We all know that a little bit of untidiness is good for all sorts of bugs and birds, but every garden needs a bit of a tidy up now and again doesn't it?
My buddleia bushes have been decorated with a host of butterflies for the last month (it’s been a fabulous year for them hasn’t it?), but long, tired branches nodding under the weight of dead, brown flowerheads signalled pruning time. As I chopped back the excess, some purple and white sparkled among the brown – fresh flowers! It seemed such a shame to literally cut them off in their prime, so I left them be and carried on pruning carefully around them.
I admired my handiwork later and noticed that the four small flowerheads I’d left were each balancing a butterfly: a painted lady, two large whites and a small tortoiseshell to be precise. None were at their best, but this made it more pleasing giving these worn, tatty individuals a hand, when it would have been easy to put tidiness first.
They stayed around all afternoon, sipping at the nectar, proving that a little help goes a long way. Lots of us feed the birds in our gardens when natural food is scarce, but it's hard for these last butterflies, and other insects, to find food with fewer flowers around in late summer.
Were you out in your garden over the weekend making the most of the sunshine? Why not let us know what you got up to, or what jobs you've got planned before the end of the summer?
Hello Mark. I've always found composting really satisfying! Making something good out of stuff you don't want! Have you got a neighbour with extra mowings/prunings they don't want to start you off, then you can add your bits gradually.