Tag Archives: wildlife

Young hedgehog

Exeter Wildlife Garden Award

Exeter Wildlife Garden Award

The innovation

The importance of wildlife is easily undermined in a city, so making a conscious effort to provide wildlife with shelter, food and water in your garden is a great idea. The Devon Wildlife Trust is creating a map of wildlife gardens across Exeter by identifying wildlife gardens across the city. To read more about the project visit their website.

The award

Everyone who applies and fulfils 6 of their requirements (at least one from each column) will receive a plaque to display outside their garden, a certificate and a packet of wildflower seeds.

The criteria

How we can help

At St Bridget Nurseries we have a range of ways that you can make your garden wildlife friendly! Here are the things we can supply you with to help you fit the criteria and receive your award!

photograph of bird care section in orlBird Feeders. We have a range of bird feeders and food in our garden centres for birds of different species and sizes. These not only look great and are long lasting quality, they are also designed to allow birds to easily take their food. Why not really treat the birds with our peanut butter treat from only £4!Peanut butter for bird treat

 

 

Insect lodge to attract wildlife to the garden

Insect Lodge

Habitat for butterflies and moths

Butterfly and Lacewing House

Bird and insect boxes. Our garden centres are not only full of bird boxes of different shapes and sizes but also innovative bug and insect boxes. We have a great ‘insect lodge’ and a ‘butterfly and lacewing house’ among many other great houses and boxes!

 

 

Nectar rich flowers.  Our favourite nectar rich flowers are of course Buddlejas (our plant of the month this July- read more here) Rhododendrons, Honeysuckle and Hebe. Don’t forget that bees also love colourful plants so why not add something like a bright and vibrant Cistus!

Cistus are colourful and attract bees

Cistus x purpureus has such a vivid colour that will attract wildlife.

Rhododendron high in nectar

Rhododendrons are nectar rich flowers that bees and butterflies love!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers, fruits, seeds, shrubs and trees. We can certainly help you furnish your wildlife gardens with these! Pop into our garden centres to see our huge range and chose your favourite.

Water butts. These are extremely important in saving water and also great for wildlife (read about being waterwise in our blog).

 

Apply for your award here!

Let us know about your wildlife garden and awards on our social media!

Bird Box with baby blue tit inside

Wildlife in May

Wildlife in May

The beauty of May and it’s wildlife

A bee inside a flower

May holds a place in everyone’s heart- if it isn’t the excitement of the new leaves and greenery, the colours of the fresh flowers or the promise of warmer weather then it must be the birdsong and buzzing of bees that epitomises May. Make sure that whilst you give your garden all the TLC that it may have missed out on over the winter that you don’t neglect the wildlife as it is the whole ecosystem that gives May the feeling that we all love.

 

Looking out for wildlife and how to help

Bird feeder with a garden robin perching on the edge

A little garden Robin feeding from a bird feeder.

  • – Check your hedges and shrubs for nesting birds before you trim them
  • – Maybe give your bird bath a spring clean.
  • – Making sure that your garden offers clean drinking water and food will attract birds who are trying to feed their young at this point, for this reason we recommend not filling the bird feeders with anything too large such as peanuts (which can act as a choking hazard for baby birds)
  • – Also regularly cleaning the bird feeder to avoid the risk of bird pox.
  • – To really offer birds a luxury stay in your garden it is nice to also provide nesting material, for example fur from any long haired pets will be gratefully picked up or hair from your hairbrush, so just ball it up and leave it on the lawn or in a fat ball holder.

Night time Wildlife

The beauty of May’s wildlife seeps into night time and bat watching at dusk can be a great activity.  Unfortunately the bat population is coming under threat in the UK due to loss of habitat and pollution yet encouraging bats to come to your garden can benefit you as they feed off several unwanted insects such as mosquitoes and midges. Encourage bats by turning off your garden lights when they’re not in use, growing some plants that will attract moths overnight and by avoiding using pesticides where possible. If you want to build a bat box, the best placement for these is somewhere undisturbed and with some sun as bats love warm places.

Garden checklist

General garden checklist for May

We know it’s hard to keep on top of everything, especially when there is so much to do. To kick start a prosperous growing season this summer, we have compiled a handy garden checklist, full of tasks to get you going. Why not print it off and try to complete these little tasks throughout the month of May? Read up on our other blog posts for why and how to do many of these jobs.

Garden Checklist

⃝ Hoe off and hand weed frequently to stay on top of weed growth. Weed prevention is   better than cure so consider installing weed poof membranes and mulches to your borders.

⃝ Feed your lawn with a spring feed fertiliser.

⃝ Mow your lawn weekly and start to gradually reduce the height of the blades with each cut.

⃝ Prune early-flowering plants to promote next year’s growth.

⃝ Begin sowing any outdoor herbs that you will be growing as annuals.

⃝ Plant hanging baskets for summer, our centres are bulging with suitable pot and basket plants.

⃝ Plant summer bedding, make sure to harden off more tender summer annuals first and add slow release fertiliser when you plant out for best results

⃝ Don’t let cool temperatures fool you, regular watering is always necessary for new plants. Most pots dry out from wind/air flow.

⃝ Planting strawberries? Place straw under the plant to prevent contact with the damp soil leading to rotten fruits

⃝ If you are growing tall growing plants be sure to put supports in place before the plants grow too tall

⃝ Harvest fully grown rhubarb by pulling the stalks, take care not to harvest more than half at any time

⃝ Start harvesting any fully grown asparagus

⃝ Check for early aphids and begin pest control, think about insect mesh and slug and snail control for particularly vulnerable varieties.

⃝ Check for nesting birds before trimming and pruning hedges

⃝ Put up bird boxes for summer migrants to nest in

⃝ Top up birdfeeders to support tired bird parents whilst they feed their young.