I bought a bag of baby leaf salad leaves from Tesco today. I was tucking in when I came across some Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris). I thought it was a mistake as it's a common field weed but I just checked online and it is edible. Rather nice too - flowers, seeds and all. It's full of vitamins apparently and the Romans grew it as a pot herb. It has a long history of use to treat haemorrhages...which could be handy as it's a Friday night!

Boxing clever

Spring is a very busy time for nesting birds so consider putting up a bird box.

Holed nest boxes come with various hole sizes, each attractive to some birds and not others. Smaller holes also exclude larger birds. 25mm is ideal for blue tits, marsh tits and coal tits, 28mm for great tits, tree sparrows and pied flycatchers, 32mm for house sparrows, nuthatches and lesser spotted woodpeckers, 45mm for starlings and 50mm for great spotted woodpecker.

The height of the front on open-fronted boxes attracts different birds. A 60mm high front attracts spotted flycatchers, 100mm attracts robins and pied wagtails, and 140mm attracts wrens.

Sparrows like to nest communally. They will welcome a ‘terrace’ which has 3 nest boxes in one with individual entrances.

You could tie up some nesting materials such as dry grass, small twigs, hair clippings and wool in an accessible place away from cats.

Spring is here...well almost!

March is a busy time for sowing seed indoors so keep an eye on seed packets for sowing times. Between now and mid-April is the best time to sow a spring or summer-flowering wildflower meadow. It will attract bees, butterflies, moths and many other insects as well as birds and bats. Seed can be purchased from garden centres or by mail order from specialist wild flower nurseries.

Ivy and holly should be trimmed if necessary before nesting birds arrive and holly blue butterflies lay their eggs. Clip lavender to ensure a good crop of flowers for bees in summer.

Early nectar- and pollen-bearing plants such as daffodils, primroses, lesser celandines and barberry will flower in the coming weeks providing much needed food for insects. Wild animals and flowers (and people) are starting to become more visible in the garden as they emerge from their winter quarters.

Don’t demolish our humble abode!

Many gardeners are tempted at this time of year to tidy up last year’s perennial flower stems and leaves. For good reason, the wildlife gardener waits a bit longer.

As the weather turned colder last autumn, insects such as ladybirds entered the hollow stems of perennials. Stems (and leaf litter) are excellent hibernation and over-wintering sites, providing insulation from cold winds, frost, rain and snow.

Next month, after the insects have emerged, the hollow stems can safely be cut and added to the compost heap where they will introduce essential air pockets. Consider planting perennials such as fennel, michaelmas daisy and knapweed ready for next year’s sleeping beauties.

Drinking straws or short pieces of garden cane tied in bundles and bunged at one end with plasticine serve a similar purpose. Tie them under window sills and around the garden. Lacewings and other insects will also shelter there in the summer.

Love is like oxygen

Many animals are, or will be, emerging from hibernation including hedgehogs and some species of ladybird. Toads, frogs and newts immediately begin mating and produce rather different spawn. Common toads lay their eggs in double strips, frogs lay theirs in globular masses, while newts lay single eggs carefully wrapped in leaves.

This is a good time to stock ponds with ‘oxygenating’ (oxygen-producing) plants. Pond plants will also provide food, shelter and breeding grounds for dragonfly larvae, pond snails, water fleas and diving beetles in the coming months.

Queen bumble bees are busily checking out potential nest sites and foraging for food so make sure there are plenty of flowering plants around the garden this month. Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) is ideal. For next year’s bees, snowdrops (Galanthus) and spring snowflake (Leucojum vernum) can soon be obtained ‘in the green’. This ‘leaves attached’ option usually proves more successful than dry bulbs.

Welcome to Wildlife Gardening by Paul Peace!

Wildlife gardening simply means creating and maintaining a garden that is good for wildlife. Thanks to TV programmes and a growing environmental awareness, wildlife gardening has become very popular. It is fun, educational and a great conservation tool. Week by week join me for wildlife gardening help, advice, projects, photos, you name it! Thanks for visiting!