The key to attracting wildlife into our gardens is the use of native plant species, rather than the exotic ones we see at our local garden centre from as far afield as China, the Himalayas, South Africa and the Americas.  Attractive though they may be, they don’t do a lot for our native fauna.

Thankfully, there are plenty of native plants to choose from.  If your garden is big enough, an oak tree can support nearly 300 species of insects (plus up to 150 species of mites).  Willow, birch, hawthorn and blackthorn are the next highest ranking, so a traditional mixed hawthorn and blackthorn hedge, with the occasional elder, alder buckthorn and hazel mixed in, is a great habitat – and the haw berries and sloes will feed the birds well beyond Christmas.  Other small trees and shrubs you could consider include crab apple, wayfaring tree and guilder rose.

Herbaceous plants are perhaps more of a challenge.  A weed is often defined as simply a plant growing where we don’t want it, and that certainly applies when designing a wildlife planting.  Some of my favourite natives for the garden include ox-eye daisies, bisort (Polygonium bisorta) – which is also useful for its foliage, angelica (very structural), foxgloves, fennel, harebells (Campanula rotundifolia) and giant bellflowers (Campanula latifolia), as well as native bluebells. The daffodil is a native, too.

Nettles and thistles are ideal for butterflies, but if you’re worried your garden will end up looking like a collection of weeds, how about a wildflower meadow?  A strip of long grass, cut only once a year to encourage flowers to seed, can provide a miniature wildlife corridor to connect separate areas of native planting.  Wildflower meadows have a reputation of being problematic, but one of the easiest techniques is to simply strip off the top 2 inches of topsoil and lay wildflower turf.  (You can see some photos of a project where we did this on our Facebook page.)

Even if you only have a tiny, paved courtyard, you could still make your own “insect hotel”!

........you could consider an Insect Hotel

Whatever you choose to do, by including some wildlife-friendly areas in your garden you will be making your own unique contribution to our wildlife.  You could even enter The Big Wildlife Garden competition organized by the RHS and Wildlife Trusts – see  http://www.bigwildlifegarden.org.uk/wildlife-garden-competition.

With autumn colours spreading through woodlands, and some trees and shrubs already loosing their leaves, you might be forgiven for thinking there’s not much interest left in the garden.  But it shouldn’t be the case.  In fact autumn (September to November) can be one of the best seasons for garden interest.  I snapped this picture at the Knoll Gardens near Wimborne, Dorset, in mid October.

Knoll Gardens, Wimborne

Vibrant reds of Persicaria  amplexicaulis “Taurus” and Sedum “Herbstfreude”, and yellow Rudbeckia  fulgida “Deamii”, with more subtle hints of lilac Aster laevis “Calliope”, make this autumn planting as lively as any summer border.  Architectural grass, Miscanthus sinensis “Malpartus”, which blooms in early September, helps to give structure.

Rudbeckia fulgida Dreamii

Sedum Herbstfreude

Rudbeckia  fulgida “Deamii” produces bright yellow flowers from August to October, and works particularly well in bold drifts.  This one grows to around waist – chest height, although others are taller.

The succulent leuttice-green leaves of Sedum “Herbstfreude” are topped with salmon-pink flower-heads in summer that mature to pinkish-bronze, then coppery-red, in autumn. The dried flower heads continue to provide structure and colour through winter, too.

Although it was perhaps past its best when I took these photos, Aster laevis “Calliope”  is a bushy, clump-forming  perennial with dark green leaves and characteristic purple-black stems, producing pale lilac-blue flowers from late summer to mid-autumn.

Aster laevis Calliope

Persicaria amplexicaulis Taurus

Persicaria amplexicaulis is one of my favourites.  “Taurus” produces long tapers clustered with tiny, fluffy, deep crimson flowers from mid summer until the first frosts. This vigorous perennial has handsome foliage and quickly makes dense groundcover. Planted in bold swathes, it adds vertical interest in the border right through till late autumn.  Persicaria really needs moist soil, and all these plants will tolerate partial shade.

Knoll Gardens are particularly good in Autumn, and well worth a visit for some inspiration.  They also have a garden centre where you can buy many of the plants seen in the gardens.  Ornamental grasses are a particular speciality.