Eco Friendly House And Garden

During the bright sunny weather - there are butterflies everywhere!

But what are they all called, and why does it matter?  Well, it matters because butterflies are very specific feeders and so can tell us what the health of certain plants is like - and therefore which habitats are disappearing and which ones a expanding.  And this information is vital to biodiversity and conservation.

So - how many butterflies can you identify?  Which plants have you introduced or encouraged in your garden to attract butterflies?

Well, now is your chance to learn a few more and actually use this new information to help a national survey tell us about our changing environments.

The Survey:
The Butterfly Conservation Trust and Marks & Spencer have got together to organise a very simple sample survey of your local butterflies.

Basically, all they want you to do is tally up all the butterfly species you see in your garden or on a walk in just 15 minutes.

No need to learn a billion species or any rare butterflies - just the common and most widespread species in the UK.

They have even produced a fantastic, clear and comprehensive visual identification guide to around 15 butterflies - showing both upper and lower wing patterns.  They couldn’t have made it any easier!

So could you spare a few minutes now looking through the species guide and then 15 minutes at the end of July to tally them up?  A pair of binoculars wouldn’t be a bad idea either!

Why Butterflies?
Well, butterflies are very obvious in the environment.  They don’t try to hide - infact they brandish their wings to the sun; they come out during the brightest, clearest days and they are usually brightly coloured too - with some quite striking patterns.

Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly

This means that it would be a lot easier that trying to spot night-flying moths or small mammals etc!

As mentioned before, they only feed on certain plants and only lay their eggs on certain other plants, so you can be very sure that where there are White Admirals there will be Honeysuckle and where there are Silver-Washed Fritillary there will be Dog Violet.

Therefore if there certain plant species dying off or becoming more abundant due to land-use changes or differing weather patterns - the butterflies will have to change their local habitat to make sure they and their young can feed.

And this is where the survey can tell the specialist and awful lot!  The information for just our garden might not really tell us anything - but add that up between all the survey results and the picture will become much clearer.

So the more people who can spare 15 minutes of their time - the more definitive the results will be, and the more action can be taken to make sure we don’t lose butterflies from our gardens - and don’t lose entire habitats because we didn’t care to look!

So, go get your suncream and a pen!

Are You Thinking About Creating a Wildlife-Friendly Pond in Your Garden? Well here are a few pointers for you…….

There was a massive reduction in garden ponds and even those on farmlands - and as a result a lot of native mammals have lost their homes! It’s amazing how many animals rely on them not only for living in or breeding around - but as stop-overs on their way somewhere else!

And anyway - why should you just do it for the wildlife - a garden pond is a great place for you to relax yourself after a busy week working. Get yourself a comfortable chair, a drink and a good book and just sit back!

If you are thinking of creating a pond from scratch, then you have an advantage as you can make sure that it is shaped to suit the wildlife you want to see as well making it the safest pond you can and as large as you like! Big is best here.

Where:
A shady site will attract different species to a bright one so check your preferred species with the layout of your garden. If it is shallow and in direct sun you will almost certainly get an algal bloom which can be a nuisance - but could be skimmed off and used for compost!

Smaller ponds may well dry out in sun as they should only be topped up with rainwater. Never be tempted to use tap water to fill up a wildlife pond as you could kill almost everything in it!

A shallow pond will be a favourite for frogs, whereas a deeper one may well attract newts - although the deeper ones are more dangerous for small mammals (and children) and so need an escape route built in to allow creatures to climb out if necessary.

Obviously, a wildlife pond needs to be accessible by these creatures in the first place - so don’t expect your pond to become home to amphibians if it is surrounded by paving or gravel. Make sure tufty grass, lawns and shaded moist ground surround your pond - allowing them to walk or slither in from neighboring gardens or parks.

Safety:
If you have young children, make sure that you fence off the pond, or cover it with a secure metal grid. Ponds can be great fun, but they must be safe.

This counts for mammals too.

When:
If starting from scratch, start digging in the fall, when the ground is softer and the weather is bad (as this will allow it to fill up with rainwater. Make sure the bottom is filled with clay or clean sand rather than topsoil and make sure you have gently sloping sides leading in to it on at least one side. Ideally let this edge have direct contact with an unchecked lawn, allowing the marginal water plants move out onto the lawn a bit to help the transition.

The pond needn’t be over 50cms at it’s deepest - and this is safest for young children - although if over 75cm deep you may well avoid the whole thing freezing solid in a bad winter!

If your garden pond is built in direct sunlight, make sure that taller plants are around the edge to help keep the water cooler and a bit shaded. It’s not a problem to let the water level drop a bit in summer as the wet mud on the ledges will be great for invertebrates!

Fall is a great time to clean out your pond too. Amphibians have completed their life-cycles, the water in the pond will be a bit lower to make your job easier - but make sure that you don’t leave too much open water as this can be unattractive to many species. Offer up-rooted plants to your neighbors or compost them. Ideally you wouldn’t throw them into the ‘wild’ as they may contain invasive or non-native species imported in to the nursery you brought them from!

Plants:
Be aware that you may need to add some species for pond health - not all pond life can walk or float in the wind! There are lots of choices for plant-life but make your choice well.

Only buy native species when stocking up. Definitely avoid buying foreign species as they may be invasive and overrun the rest of your garden, but native species will be the best for native wildlife. Many animals have evolved to benefit from certain plants and this is true for your ponds.

Encourage a mixture of submerged, floating and emergent plants to your garden pond so they offer shelter and protection for your wildlife, but also a range of habitats for breeding and rearing young. Avoid using chemical to encourage their growth - or to reduce their numbers - as this will no doubt impact the wildlife.

Many water plants are very fast growing, so resist the temptation to make the pond perfect on day 1, and let native species colonise your garden pond over it’s first year and you will get that more natural look - free from invasive species!

Fish:
Ideally, you would not add fish to your wildlife pond as they may well eat all the wildlife that comes to your garden!

I must admit that fish tend to be the reason many people get ponds in the first place, and certain species are better than others, but best leave your new pond to the wild animals if that’s what you and your family want to see.

Humans:
Get a color chart of common garden insects and invertebrates so that you and your kids can easily identify anything that they see.

No need for great big books on the subject - just a page or 2 of the most common creatures. There is nothing better to get a kids imagination going than actually being able to know what things are easily. Things aren’t fun if you can’t get them right time and time again - make sure you brush up on it too so that you can encourage them further.

If they see something in the pond and you can tell them what it is straight away - they will learn about them easily and build on this knowledge. You could even learn a few things yourself!!!

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