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How to create a garden requires expert advice and we have this blog post just for you 🙂 Just like people, gardens can come in many forms. There are no hard and fast rules about how to create a garden.
It can be your own canvas on which you can paint your own scene. The visual aspect of a garden however, only has one lens to view it through.
What about other functions of a garden beside the aesthetic?
How to create your garden could be so your garden becomes a home to a myriad of wildlife. Before we began digging up the bush and laying lawns, wildlife was spoilt for choice in where to roam. The situation they face today is somewhat different. Demands have been place on land that often leave the four legged and feathered amongst us homeless. This blog post will discuss how you can create a garden that is not only be visually attractive, but also attractive to wildlife.
One of the main discouraging factors to wildlife in urban gardens is cleanliness. Wildlife like to have places to hide. By treating our lawns like our carpets, we effectively create wide open spaces that can leave animals feeling exposed. On the other hand, you do not want to have to battle a jungle every time you hang your washing out.
A compromise for how to create a garden for wildlife can often be the best solution.
Try designating a small section of your garden to habitat and allowing this area to grow wild. Ideally ensure that it is linked in some way to another wild area; an island in the middle of the garden will be of less use to wildlife compared to a section that is linked by a shrub bed to another wild space.
When pruning trees or shrubs you could choose to keep some of the debris behind. Deadwood in particular is good for this. The decomposing wood is food for bugs which in turn are food for larger animals. These collections of dead wood also provide shelter for smaller animals such as skinks and lizards. Piles of deadwood or branches can be dotted around the garden to create these little Oasis’s for wildlife. These pies do not have to be on display. They can be tucked away, out of sight, with no visual disturbance to the rest of the garden.
Having good sources of food in your garden year round will also make it attractive for wildlife.
Whether it is flowers to attract pollinating insects, fruit and seeds for birds, or bugs for lizards and skinks, the plants you have in your garden can greatly affect the menu on offer. As a general rule, native trees and shrubs will offer the best sources of food for native wildlife. Check with your nursery or arborist for advice on species that will provide fruit and flowers at different times of the year.
Some man-made materials can be used as shelter for wildlife too. Old pieces of tin roof can be quite attractive to lizards. You can be creative in how you do it, maybe creating a sculpture which at the same time serves as a holiday home for reptiles.
It is important that you do not introduce chemicals into your garden if you want to encourage wildlife. Natural fertilizers and weed suppressants can be used. As an all-round go to, you cannot beat well-rotted wood chip or compost. A thick layer of compost will keep weeds down, will act as a slow release fertilizer, and will act as a safe haven for many forms of wildlife.
Above photo credit of https://www.rapaura.com/
To read more about how to create a garden visit:
- https://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/conservation-activities/attract-lizards-to-your-garden/
- https://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/conservation-activities/attract-birds-to-your-garden/what-to-plant/
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