Step by step guide to wildlife gardening with Floyd the Frog

1 Hi. I'm Floyd the Frog and I'm going to give you some tips on wildlife gardening. Even if you don't have a big garden, you can create your own small habitat using either a window box, old bath or sink, or even an old chimney pot.	2 First of all try, where possible, to plant native trees, shrubs and wild flowers. Only choose ornamental varieties, such as Buddleia the butterfly bush, if they benefit wildlife.
3 Start a compost heap from garden rubbish. Use the compost instead of artificial fertilizers. Avoid sprays used to control pests and weeds which may kill insects which are good for the garden. Never use peat because extracting it destroys peat bogs.	4 Don't be too tidy. Long grass, thick hedges and piles of leaves provide shelter for lots of birds, insects and small mammals. Windfall fruit is a valuable autumn food supply.
5 Create a wild corner in your garden. Nettles are good for butterflies to lay their eggs on because the leaves provide food for their caterpillars. Brambles support many insects and the berries are food for birds and small mammals.	6 Creating a log pile in your wild corner will attract and provide a home for many insects, such as spiders and beetles. Fungi will also grow on the logs to start off the rotting process, which will attract other insects, possibly even toads.
7 Never dig up plants from the wild as this is illegal. Don't collect seed from wild plants. Only buy them from a good nursery which sells native stock, grown in peat-free compost. The aim of wildlife gardening is to create more habitats, not reduce them.	8 Don't disturb nesting birds. If you do, you'll trample nearby plants making it obvious to predators. Provide food and water for birds all year round. But during early summer, when young birds are being fed, place whole peanuts in a peanut feeder.

The information on this webpage is taken from 'Wildlife Gardening - a practical handbook by Fran Hill', with the permission of the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. Copies are available for purchase from the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

For additional information on wildlife gardening you can visit these websites

• Derbyshire Wildlife Trust 
• Natural England
• Wild about Gardening

or refer to our other Floyd's Guides

• Floyd's guide to tree planting
• Floyd's guide to butterfly gardening
• Floyd's guide to making a wildlife pond
• Floyd's guide to bird and bat box making

For further information contact

Environment Projects Officer for WildDerby
Derby City Council
Regeneration and Community Department
Plans and Policies Section
Roman House
Friar Gate
Derby DE1 1XB

Telephone 01332 255021 Minicom 01332 256666 Fax 01332 255989 email wildderby@derby.gov.uk