Tara Lissner from My Swiss Garden describes to us the thriving biodiversity in her garden and gives us tips on how we can create our own.
Summer days in my garden are noisy, from early morning I have birds chirping and singing to each other, insects buzzing around in the flower beds and dragonflies clicking as they dive bomb the bird bath. Sometimes it is nice to sit and watch all the activity. I've tried to encourage as much biodiversity into my garden as possible. I plant with insects in mind, open faced flowers make it easier for insects to get to the pollen. Shrubs and trees with blossoms followed by berries feed insects and birds. I have four bird boxes with Blue Tit chicks this year, a bat house, a hedgehog house, a very busy insect hotel, three bird feeders (one of which is a suspended empty half coconut my son made at least 10 years ago), two bird baths, a wild flower meadow (aka a steep lawn area that we've given up mowing), a wood pile and a good deal of messiness.
Gardening with insects, lizards, birds and small mammals in mind means that a very tidy garden is not something I strive for. I leave the hidden unseen areas alone to do their thing, I let the thistles and the dandelions grow tall and hope the insects enjoy them. Trying to keep on top of pests can be a challenge but if you know your garden and check the hot spots regularly you can see the green or black fly early and treat it as soon as you see it, controlling an outbreak early on is much easier than coping with an infestation. Be aware of what is going on around you and take a moment to enjoy it.
Here are a few easy ways to improve the biodiversity in your garden
- Keep an area of lawn unmown and let the dandelions, clover and daisies feed the insects
- Create a log pile in a damp, shady area next to a wall or fence - an ideal habitat for beetles and woodlice
- Be thoughtful when adding flowers and plants to the garden, consider bee and butterfly friendly flowers with open faces, shrubs that flower in spring and produce berries later in the year
- Explore natural methods of weed and pesky insect control, consider nematodes or old remedies like dishwashing soap and water against greenfly, boiling water on weeds in the gravel or paving stones
- Install an insect hotel and place it somewhere that you can see it.
- Put up birdhouses
- Feed the birds with seed
- Add a bird bath