Weeding for Wildlife

 

                                                                      
                                       Buttercups are cheerful and  attract all sorts of insects                                                                                                                                                  

It's all very well counting the birds and growing gorgeous flowers with nectar for the bees, but every tiny creature that crawls, flies, hops and swims has its part in our survival and they are disappearing. Among the things they need to survive are the plants we think of as weeds - our wild plants. There are no 'pointless' insects and there are no 'pointless' plants. 

So what should one do about the brambles that threaten to take over in the garden? Or the dandelions,  buttercups and nettles elbowing their way into the flower beds? 

          Dandelion clock with caterpillar                                                        Thistle with butterfly

In a small garden they will all need to be controlled to some degree or they will simply outgrow everything else. All the same, there are plenty of pollinators and caterpillars (potential food for the birds) that will be grateful for something that flowers during winter so how  should we deal with them?                                       

                         Bluetit and great tit gobbling up caterpillars plucked from wild flowers

I recently came across an article written by Alys Fowler in the Guardian in which she suggests letting the plant flower and then, only if it's being thuggish, removing it. Or, if it's occupying a spot there is no other plant to put in, deadhead it or cut it  back, rather than digging it out altogether.  If you cut a plant when it is setting seed, all its energy will be going into the seeds  so it has less resources to regenerate from the roots so you'll weaken it. 

Nettles will nurture the caterpillars  of peacock, red admiral and comma butterflies.  

                                     

                A patch of nettles and a dandelion in a pot, providing ground cover and nurturing insects

Thistles provide a succession of microenvironments  and food for bees, flies, wasps and beetles, painted lady butterflies and a range of birds including goldfinches. Alkanet, which so many gardeners dislike is the most wonderful true blue and an excellent filler of gaps, it is liked by bumble bees, solitary bees, hoverflies, orange tip butterflies and the splendid scarlet tiger moth. 

Alkanet filling a bare space

I must confess  the bright sunny yellows of dandelions and buttercups really delight me and I'm quite happy for them to flower away rather than present an empty patch of lifeless earth early in the year.