Helping wildlife in the wild

IF YOU WANT TO HELP WILDLIFE IN GENERAL, EATING ORGANIC FOOD IS ONE OF THE BEST WAYS. 

Eat as much organic food as you can - its getting cheaper and many supermarkets have organic vegetables and fruit as standard now. look for the labels. Organic farms have more than twice as much wildlife as 'normal' (chemical) farms. 

Chemical use within our homes and gardens, including those we use to wash our clothes and our selves is killing a lot of wildlife. Using insect - killing poisons in our gardens and kitchen, paints and soaps to clean our house and our cars are all contributing to the death of wild spaces as these toxins leach out into nature. It sounds crazy, but simply limiting all chemical use to as little as possible will help nature more than you realise. It will also almost certainly reduce your risk of cancer, allergies and other diseases. Animals are very sensitive to chemicals, especially delicate frogs and toads, with their permeable skin, and insects with the complex systems of communicating using smells.

If you have a cat this is even more reason to grow wild plants in your garden to provide birds with protection. Even if your cat kills some of the fledglings, it is still better that the bird has somewhere to nest. There is nowhere on this planet that is free of predators. Nowhere birds can nest free of the influence of owned and feral (wild living) cats. So go ahead and put up feeders and nest boxes. Grow as many thorny rose bushes and trees like hawthorn and spindle berry and nurture or set aside wild areas with brambles (blackberries). Feed the birds with shop-bought products, but even more importantly, grow native wild plants as these will feed the wildlife on the foods they have eaten for millions of years.  

Leave last year’s vegetation standing as long as possible. We had goldfinches feeding in March on oregano and lemon balm plant seed heads outside my bedroom window. Feeding birds with natural vegetation like this is better for so many reasons. Bird tables can cause the spread of diseases one bird to the next. Bird tables should be kept as clean as our own food  plates and bowls. Plants in the garden left standing throughout the year provide hiding places for  butterflies, bees, beetles and other small animals. These then also provide food for birds, owls and hedgehogs. Nature works by one species relying on the next in a massive interconnected web called  ecology. If I had tidied up these plants in September, these goldfinches would have not been able to eat them in March. If you want your garden to be a living space for wildlife, with hedgehogs and birds, go and  look at a nature reserve near you or look at images  on line. Animals can only live where there are plants for them to live on and in. Gardens need plants of  different heights and quite dense plants with lots of  structure to hide in. Tidy your house but not your  garden. Wildlife needs plants. Not bare soil and  plants cut back to the ground. Then you’ll get living gold in the mornings...