Things to look out for in the garden - gardening for invertebrates and insects

Believe it or not, the UK has 15 million gardens, which together cover 270,000 hectares - which is more than all the National Nature Reserves in the country put together. As a result, your garden can contribute to the conservation of wildlife, if you take one or two simple steps: Building a pond and encouraging frogs into a garden means you are being eco-friendly but as frogs are actually a non-toxic alternative to slug pellets, it's good news for you too!

Dead wood is important for a number of invertebrates so if you can create a log pile which you will allow to decay down in a shaded spot in the garden, you may attract spectacular beetles like the stag, or the rare and beautiful noble chafer (emerald green and fond of orchards) and laying a number of flat stones around the garden will provide shelter for predators such as centipedes and ground beetles which help keep plant pests under control. In addition, slugs and snails act as a perfectly natural decomposer in a well-balanced garden. Removal of leaf litter will leave slugs with nothing to eat but your favourite plants!

Bees often nest in old walls and they are invaluable in ensuring the pollination of your garden plants. This means re-pointing walls should be done carefully and in moderation, leaving some bee nesting sites. You should note that south facing sunny walls are favoured by many bees.

Spraying with pesticides will result in fewer natural predators such as ladybirds colonising your garden. Alternatively, using companion plants like marigolds under roses can reduce pest numbers.

Creating a pond will attract insects such as dragonflies to breed as long as you have some shallow margins with semi-aquatic plants to provide emergence areas. When using water, summer sprinklers take a heavy toll and when we pump up water from deep in the ground (using up aquifers that are millions of years old) we lower water levels in ancient fenlands, so using less water in summer will help protect these habitats.

Maintaining a nettle patch is a very good way of attracting butterflies to the garden. Peacocks, red admirals, small tortoiseshells and often commas all lay their eggs on nettles. The larvae then feed on the fresh, succulent new growth.

Garden insect photograph by Whiskymac, used under a creative commons attribution licence.

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