Wildlife garden

Hi Tom, welcome aboard!!..

There are so many plants and trees which are of use for wildlife generally and what suits you depends on your garden style/size etc really.

I'll tell you what I grow in my garden and it might give you a few ideas....

SEDUM (smallish perennial) - butterflies, insects, bees

BUDDLEIA (medium bush/tree) - butterflies, insects, bees

PYRACANTHA (medium/large spiky bush/shrub) insects, bees, birds

HONEYSUCKLE (climber) insects, bees, birds

HOLLY (large prickly bush) Insects birds

IVY (insects, birds)

VERBENA (many different varieties, I find the large perennial varieties the best) butterflies, insects, bees, birds - good for late summer/autumn pollen. Goldfinches ate the dried seeds last winter.

RUDBEKIA - (bright yellow clump forming perennial flowers) insects, butterflies, bees, birds - again good for late summer/autumn pollen. Goldfinches on the seed heads last winter.

SUNFLOWERS - (big bright showy flowers with lots of seed) insects, bees, birds 

CLEMATIS MONTANA - I have one of these and it has grown really big with lots of twisted branches which blackbirds, pigeons and a Robin nested in this year!!

If you want summer wild flowers then you really can't beat CORN MARIGOLDS which get covered in all manner of insects and flower for quite a long time. Also CORN FLOWERS & CORN COCKLE - grown as part of a wild flower meadow/lawn

I also have PRIVET HEDGES which the sparrows love for cover and a couple of CONIFERS which get used as cover, nesting in and as a high perch to sing from!! LOL

If you want trees then most are good for all manner of wildlife but the ROWAN is supposed to be excellent with lots of berries for the birds. LILAC is useful for spring colour and scent which attracts early insects and butterflies.

To encourage the birds it pays to encourage all the other beasties which they feed on so a decent log pile left to rot in the corner is good as it will get used by beetles and other small insects. Also and area of long grass or wild flower lawn must look like a banquet table for the birds I reckon as my area was crawling in insect life this year.

Water is also very important so dig a small pond or provide water containers for them also.

Hope this helps, 

As I think of any others I'll include them on this thread....

I will add cotoneaster. The bumble and wild honey bees love it in spring and the blackbird, thrushes, fieldfares and redwings love the berries in winter

LOL, I just came back on to add COTONEASTER....you beat me to it Caroline! I have it growing in my hedge and as you say the bees and then later the birds love it.

As I was thinking about my hedges I also remembered CEANOTHUS which I have and this is a lovely evergreen with bright blue flowers which gets absolutely covered in bees in spring and then flowers again late summer. The main thing I missed out was HAWTHORN! Not sure how I forgot this as it is so valuable to wildlife and at being a thorny barrier for any would be burglar across the bottom of our garden!

Hi Tom

I'm with Higgy on Verbena (have just spotted my first Humming Bird Hawk Moth on Verbena!). Other good perennials are echinacea, centranthus, geranium, lythrum and scabious. For shrubs, you can't go far wrong with lavender and Nepeta (catmint). It depends a lot on your garden conditions as Higgy says. Lythrum and centranthus tend to prefer moist soil. Lavender and echinacea like it sunny and dryish. Geraniums will put up with quite a lot of shade and together with Verbenas will grow almost anywhere.

Wow, I think we've planted a wildlife garden between us all in two evenings!! LOL

Tulip what time of day did you see your Humming Bird hawk Moth? I did see your picture and was very impressed! I have lots of verbena in my garden and a some are large and 'shrubby' which the butterflies and bees adore. I need to keep an eye out for one of those beautiful moths now!

Hi Higgy, I saw the HBHM in the early afternoon. The sun was hot on the verbenas and the moth shared the verbenas with several butterflies including a Red Admiral. Haven't seen it since! But we have some very hot days ahead, so who knows. Good luck!

Hi Tom and welcome, there may be some usefull stuff on here for you..

www.rspb.org.uk/.../wildlifegarden