The great news is that often what is attractive to wildlife – bright berries, a lovely fragrance or abundant blooms – is also extremely attractive to gardeners. He specialised in filming big cats and worked as a cameraman on the landmark BBC series Planet Earth. Use all the available space: Your garden is a three-dimensional space, so try to make use of all the available surfaces, including walls, fences and roofs. The most wildlife-friendly gardens are those full of plants, with little or no ground showing at all! Even your patio can be enhanced with containers of nectar-rich plants that will attract butterflies and bees. Robinson’s greatest written work ‘The English Flower Garden’ was published in 1883, and is still available today. He encouraged each and every person to be individual in creating their own garden, encouraged the study of the interaction of plants, how each ones size, shape and foliage worked with the other. He wanted to leave gardening ‘to each gardener’s individual imagination and ability to create his own private, personal wilderness’. Birds, butterflies and bees are pretty to look at and help improve your garden’s production. Encouraging hedgehogs, bats and frogs is an ideal solution for pest control, reducing the need for pesticides.

Once you get to grips with how to grow lavender, you'll be wanting to dot the fragrant plants all over the garden and is an addition to your wildlife garden ideas that has numerous benefits and uses. You'll find a large section of selection of plants for naturalization in a variety of settings and a large bibliography for further study.

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Alliums – 'if you choose carefully you can extend the flowering season from the early alliums, such as 'Purple Sensation' to later flowering alliums, such as 'Christophii',' says Mandy. The fewer chemicals you use the more attractive your garden will become to wildlife. Use organic seed and fertilisers. Allow long grass to grow in certain areas where flora and fauna will thrive.

Over 50 species of insects have been recorded in the garden and in the summer several species of bee can be seen buzzing around nectar-rich plants, including nesting mason and leafcutter bees that make use of the bug hotel to lay eggs and six spot burnet moths can be found hatching in the grass meadow. The garden is a green oasis in an otherwise urban surrounding, and is free to visit (donations always welcome). Open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm. Herefordshire Wildlife Trust If you’re keen to get more wildlife in your garden replace ordinary fences with cultivated hedgerows. Create a living hedge that will not only be a visual treat it will provide wildlife with food and shelter. By creating a delicate balance between bugs, pests and their predators, you can improve the health and vitality of your garden, too. There’s something calming about having a white scheme. It’s a blank canvas you can add to and change up whether it’s with cushions, plants and flowers' By recycling kitchen scraps – always uncooked unless you want a bunch of unsavoury rats to show up – you’re doing your bit for the environment by helping to cut down on landfill use and pollution, as well as providing a yummy meal for hedgehogs, toads and slow worms.Birds will come to ponds and other water features to drink and bathe right through the year; in spring the frogs will lay eggs, while in summer you might see swimming newts, or damselflies and dragonflies zooming over the water,’ says Cheryl Cummings. At the end of the avenue is the Round Pond –actually elliptical, you have to stand on the bridge to see it Round! You need to consider whether it will be annual or perennial, and different wildflower mixes will suit different soil conditions and aspects,' he adds.

It’s worth bearing in mind that among the best flowers that attract bees are purple blooms, as bees can see the color purple more clearly than any other color. Colin left Dublin when he was about 20 and lived in the UK, and then overseas for years, travelling around the world for his work. We wanted to create a 'sensory-balanced' workspace that was both socially sustainable and adaptable' I think for what I want to do the book was useful for thinking about the various places in my yard that I want to plant out and what that might look like with broad strokes without using lawn or flower beds that need to be replanted every season. The lists of plants were more or less useful. I found a couple plants I would like to use and I think he makes a good case for using non-natives if they are going to accomplish what you want and work with your climate. That's also the rub though, the plants he lists work well for the English countryside, but many of them won't work where I live (too hot or not cold enough, too dry). Read more: Phillip Schofield praises emergency services after helping to save gardener’s life Who is Wild Gardener Colin Stafford-Jones?Diversity is one of the key things to consider in a successful wildlife garden. Plant a range of flowers, trees, climbers and shrubs that bloom at different times, and ensure you include plenty of evergreen plants for cover. Shipton-under-Wychwood Wild Garden and Woods is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity No.1133334. The key aims of the company are to provide public access to the Wild Garden, to maintain and conserve its environment and to provide valuable educational resources. Turning down stream are the canals, leading over three waterfalls and eventually flowing on down to the Evenlode. A few simple changes in the way you manage your garden can help provide habitats to support a rich variety of species.

Use a rough, nontoxic wood (such as plywood or cedar) to construct a box-cum-bat cave. The rough texture of these woodsmakes it easier for bats to climb in and out of the house. With a bit of encouragement your garden can become a popular destination for a wide range of visitors.Finally, recycle kitchen and garden waste on your compost heap. As well as creating useful food for your plants, compost heaps can shelter a variety of interesting animals – including slow worms that get rid of slugs. What are good wildlife flowers? The Cut visitor centre garden, Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s headquarters is an oasis of tranquillity amid the bustle of Shrewsbury town centre. Here you will find herb and flower beds, mini- meadows, unusual fruit trees such as fig and quince, vegetables in season and a solar fountain bursting through an old millstone. The Wild Gardener presenter Colin Stafford-Johnson living his best life in idyllic surroundings (Credit: BBC Two) A pond, or even just a container of water, will attract wildlife such as frogs and newts to your garden. If you're overwhelmed with slimy slugs and snails, enlisting the services of Frogs and Toads is a great way to keep them at bay. These hungry amphibians are spectacular at keeping down the slug population, meaning no more chewed-up home-grown fruit and veg and no decimated plants. The Wind in the Willows’ Wildlife Garden - Situated outside the Hanningfield Reservoir Visitor Centre is The Wind in the Willows Wildlife Garden, which opened in 2014. The aim of the project is to give examples of wildlife friendly features that can be copied and adapted in your own garden!