how to achieve your wildlife pledges

Not use pesticides or weed killers in my garden

Why pledge?
Many chemical pest controls are non-specific, so they can kill the good invertebrates as well as the bad ones. By continually using chemicals, some of the pests may also become immune. Good garden management can help to control unwanted pests and diseases.

Top tips

Tidying up all plant debris and digging over soil where possible will ensure populations of pests cannot survive over winter so easily because they'll either get killed off by the frost, or be eaten by the birds.

Buy or make natural barriers such as netting, row covers and plant collars to protect crops and flowers.

Use natural traps to catch pests. Try: sticky fly and mosquito traps and old plastic pots with beer buried in the ground so that the top is level with the soil (slugs like beer and will become drunk, fall into it and drown – happily!).

Encourage creatures which eat pests into your garden, for example frogs, toads, birds and hedgehogs Providing water is a very good way to do this – in a shallow dish placed at ground level close to some cover is best.

Visit the Centre for Wildlife Gardening, which is run by the London Wildlife Trust and offers training courses in wildlife gardening, a demonstration garden and plenty of advice and tips.
28 Marsden Road, London SE15 4EE. 
Phone 020 7252 9186  or email lwtwildgarden@cix.co.uk

Download the Wildlife Gardening Pack from the London Wildlife Trust by visiting www.wildlondon.org.uk.

Make your own compost instead of using peat. See our Waste Top Tips for details.

Plant a window box or planters, as I don't have garden

Why pledge?
Gardening without a garden. English Nature suggests that wildlife friendly plants will encourage visiting insects. You can also plant herbs, many of which are very attractive to wildlife and a useful addition to the kitchen.

Top tips

Wildlife friendly plants:

• Annuals: baby blue eyes, Californian poppy, candytuft, cornflower varieties, echium, English marigold, French marigold, nasturtiums, night scented stock, poached egg plant, poppy
• Bedding plants: dahlias (small single types), forget-me-not, heliotrope, impatiens, lobelia, pansy, petunia (blue or white), sweet william, tobacco plant, verbena (especially bonariensis), wallflower
• Bulbs: native bluebell, crocus, sedum, squill, winter aconites (be sure to use a reputable supplier who does not remove these from the wild for sale)
• Climbers: broad leaved everlasting pea, small flowered clematis, honeysuckle, ivy.
• Cottage garden plants: aubretia, catmint, erigeron, evening primrose (small varieties), lamium, lungwort, sweet rocket, valerian.
• Herbs: borage, chives (if left to flower), hyssop, lavender, lemon balm, marjoram, mint, sage, thyme, winter savory, rosemary.
• Shrubs: Buddleia (dwarf varieties), ceratostigma, heather, hebe (small varieties), rockrose.
• Water plants (for tiny ponds): brooklime, frogbit, fringed water lily, lesser spearwort, water lily (dwarf varieties).
• Wildflowers: bird's foot trefoil, cornflower, field scabious, greater knapweed, lady's smock, primrose, rockrose, small scabious, wild marjoram, wild thyme.
• Visit English Nature for more tips on gardening with out a garden.

Planting tips

The box should be at least 200mm (8ins) deep to allow for root growth and to prevent the soil drying out too quickly.

If you prefer you can put pots inside the window box instead of filling the box with soil.  This allows you to lift them out and change them around without disturbing the roots.  It also reduces the weight of the window box.

Make sure the pots you put into the box and the box itself have drainage holes, otherwise the plants will become waterlogged.

In summer the box will need watering every day, aim to keep the soil moist but never waterlogged.

Choose low growing plants if you want maximum light from your window.  Climbers are another option as they can be trained against the wall around the window.

If the box is sited in an exposed position, i.e. on a wall or balcony, ensure it is fixed with brackets or strong wire.  Strong winds cannot only damage unsecured boxes but they can also become very dangerous to passers by.

Visit www.english-nature.org.uk for more tips on gardening with out a garden.

Give a home to birds by putting up a nesting box

Why pledge?
The RSPB says that gardens can provide plenty of food for birds but often have nowhere for them to nest. Nestboxes can be excellent substitutes for the holes found in old trees and over 60 species are known to have used nestboxes. Regular residents include blue, great and coal tits, nuthatches, house and tree sparrows, starlings, spotted and pied flycatchers, robins, house martins, kestrels and tawny owls.

Top tips

You can order a nesting box online or buy one from a garden centre or DIY shop.

Make sure the box is made form untreated wood and avoid the use of paint or other finishes – birds prefer not to use chemically treated boxes.

To safeguard natural bird nest sites in woodlands and forests, buy a nest box made from wood form sustainable sources of accredited by FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council)

Visit www.rspb.org.uk for more information on siting and caring for your nest box.  

Create a pond to provide homes for water loving wildlife

Why pledge?
According to English Nature a well-designed garden pond can provide a haven for many species of freshwater plants and animals. Ponds are also important for other wildlife, birds drink and bathe in the shallow margins, or eat the autumn seed heads of reeds, insects feed on exposed mud, and at night bats hunt for flying insects over the water. If you want to see plenty of wildlife close to home, put in a garden pond.

Top tips

Download English Nature's free leaflet: Garden ponds and boggy areas; havens for wildlife for everything you need to know about creating a wildlife attracting pond. For more information visit www.english-nature.org.uk and www.froglife.org

Use grey water to water my garden

Why pledge?
Grey water is household wastewater, this can be from your bath, shower, washing up and washing machine. The quality of grey water will vary depending on the source of water, for example water used to wash fruit and vegetables will have fewer chemicals than water from the washing machine. By using grey water you will be ensuring that less water is removed from the naturally wet habitats across the region that our wildlife depends on. Creatures such as damselflies are directly threatened with extinction because abstraction of water from rivers and streams is causing their breeding sites to dry up and become unusable.

Top tips

Choose the least contaminated grey water to water your garden. Soaps and detergents can cause soils to lose their structure, especially clay, but where this type of water is used for a short period any damage is unlikely. Try using less detergent or environmentally friendly cleaning products to avoid this – see our shopping top tips for details.

Dilute water that has high levels of detergents with water that contains lower levels.

Avoid applying grey water with sprinklers.

Avoid using grey water from dishwashers. 

Do not use grey water on your vegetable patch.

Do not use water that has been used with products containing bleach or boron compound.

During wetter periods when you don't need to use the water to water the garden immediately, use a siphon to fill a water butt with grey water and you can save it until you need it.

Use the grey water to water your garden in the evening – this will reduce evaporation, ensuring more of the water gets to your plants roots.