We had a great talk on Wednesday evening from Lisa Worledge, the Head of Conservation Services at the Bat Conservation Trust on the subject of gardening for bats!
Now that spring has arrived you may be turning your attention to what you want to do with your garden/green space/communal area/balcony. Seemingly small changes can be made that can actually add real benefits for wildlife. The take-aways from the talk can be summarised as:
- Work with what you have – no need to redesign your whole garden! Small spaces can work well.
- Look for plants that will extend the flowering season
- Night-scented plants are especially useful e.g., evening primrose, night scented stock, honeysuckle.
- Non-native plants can be used with care.
- A dark garden at night is good! Light can be a barrier (but use lighting to be safe, of course).
- Make space for water – any size pond, a water dish, a hoverfly ‘lagoon’
- Vary the height of your plants – flowers, bushes, hedging, a tree.
- Avoid chemicals if you can.
- Don’t be too tidy. Insects and birds can make use of dead stems and branches in winter. Longer grass is great for all sorts of insects.