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Little Green Space |
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Little Green Space |
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LITTLE GREEN SPACE Originally published in the Peak Advertiser on 9 March 2009
A few
days ago we spotted the first butterfly of the year: a comma, tempted out
by the warmer weather, was fluttering around in search of food. We also
saw a couple of bees buzzing about. This has really made me think about
what’s in our garden. When I started growing vegetables for the first
time last year I became preoccupied with edible crops, and was less
bothered about flowers. They look lovely, but they won’t feed the
family! But
flowering plants are essential for wildlife (which in turn helps with
edible crops – but I’ll get to that in a moment). So this year I’m
making sure I provide nectar-rich plants for as much as the year as
possible. This is
particularly important in early spring. A short spell of warm weather can
stir hibernating insects into activity, and they can really struggle to
find food at this time of year. The
insect you are most likely to see in early spring is the bumblebee, which
is able to fly in cool weather, and will be out and about as soon as the
temperature reaches about 10˚C. Unlike the honey bee, the bumblebee
doesn’t keep a winter food store. So they really need a snack when they
emerge from hibernation! Early Flowers As
traditional habitats such as hay meadows, hedgerows and grassland decline,
our gardens become more vital for the survival of many insect species.
Early flowering nectar-rich plants such as snowdrops, grape hyacinths and
crocuses are attractive to bees and butterflies and are great choices for
your garden. Other
early flowers include honesty, rosemary and flowering shrubs such as
viburnums and mahonias. And later in the year, the insects in your garden
will appreciate buddleia, lavender, poppies and golden rod. Chives will
tempt bees to your garden; butterflies particularly enjoy scabious; and
hoverflies will be attracted to achillea and angelica. You can
create a beautiful garden of hardy annuals with just a few packets of
inexpensive seed. Candytuft, clarkia, larkspur and Californian poppies are
easily grown and will self seed, giving years of colourful, nectar-rich
flowers. As a general rule, butterflies are attracted to mauve and purple
flowers, bees like purples and blues, while hoverflies prefer yellow
flowers. And by
including some later flowering perennials such as Michaelmas daisies and
sedums, you can provide insects with food for much of the year. Companion planting But why
should we care whether insects visit our gardens? If you grow your own
fruit and vegetables, it is wise to attract our six-legged friends for all
sorts of reasons. For starters, many fruits and vegetables are pollinated
by insects – in fact about 80 per cent of all food crops need some sort
of pollination. So
getting those bees, butterflies and hoverflies buzzing around your
vegetable patch could really pay dividends come harvest time. And
attracting certain insects will help with pest control, making organic
gardening - without the use of chemical pesticides and insecticides - an
easier option. For example, the larvae of hoverflies will feed on aphids.
So by planting a few marigolds around your tomatoes, you can attract
hoverflies and thereby protect your crop. Hoverflies
and wasps will also eat the caterpillars of cabbage white butterflies.
Last year my Brussels sprouts were destroyed by caterpillars, so I’ll be
planting lots of marigolds this year. Another
way to prevent cabbage white butterflies from laying their eggs on your
crops is to plant nasturtiums nearby. They are also attractive to
butterflies, and with any luck the butterflies may
choose to lay their eggs on the nasturtium leaves, instead of on the
cabbages. Well, it’s worth a try, anyway. As well
as attracting beneficial insects to your plot, some flowers and plants
will keep pests at bay. Marigolds have an insecticidal effect on the soil
and repel many pests. They will also miraculously restrict the growth of
some weeds such as bindweed and couch grass. Chives, onions or leeks
planted alongside carrots should deter carrot fly. And by planting mint
and coriander near your tomatoes you can keep aphids and whitefly away. Under threat Whether
or not you grow your own vegetables, we have a great deal to gain from
attracting insects into our gardens – and a great deal to lose if these
important species become endangered. Bees in
particular are vital to our well-being. More than a third of our diet is
directly dependent on bees: they pollinate fruit, vegetables and cereals. But
honey bees are threatened by disease, climate change and habitat loss, and
are declining at an alarming rate: 30 per cent per year in the Bumblebees
in particular are affected by climate change. Many people associate the
buzzing of the bumblebee with long, hot summer days but bumblebees
actually dislike hot weather. They originate from the Increases
of temperature are unbearable to the bumble bee, and as our climate heats
up they are being forced further northwards. Some
bumblebees make their nests in abandoned vole and mice holes, underground
or in thick grass. These holes are destroyed by intensive farming methods
which have seen hedgerows ripped out and fields margins ploughed up. And
with the advent of nitrogen-rich fertilisers, old-fashioned rotation crops
such as clover – a valuable source of food for bees – are no longer
needed. Bumblebees
are important pollinators and are the only insects to pollinate certain
crops, such as beans and raspberries. Albert
Einstein is believed to have said “If the bee disappears off the surface
of the globe then man would only have four years of life left.” It’s a
chilling thought. But by
taking action to combat climate change and improve insect habitats, we can
help to halt the decline of the bee. And some very small actions, such as
planting a few insect-friendly plants in your garden, could make the world
of difference. |
