Beechgrove Kirsty Wilson: 10 ways to turn garden into nature reserve

“David Attenborough has always been a hero of mine,” she says, “and his latest series, Wild Isles, is very much in alignment with the theme of my book. We need to do more to encourage biodiversity in the UK.”

Gardening in a nature-friendly way is also good for us. Research has even revealed that getting your hands muddy with soil has an anti-depressant effect.

“There are so many studies about the health benefits of being in a garden, or being outside,” she says. “I’m from a family where we are always gardening at the weekend, or out walking in the countryside.

“I’ve always loved being out in nature, observing nature and wildlife and birds and I think it’s important that we all play a part to help protect the natural world for us and future generations on this incredible green planet.”

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Planting With Nature was driven in part by concerns over the climate crisis and also by her own experience of lockdown, and the solace she found in her allotment and the wildlife she saw there. Wilson describes a garden as an “ecosystem”, one that contains not just flowers and grass and shrubs, but also leaf mould and organic matter, protozoa, nematodes, earthworms, beetles, spiders, ants, as well as birds, bees and other pollinators, and, if you’re particularly lucky, hedgehogs.

There are, she observes, 1.8 million acres of garden land in the UK, and each of us can be part of a vibrant connected patchwork of green space, creating a world in which wildlife can thrive.

Create a nectar border

A border filled with nectar-rich blooms feeds the birds, bees, butterflies, beetles, bats and other pollinators – without which 90 per cent of our flowering plants would not be able to reproduce. Nectar borders also look pretty. And, Wilson suggests, even if you don’t have a garden, you can have a balcony of nectar-rich plants in pots.

Ideally, these should be placed in a sunny and sheltered area of your garden that has good drainage, since many of these plants, writes Wilson, thrive better in well-drained soil. In terms of managing the border, she suggests leaving “old growth on herbaceous perennials over the winter as this provides a home for invertebrates and potentially seed for birds”.

Such wildlife-rich areas, she notes, also mean “the need for human intervention to control so-called pests throughout the rest of the garden is remarkably reduced”.

What to plant: anise, granny’s bonnet, foxglove, cone flower, viper’s bugloss, geranium, lavender, catmint, poppy, fiddleneck, common fleabane, lungwort and red campion.

Wildlife that will benefit: bees, butterflies, moths, ladybirds, lacewings, spiders, beetles, hoverflies, bats, song thrushes, goldfinches, chaffinches, blue tits, great tits, hedgehogs.

Rethink your lawn

First off, if you have plastic grass, that needs to go – and Wilson is emphatic about that. “You’re just covering up the soil. You’re not letting anything breathe. We need more plants in this world and I think we would all be happier if we could see bees and birds and be immersed in that, rather than living in a plastic environment with no oxygen.”

But also, to attract more wildlife, it’s worth rethinking your traditional grass lawn. Wilson isn’t about entirely banning the perfect carpet of grass.

However, she advises that if you do have “an area that is a neatly clipped lawn, you can have areas that are slightly wilder”.

She particularly recommends planting a native wildflower meadow, essentially an “area of perennial or annual meadow plants”. To establish one, she advises you to first strip off the turf and top soil, then sow the seeds (ideally in spring or autumn).

Wildflower meadows thrive best in soils with low nutrient levels. “The first plant that should be included in your meadow,” she writes, “is yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor), which is a parasitic plant that helps weaken the grass and allow wildflowers to establish.”

What to sow: yarrow, agrimony, common knapweed, English marjoram, ribwort plantain, Tibetan cowslip, bladder campion.

Wildlife that will benefit: bees, butterflies, ladybirds, moths, hoverflies, beetles, blackbirds, lizards, shrews, slow worms.

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Grow a native hedgerow or wildlife fence

One of the great losses in Britain has been that after the Second World War, we ripped hedgerows out across the countryside. Wilson is all for bringing these back as they provide food, shelter and habitat for wildlife – and in our cities too. A wildlife fence, tangled with climbers, can play a similar role.

“An urban street of houses, each with a hedge or fence with climbers or even a boundary created by a grove of small trees will provide a wildlife corridor for birds, insects and other animals to move between gardens,” she writes.

What to plant? For a native hedgerow plant yew, hawthorn, crab apple, blackthorn, holly, beech, dog-rose, hazel. Some of the best hedges, Wilson observes, are ones that have thorns, as this will prevent predators accessing nests.

Or, for climbers, plant clematis, trumpet honeysuckle, passion flower, jasmine, climbing rose.

Wildlife that will benefit: blackbirds, robins, wrens, great tits, blue tits, dunnocks, butterflies, moths, bees, hedgehogs, shrews, wood mice.

