Of cuckoo clocks, army knives...and gardens?

When you think of Switzerland, what springs to mind? Mountains, maybe, or watches and chocolate. But wildlife-friendly gardens? Surely not!

Well, on my recent jaunt there, I can tell you there was inspiration galore to be had.

In particular, what I love about Swiss villages in the mountains is that they really embrace the mini-meadow. Here in the UK, it has taken a long time for people to accept that it is ok to let your lawn grow long (and there is still a long way to go), but in Switzerland you don't hear the roar of the lawn mower all weekend.

Even in September, when mini-meadows are inevitably looking a bit tired, the Swiss seem perfectly happy to just let meadows do their thing. In the photo below a froth of Bladder Campion was still in bloom - it has such a romance to it.

Spring would have been the prime time to see the mini-meadows in all their glory, but even so there were still treasures to be seen such as this Meadow Clary (below) next to someone's washing line. How I'd love that in my lawn, but in this Swiss garden it ws just a wild flower, a lawn 'weed'.

And wherever scabiouses popped up their heads in people's turf, there were butterflies. In this photo there are actually five blue butterflies - three on the front flower, two on the rear, all in someone's front garden.

Another thing I love is that Swiss gardens, even front ones, are often full of little vegetable plots. That in itself can be good for wildlife, but even better they so often seem to grow flowers dotted in amongst the crops. And the gardens push right up to the houses - no dead expanse of hard paving or decking here.

We can excuse the expanse of gravel in the following photo because this is actually someone's roof. But rather than leave it bare, they had planted trees in large pots - more homes for wildlife.

Anhd if you're going to grow on a roof, why not put a whole vegetable plot up there and dangle nasturtiums over the edge?

And I just love this for a zigzagging path up to someone's front door. These Rowans and pines, such typical native trees of the mountain woodlands that cloak the valley sides, will ensure this linear garden will be such a rich home for all sorts of wildlife.

For many of the gardeners who created the scenes in the photos above, wildlife may not have been their primary aim. However, what you do sense is that they are keen to fill their urban world with nature in its broadest sense. They bring the locaol woods and meadows right into the heart of where they live, and in doing wildlife can flourish and I'm sure the people benefit massively, too.