Seasoned organic gardeners and farmers know that when it comes to growing food, we are rarely working alone. Even when we are the only human involved in our projects, we are still being given a helping hand (whether we are aware of it or not) by the beneficial wildlife with which we share our space. Attracting beneficial wildlife is of vital importance for all organic farms and gardens.

Why Attract Wildlife To Your Garden?

Wildlife is not only attractive and interesting. There are plenty of reasons why attracting wildlife in your garden or on your farm is a good idea. Here are just some of the many things that wildlife does for us:

• Wildlife such as bees and many other creatures help us to pollinate our food crops.
• Certain wildlife helps us keep pest species numbers within reasonable bounds in an organic garden.
• Wildlife in our soil ecosystem helps keep the soil/ decomposition system functioning as it should.
• Wildlife can help eat certain plants to keep weeds down, or naturally prune overgrown areas.
• Wildlife generally adds to biodiversity, thus improving the overall resilience of a system.

Creating Wildlife Habitats

One of the key things that we, as humans, can do to attract beneficial wildlife is to create a range of particular wildlife habitats within our space. In addition to cultivating certain areas of land for organic food production, we should also consider adding the following elements to our sites:

• A Garden Pond/ Water Habitat

A garden pond or other water habitat on our site can be a haven for wildlife, as well as being a wonderful way to catch and store water. A wide range of creatures will come to a pond to drink or bathe, and such a habitat will also encourage aquatic creatures, which can help to keep pest numbers down, as well as encouraging insects, which will be food for a number of bird species and other creatures.

• Bird Boxes & Feeders

 Birds are a key species in most sites, some serving to keep down pests, others serving as crucial cogs in the functioning of an ecosystem. You can attract birds to your site by installing bird boxes and feeders, which create an ideal habitat for them, as well as through beneficial planting for shelter and for food.

• Bee and Bug ‘Hotels’

Bees and other small bugs can be made welcome in your wildlife haven through the installation of habitat boxes known as bee or bug ‘hotels’. You can purchase these from many vendors online and in stores, or make your own using items such as cones, sticks, twigs and sections of garden cane.

• A Brush Pile/ Untamed Corners

It is important to remember when concentrating on creating habitats in your garden that sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all. By letting fallen branches lie and letting weeds thrive in corners of your site, you can create natural havens for a wide range of wildlife.

• The Soil Ecosystem

When thinking about attracting wildlife to our growing spaces, it is important to consider not only the life above the soil but also that which lies beneath it. The soil itself is a valuabel and fragile habitat. You can protect the valuable soil biota by practising ‘no dig’/’no till’ techniques on your farm or in your garden, by composting, and mulching, through using cover crops, practising crop rotation, and gardening organically.

Planting For Wildlife

The most important element of all when planning your growing site to attract wildlife is the planting. The plants that you sow and grow will determine the sorts of creatures with whom you share your space. Certain plants and growing systems are particularly beneficial for wildlife. Here are some of the ecosystems that perform best for attracting wildlife:

• Forest Gardens

Forest gardens mimic the natural forest ecosystem, taking all that is beneficial about a forest and using that to our advantage to grow a diverse range of food and other useful plants. Usually including fruit trees, as well as a range of fruiting shrubs, perennial vegetables, and herbs, forest gardens are not only great for us – they attract a range of wildlife too, and can be among the most thriving and diverse growing systems.

• Native Hedges & Garden Boundaries

Rather than edging your space with fences or walls or other ‘dead’ space, consider planting hedges of native plant species. Hedges and gardens bounded with native planting can help to attract wildlife, and create wildlife corridors for the creatures with whom we share more urban spaces in towns and cities, as well as in the countryside.

• Wildflower Meadows

Wildflower meadows are wonderful for attracting pollinators to our growing areas. Consider replacing areas of mono-culture lawn with abundant and diverse wildflower meadows, to give bees and other pollinators a chance and give them a food source that can help them throughout the year.

• Flower Gardens for Pollinators

Wildflowers are not the only blooms that can attract pollinators to your growing areas. More formal flower beds and borders can also serve this purpose. Try to find flowering plants that bloom throughout as much of the year as possible, in order to help pollinating species find the nectar they need every month of the year.

• Aromatic Herb Gardens

Whether you have a separate herb garden or scatter herbs throughout your growing spaces, these too are wonderful for attracting a range of beneficial insects, both pollinators and those predatory insects which can help keep pest numbers down. Herbs can be wonderful for use in the kitchen, or for herbal remedies, but attracting beneficial wildlife is yet another reason to grow herbs in your garden or on your farm.

Attracting wildlife to your space is a wonderful way to ensure that whatever and wherever you are growing, a natural balance is maintained.