In the October issue of Gardeners' World magazine, I ask Richard Jones and James Alexander-Sinclair for their views on autumn tidying in relation to the harm it can cause overwintering wildlife.
In the October issue of Gardeners’ World magazine, I ask Richard Jones and James Alexander-Sinclair for their views on autumn tidying in relation to the harm it can cause overwintering wildlife. As their recent blogs demonstrate, they don't see eye to eye.
Whether you go out of your way to help wildlife in your garden or spend hours tending a perfectly manicured plot, you’re sharing your pride and joy with wild creatures. These could be a family of hedgehogs or bumblebees, frogs, earwigs, whatever. Some you will like, others you won't. It's nature. Like us, they snuggle down in winter, but often do so in what we consider 'mess': among dead stems, beneath fallen leaves and log piles. Then along comes the gardener, who chops up the stems, sweeps up the leaves, burns the logs and piles everything in the compost.
Our Facebook poll suggests many of you are willing to compromise your gardening practices for wildlife. Christina Goozee suggests "it is about time we leeches on the natural world gave back something to the wildlife", while Andrew Littleford says "it is important to remember ... that a garden is a personal kingdom and so should be managed in the preferred way of the owner." Christopher Strickland thinks it's possible to be tidy and care for wildlife: "move any debris to a corner of the garden out of sight, but where it can still benefit insects and mammals."
My garden is just 4m² and less than a year old, but I’ve managed to attract a host of wild creatures, including blue tits and great tits, froghoppers, moths, butterflies and bees. (The frogs I rescued and brought in.) I’m determined to make sure my garden provides the perfect home for wildlife over winter, and if I have to compromise a little on aesthetics, so be it. I've already made hibernaculums for creatures: last year's Christmas tree branches are bundled behind pots for insects and there's a cardboard box full of grass clippings. When the trees in the local park lose their leaves I'll be gathering bags of them to cram into corners for the frogs, slugs, snails and other frog food. I'll let my borders rot down into themselves.
Following Richard's advice I've also ‘created’ a jumbled pile of pots (it looks hideous), I’ve left straggly clematis stems unclipped and there are plenty of patches of long grass around the edges of the lawn (which has no straight lines or clipped edges). I’m also far too soft with my frogs. When I cut down my tomato haulms the other week, I found five frogs snuggled together in the grow bag. I couldn’t bear to turf them out, so covered them up again and placed the recently felled stems over the top, for extra privacy. It’s become a focal point of my garden for all the wrong reasons.
Luckily, all this unsightly business is nearest my flat, so when I look out to the garden I can't see it. And no-one else is going to see my garden this winter, even I’ll only see it on the weekend once we’re back to travelling to and from work in the dark. What are a few flower pots, straggly clematis stems or tatty bits of long grass? Actually, they’re irritating me already, but I’m sticking to my guns.
See more comments...
