlife is welcome.
We are recording the butterflies and birds,
running a moth trap, putting up bird boxes and creating log piles.
To check out the wildlife we have recorded so far, click
here
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©
Text and photographs Jenny Steel 2010
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