Garden Centre

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Wildlife Friendly Containers

Native plants keep our native insects alive, and native insects provide the diet for most of our native birds. That means that if you can provide a small area where native species can thrive – you can be doing your bit to keep Britain’s wildlife thriving.

Native plants such as Centuary, Oxeeye Daisy, Rock Rose and Salad Burnet are as pretty as imports, grow well in containers and make an oasis for some of our rarer and more beautiful butterflies, as well as providing sustenance for bees.

Alternatively plant some tubs with more permanent contributions to the native landscape – a crab-apple or malus tree in a pot, or a trough that contains a couple of native heathers and a moss rose, will give winter food to birds like finches as well as revealing their beauty through hips, haws and fruit in the cold months when nothing else is happening.

You can buy packets of wildflower seed, and these can be sprinkled into containers to make a perfect small area that serves as an insect haven. There is a second advantage to this approach; it keeps many insects off your more high maintenance exotic plants! Remember that the soil in these containers should be less fertile than potting compost, as many of our native plants are used to competing with meadow grasses or growing on rough ground, so if you give them too much nutrient in their growing medium, it will cause them not to put out flowers.

Labels: Wildlife Gardening

The All Seasons Gardener at 2:01 PM

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