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How to create a wildlife friendly cottage garden
WILDLIFE & COTTAGE GARDENS
Cottage Gardens can be a wonderful natural haven for our native wildlife
Bees, butterflies and other insects are attracted by the profusion of simple, open flowers which provide nectar and pollen as easily accessible food sources
Gardening without the use of the chemicals so detrimental to our wildlife, for weed and pest control, is easier to achieve in a cottage garden where many of the plants are more robust than the delicate exotics of more formal landscapes
Native wildflowers, currently soaring in popularity, fit perfectly into the borders, lawns or pond edges. As well as feeding insects, their seeds are appreciated by hungry birds.
Many cottage garden favourites attract the beneficial insects needed to control pests
Feeding the birds and providing nest boxes keep our gardens alive with birdsong and interest
Fruit trees and bushes not only look wonderful throughout the year but are beneficial to wildlife - especially if we are prepared to share a little of their produce
The natural, relaxed country feel of a cottage garden easily accommodates log or leaf piles, compost heaps and other undisturbed areas, no matter how small. Here hedgehogs, amphibians, voles, invertebrates and reptiles can find shelter.
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