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Plant a tree

As Wilson points out, when you plant a tree, you’re not just planting it for yourself and the wildlife that lives now, but for future generations of wildlife.

You don’t necessarily have to have a garden to plant a tree – you can even grow one in a pot on a terrace or balcony.

“Mature trees provide safe homes and perches for wildlife above many predators. Insects live on the branches or inside the wood, providing food for birds. Moss, twigs, and autumn leaves can provide nesting materials for many birds and mammals.”

Trees also help reduce flooding by absorbing water from surrounding soil. When choosing your tree, Wilson recommends that you look around your neighbourhood to see what other trees are thriving there, and also choose UK-sourced trees to avoid pests and diseases brought in from other countries.

Wildlife that will benefit: all species of bird, bat, hedgehog, butterfly, moth, spider, bee, squirrel, wood mouse.

Build a log-pile, make a bug hotel or install a bird box

Construct homes and feeding stations for insects, birds and mammals. Among the easiest and cheapest to create is a log pile. “Any heap of garden material can provide a home or area of safety for wildlife,” writes Wilson. “A pile of cut branches, hay or cut vegetation in a corner of the garden can provide a hibernation site for hedgehogs and small mammals such as shrews.”

Wildlife that will benefit: all types of insects, birds, mammals and invertebrates.

Create a wildlife or container pond

Among Wilson’s favourite nature attractions are ponds. Not only does water offer a sanctuary for wildlife and somewhere to drink and shelter, but they are also highly enjoyable areas for humans to sit and contemplate. “The vast range of wildlife that benefit and rely on a source of water is immeasurable,” writes Wilson.

She advises pond-builders to excavate soil to a depth of at least one metre, so that the pond remains at a steady temperature during freezing conditions. You should leave a “shallow shelf around the edges” in which you can grow marginal plants, and via which amphibians and birds can enter and exit the water.

Wildlife that will benefit:  dragonflies, damselflies, newts, common frogs, water boatmen, water snails.

Install a rain garden

Climate change is set to bring us more frequent extreme weather events – and it’s worth thinking about how to make your garden into a nature-based solution to climate-change problems, for instance increased flooding. Wilson recommends the creation of a rain garden. This, she describes as “an area of vegetation that catches rainwater and then releases it very slowly, which helps reduce the severity and likelihood of flooding”. In essence, it’s about planting vegetation that can withstand occasional drought and flooding, into a shallow basin of “absorbent yet free-draining soil”.

The Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh has designed one such rain garden, now four years old and created within an existing site that used to flood – but now no longer suffers from excess water.

What to plant: kidney vetch, alpine sowthistle, meadowsweet, field scabious, meadow saxifrage, blue bonnets.

Ditch the pesticides

“If you use pesticides and chemicals, there are fewer birds and fewer bees,” says Wilson, “and we need those pollinators. We don’t want to be going out and hand-pollinating our fruit trees in the future.”

RBGE is always looking for alternatives to such chemicals, she says, mentioning a vinegar product that burns weeds and a hot biodegradable foam that suffocates them. “There are lots of biological controls now – good bugs that eat bad bugs – and you can also practise companion planting.”

Wildlife that will benefit: almost everything, from birds and bees to pets and even humans.

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Produce amazing compost

It’s a messy, often smelly, business, but the best way to feed your garden overall and get everything thriving is to create a great compost system. All you need is a compost bin and plenty of organic matter.

Wilson recommends you include “any soft garden waste”, including old stems of perennial plants, grass cuttings, dead-headed flowers, weeds and waste from vegetables that have finished cropping, as well as some kitchen waste, such as coffee grounds and veg peelings. However, it’s best to avoid other types of kitchen waste, which may attract rats and mice.

Wildlife that will benefit: woodlice, centipedes, millipedes, beetles, worms, toads, slow worms, grass snakes.

Establish a green roof

Wildlife gardening doesn’t have to keep its feet on the ground – there are plenty of surfaces that can be greened, and among those, Wilson recommends most are roofs. “For COP26,” she says, “I managed to put a pop-up green wall in Waverley Station and then convinced LNER to put up a permanent one. As a garden designer, I think it’s exciting what we can do to green cities.”

Why not start with a shed or garage roof? “The plants need to be low-maintenance and able to cope with drought, elevated temperatures, and wind exposure,” writes Wilson.

What to plant: wood anemone, Bertoloni columbine, rhodope haberlea, London pride, house-leek, New Zealand sedge, blue fescue, Mexican feather grass.

Wildlife that will benefit: bees, butterflies, moths, spiders, blue tits, great tits.

Planting With Nature: A Guide To Sustainable Gardening, by Kirsty Wilson, illustrated by Hazel France, is published by Birlinn on April 20