Bring some native charm to your plot and create a nature-friendly oasis of flowers at the same time
The idea that we should make our gardens wilder has been a hot topic at recent Chelsea Flower Shows, sparking an ongoing debate as to whether or not a garden – a cultivated space – is no longer a garden if it’s allowed to become wild. Of course, it doesn’t have to be one extreme or the other, and there are plenty of ways to still have a beautiful garden that’s accommodating to wildlife too.
One of the easiest ways to make your garden more welcoming to wildlife is to incorporate some wildflowers. While a true perennial wildflower meadow is a special type of habitat that’s not suitable or achievable in the average back garden, it’s still possible to include wildflowers among more traditional garden plants. Most of the plants in our gardens are non-natives that have been introduced to Britain from places with a temperate climate like ours. Many are great for wildlife, providing food and habitat. However, our native creatures have evolved alongside our native plants: for example, insects will time their lifecycle with certain plants flowering, so there’s plenty of pollen and nectar available for them.
That’s not to say non-native plants are bad, but in some cases, our wildlife has a unique relationship with our native plants. And because wildflowers are not as abundant as they used to be, our gardens can be a great place to grow them, while at the same time helping to boost biodiversity.
In the garden
Next time you’re on a walk in the woods or along a country lane, notice what grows there. In your garden, wildflowers such as wood anemone, foxgloves, red campion and primroses will thrive underneath a deciduous tree or large shrub. Foxgloves are a classic cottage garden plant that will be right at home in a border among perennials and shrubs. Mallows, ox-eye daisies, bladder campion and toadflax are good additions to a sunny border, and if you have free-draining soil or a gravel garden, then look to wildflowers growing at the coast on shingle beaches or on the cliffs – plants such as viper’s bugloss (Echium vulgare) and sea thrift (Armeria maritima).
Plant honeysuckle, a native climber and wonderful for moths, so that it scrambles up a wall or fence, or emulate what it does in the wild and allow it to wind its way through the branches of an established tree.
If you leave parts of your lawn unmown, you might be surprised by what turns up. Clover should flourish, providing lots of pollen and nectar for bees; cowslips and self-heal might appear; and, if you’re very lucky, you may discover orchids. You can boo
