The Wildlife-friendly Garden. Michael Chinery

a wall if you are lucky, but more often a relatively barren wooden fence. Although walls and fences can support a limited range of plant and animal life, a mature hedgerow is a thriving community, teeming with insects and other animals. At the same time it can give you privacy and protect your garden from the wind.

      You could consider enriching your garden by replacing your fence with a hedge, but only if the neighbours agree! Alternatively, you could plant a low hedge inside your boundary or instal one as the garden equivalent of a room-divider – separating your vegetables from your flower beds perhaps. Hedges are very cheap to create, although they do need more maintenance than walls and fences.

       Michael Chinery

      The nests of caterpillars of the small eggar moth were once common on roadside hawthorn hedges, but mechanical trimming in summer has caused the species to become rare. Garden hedges may be its salvation.

       Michael Chinery

      Although it is very conspicuous when viewed on a bare twig, the 10cm (4in) caterpillar of the privet hawkmoth is surprisingly hard to spot in a privet hedge.

       What to plant

      Although exotic species may bear plenty of tasty berries for the birds, they do not support many insects (see here), so native shrubs are best. Hawthorn is good as it grows quickly, even from cuttings, and it is eaten by more than 150 insect species in Britain alone. Blackthorn, field maple, spindle, dogwood, buckthorn, alder buckthorn and guelder rose are also good. You can encourage honeysuckle, brambles and wild roses to scramble over the hedge. In fact, the more species you can incorporate, the better.

       The animal residents

      A hedge is both a home and larder for numerous garden animals.

       Birds Song thrushes, blackbirds, greenfinches, dunnocks and long-tailed tits all nest in garden hedges. The last two are happy to nest among slender twigs, but the others like to build in a stout fork and are most likely to nest in older hedges. Many more birds find food among the branches.

       Mammals Hedgehogs, shrews, mice and voles all forage in the leaf litter at the base of the hedge. Stoats and weasels – Europe’s smallest carnivores – may also hunt there.

       Michael Chinery

       Rolando Ugolini

      The cultivated Prunus shrubs which make up this superb garden hedge are just as good for nesting birds as the wild shrubs.

       Insects These abound in the hedgerow and they play a vital role in feeding the local bird population. However, you will need a keen eye to spot the twig-like caterpillars of the geometrid moths, such as the swallowtailed moth and some of the thorn moths. The hairy and colourful caterpillars of the vapourer, grey dagger and yellowtail moths are much easier to find. Most birds will avoid these hairy caterpillars because the hairs of some species can cause severe irritation. Spiders thrive on the insect life, although we tend not to notice these fascinating small garden creatures until the autumn when their webs are more visible (see here).

      GARDEN PROJECT – PLANTING A HEDGE FOR WILDLIFE

      A hedge is best planted in the winter, and all the plants should be pruned to no more than about 30cm (12in) in height after planting them to encourage the growth of interlocking shoots. Don’t be too eager with your secateurs after that. A hedge does need to be trimmed from time to time, but if you want a really good wildlife hedge then you should do this only once every two years.

      By doing this, you will always have some one-year-old wood on which many of the shrubs carry their flowers. It is a good plan to trim half the hedge one winter and the other half the next. Try to keep your hedge narrower at the top than at the bottom; otherwise the ground flora may become shaded out and some of the lower branches may die back and leave gaps.

Wildlife walls

      Although, as a home for wildlife, a hedge beats a wall every time, there is still a place for a wall in a wildlife garden. This is particularly true on sloping ground, where small walls, no more than a metre (three feet) or so high, can be used to create a very attractive terraced effect.

      You don’t need to be an expert bricklayer; in fact, you don’t really need bricks at all. You can try building a dry stone wall, using one of the many traditional styles that are found in upland Britain. Always use local stone if possible, as this fits into the landscape so much better than alien material. You may be able to buy large stones from a local quarry or a nearby garden centre. Failing this, get hold of The Natural Stone Directory (see here) which will tell you where you can buy almost every kind of stone.

       CONSERVATION TIP

      Never be tempted to buy water-worn limestone, often sold as Westmorland stone. It should not be for sale anyway, as it comes from one of our rarest habitats – the much-damaged limestone pavements of northern Britain – which are now protected by law.

       Michael Chinery

      This section of a dry stone wall shows the large through stones which are used to tie the two faces of the wall together. The central cavity can be filled with soil or small stones.

       A wildlife refuge

      Because there is no mortar between the stones, except perhaps at the ends of the wall, the dry stone wall offers homes to a huge variety of animals: lizards bask and hunt on the wall by day, while toads hide in the cool recesses along with numerous spiders and beetles.

      Bumblebees will also take up residence, and in the warmer parts of Europe they may be joined by the harmless little scorpion Euscorpius flavicaudis.

       Michael Chinery

      Red valerian is an attractive, although rather invasive, inhabitant of old walls. It attracts lots of butterflies and moths.

       Michael Chinery

      The scorpion Euscorpius flavicaudis inhabits old walls in southern Europe. You may see the pincers sticking out of a crevice.