Looking to attract more nature to your garden without making it look disorganised and old-fashioned? Read this...
Would you love animals visiting your
garden, but you don’t want to age your garden with iron bird feeders, or keep
messy corners with leaves? Don’t worry, there are ways to keep your garden
gorgeous and wildlife friendly, here’s how:
Adapt Wildlife Furniture
Bird feeders can look a little bit old
fashioned, especially wrought iron types. Instead, why not opt for a wooden
bird table that you can paint in a bright and modern colour. Instead of
detracting from your garden design, it will effectively become a feature.
Create A Specific Wildlife Zone
Instead of having accessories dotted
around, try placing them together in a wildlife zone. Pots with insect friendly
flowers, a bird table and insect hotel grouped together will look really cute.
You could even make your own sign for the area.
Embrace Insects & Worms
By inviting more insects to your garden you
also provide more food for birds, who eat them. Planting butterfly and bee
friendly flowers is an easy way to attract more insects to your garden. It also
adds more colour, texture and interest to the overall aesthetic of your outdoor
space.
By opting for a natural lawn you encourage
worms, which then feed the birds. Caring for that lawn well then creates an
entire ecosystem to boost the wildlife in your area.
Invest In More Modern Wildlife Accessories
The cheapest wildlife accessories are made
from cheap wood and metal and aren’t designed to look nice. If you don’t mind
investing a little more money into what you buy, you can get much better
looking accessories. There are gorgeous designs out there for a little more cash,
if you are willing to splash it.
Declutter Your Garden
It may be that your garden looks generally messy anyway, even without wildlife accessories and design features. Perhaps you need to invest in some cheap self storage to store larger toys or furniture that you don’t use all the time. For items that aren’t for cheap self storage, you could sell on anything extra you don’t use, and give away or throw away items that are broken or of very low worth.
Change, Rather Than Add
One thing you can do to avoid a messy garden that is good for wildlife is to change certain things, rather than add lots of messy-looking bird feeders and accessories. For example; you could buy a water feature that also serves as a haven for animals. Ponds, for example, can be incredible wildlife-havens and they look really pretty too. Or, you could use rhododendrons or hydrangea as shed hiding shrubs, rather than conifers.
Embrace The Wild Look
One thing that we can get attached to as
homeowners is a space that is neat and tidy. Whilst this look may give us
satisfaction it isn’t great for wildlife. An overgrown hedge might be the
perfect nesting site for birds. Little piles of leaf litter provide a home for
all kinds of insects. Wood piles can be ideal hotels for insects, reptiles and
amphibians.
If you can just embrace the wild a little
more you can have a really beautiful garden still, but with a lot more wildlife
within it. You can still maintain your outdoor space, just perhaps a little
less often and with a little less vigour.
“The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway.” - Michael Pollan
The tips above can help you embrace a more
wildlife-friendly garden without compromising on the aesthetic of your outdoor
space. With a little creativity and ingenuity you can have a stunning garden
that also supports your local wildlife.
