These are developed from factsheets I originally wrote for visitors to our garden open days. Click on each factsheet title to download as a PDF file. To read them you need Acrobat Reader software. This can be downloaded free from the Adobe Downloads site.
Download Factsheets:
Gardening with Nature (31kb)
About natural pest controlConserving House Sparrows (28kb)
Gardeners' friends: the World of Wild Bees (747kb)
About bumble bees and solitary bees in the garden- includes details of their favourite flowers and discusses artificial nests. With colour illustrations of bees. This factsheet will take a little longer to download than the others.
There are two further factsheets, about bumblebees and their favourite flowers, that you can download from the BUMBLEBEES page.
Plant Lists:
Below are some suggestions. These lists are by no means exhaustive; there are many, many other plants suitable for wildlife-friendly gardens. Remember that the way you manage your garden is just as much, if not more, important than the plants you grow. (See my 'basics' page). When choosing plants, bear in mind that 'wildlife - friendly plants' is a rather loose term, it really depends what you are trying to attract or provide food for: Moths, Birds, Bumblebees, Solitary Bees, Hoverflies, Beetles, other invertebrates - all have different needs and find different flowers or plants to their liking. I've written a list of suggested flowers for (adult) moths because moths tend to be neglected, even though they are in need of help from gardeners. The other sheets are arranged according to types of plant. Several of the books in the reading list and full bibliography also give detailed lists of food plants.
Nectar Plants for Moths (133kb)
Wild Flowers to grow in your Garden (32kb)
Exotic Shrubs for the Wildlife-friendly Garden (27kb)
Herbs for the Wildlife-friendly Garden (77kb)
Grow Wildlife-friendly Annuals (53kb)
- some suggestions for those of you who like to grow annual bedding plants or want to try you own 'cornfield annuals' effect.
Enjoy your garden,
and thanks for visiting this site!
© Marc Carlton 2010. You are welcome to print this page for personal use or for educational purposes.