Your Wildlife Garden. Jackie Bennett

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if you have a pond — many birds will drink from the bird table and wash their feathers in the pond.

      Put out a range of food, on the ground and on the table. Include hanging feeders with nuts for tits, sparrows and rarer visitors like siskins; apples on the ground for blackbirds and thrushes; and seeds, nuts and fat on the table for robins, starlings and other species. They will come to rely on this food supply, so once you’ve begun to feed keep it up until the worst of the winter is over.

       Recommended Bird Food

       Peanuts These should be unsalted, although the salt can be washed off and the nuts dried thoroughly. Commercially produced nuts should bear the Birdfood Standards Association’s seal of approval. This guarantees the nuts are free from contamination by aflatoxin, a toxin produced in nuts which have not been harvested and packed correctly, sometimes resulting in death to birds who eat them.

       Sunflower seeds Wild bird food mixtures containing sunflower and other seeds are available from suppliers advertising in bird magazines and, increasingly, from hardware and pet shops.

       Half a coconut Drill a hole in the top and use string to hang the shell downwards so that it stays dry. Don’t use desiccated coconut as it tends to swell up inside the bird.

       Kitchen scraps Not all food scraps are suitable. Try bacon rind, suet, dry porridge oats, cheese, baked potatoes, apples and raisins. Stale bread or cake is acceptable but it should be soaked in water to make it easier to swallow.

      RECIPE for bird cake

       ¼kg (½lb) suet or lard, melted

       ½kg (1lb) dry ‘cake’ mixture: seeds, nuts, oats, dried fruits, cake etc

       A mould: small bowl, half a coconut shell or empty plastic carton

       Put the dry mixture into the mould and pour the melted fat over it. If you intend to hang the ‘cake’ from the bird table, place a piece of string in the bowl before pouring in the fat. Leave to set and tip out onto the bird table.

      KEEPING THE POND ICE FREE

      It is important to keep at least some part of the pond free of ice throughout any cold spells. This not only allows birds and other visitors like foxes to drink but also stops a build-up of gases under the ice. As organic matter decomposes gases are released which, if trapped by a layer of ice, will build up and poison existing pond life. A simple and cheap method of allowing the pond to ‘breathe’ is to float a block of wood on the surface of the water. Then, when the pond freezes remove the wood, leaving a gap. A child’s plastic or foam ball will also prevent ice forming over all the surface, but avoid lurid colours which can scare away potential users.

      MAKING PLANS

      This is the best month for planning out a new garden layout. Even if you only envisage a few minor changes, it is a good idea to try them out on paper beforehand. If you are starting with a bare plot or considering a fairly major project like digging a pond or planting a mini-woodland, it is essential to think it through in some detail before you ever put spade to earth.

       Habitat/Feature

       CHECKLIST

       Pond

       Marsh/bog area

       Mature living trees

       Old hollow/fallen trees

       Young trees

       Climbing plants

       Native mixed hedge

       Compost heap/bin

       Bird table

       Bird/bat boxes

       Berry-bearing shrubs

       Nectar-rich flowers

       Untidy corner

       Long grass/meadow area

      Consider first of all which features already in the garden are useful to wildlife — mature trees, for instance, a compost heap or a pond of some kind. Use the list above to identify elements you want to keep. Draw a rough plan of the garden and mark in these features. Next, decide which features could be improved to make them more wildlife friendly, such as adding stepping stones to a steep-sided pond or replanting an existing border with nectar-rich flowers. You might wish to turn part of the lawn over to a wildflower meadow but, before you do, consider which areas it would be practical to grow long and which parts you really need to keep as a conventional lawn. Be prepared to play around with this plan — all winter if you have to. Try all sorts of combinations, bearing in mind how much work they will involve, until you are happy that the layout is one that will suit you and your lifestyle, as well as the needs of the wildlife you want to attract.

      ORDERING WILDFLOWER SEEDS

      Many native species are not yet available as pot-grown plants in garden centres. This means that there is no option but to grow some varieties from seed which is more readily available. You will need to order from one of the wildflower specialists (listed on p140), or check out the seed packet displays in supermarkets and garden centres.

      Annual

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