Creating an Eco-friendly garden that will encourage wildlife, birds and insects isn't difficult. In some instances it can be easier than trying to maintain a regimental flawless show garden.

 Wildlife Gardening

Written by Caldini http://www.howtogogreen.com/

If all our gardens were put together they would make a massive nature reserve, perhaps the most important in the country. Neatly manicured gardens are not the best for wildlife though and with a bit of thought they can be turned into sanctuaries for birds, mammals and invertebrates and lots of other native species.

The key to a good wildlife garden is food, water and shelter - for that is what nearly every living creature needs to survive.

Food: This can mean a whole lot more than putting out a bag of peanuts for the birds, but it's a start. Consider the insects that feed on pollen and nectar. animals  that eat slugs and worms and birds that feed on berries and fruit in the autumn. You may want to plant a buddleia to attract butterflies or a cottoneaster  whose berries are very popular with thrushes.

Water: Birds love a good birdbath, and it will be much better for them if it is filled with rainwater from a water butt rather than chlorinated tap water. Even better - if you have the space - is to dig a pond . Ponds are an important habitat that have been lost from the British countryside and nothing beats waking up in March to finding frogspawn  in your own garden pond. If you're lucky you may even be visited by a heron.

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