Gardens and allotments

Gardens and allotments, especially those in cities can be important habitats for our wildlife providing food and shelter for them, including for some priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan such as bullfinch, song thrush and pipistrelle bat.

You can attract a range of species to your garden or allotment many of which are natural predators of others which nibble at the vegetables and fruit you might be growing. And you don’t need to create a wilderness in order to attract and benefit biodiversity in your garden.

It is valuable to encourage a broad range of plants and animals. For example, insects pollinate the plants in their search for nectar, plants provide us with food and colour and the wildlife with berries and seeds; birds, frogs, toads and hedgehogs eat slugs and grubs, and bats eat midges and aphids!

Things you can do easily in the garden to benefit biodiversity:

• A sunny spot in the garden is a great place to plant nectar giving plants which attract butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects, and you can plant things like herbs which you can use in the kitchen too;

                  

• have a bird table and feeders close to trees and shrubs where birds can escape quickly from cats and birds of prey;
• plant species which bear berries or seeds which birds can eat - plants native to Scotland will flourish in our climate;
• grow a range of fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers – the early flowers of currants, gooseberries and cotoneasters provide nectar at important early stages for bees and other insects; other flowers, vegetables and herbs provide nectar at later stages through the growing season;
• put up bird and bat boxes for nesting and roosting space;
• leave a log pile for beetles, frogs and fungi, and piles of leaves and other vegetation for hedgehogs, frogs and toads;
• a small pond with differing levels for frogs and toads, and as drinking, bathing water for birds and other creatures;

                 

• an unsightly fence can be used as a frame for or hidden with climbers such as honeysuckle, dog rose and ivy with provide shelter and nectar; or hawthorn, firethorn, blackthorn, holly, brambles which provide berries.

Parks and greenspaces

Greenspaces, such as parks, play spaces, playing fields, cemeteries, and green corridors are the green lungs in towns and cities, and can often have a rich biodiversity if grass cutting and management regimes are made less intensive.

Parks and playing fields

Leaving areas of grass unmown until the autumn contributes to environmental and economic best value in that it not only allows native flowers to flourish, and associated animals, but also saves money in maintenance costs.

Cemeteries and churchyards

The walls, buildings and gravestones of cemeteries provide shelter and habitats, food and cover for animals, birds and insects. Some older cemeteries and churchyards can be very important for lichens, which grow on the gravestones and walls, particularly where there are no natural outcrops of rock.

                                  

Green corridors

Rivers and canals – natural watercourses running through town can support a huge array of different species – both below and above water and in the surrounding banks and margins; they provide a link through the town and to other habitats and water bodies in the area allowing movement and dispersal of species. In addition they can often provide an attractive place to walk/cycle/sit by, fish in, and act as a link to open space for people as well as biodiversity.

Even in and around big cities such as Glasgow rivers, streams and canals support important species such as the Atlantic salmon, water vole and otter.

Disused railways and other transport corridors 

Disused railways provide green corridors which not only benefit biodiversity generally, having developed a lush growth of semi-natural vegetation at the edges such as woodland, scrub and tall grassland habitats, but are also often managed to provide safe and attractive routes for off-road cycling and walking.

Similar habitats can also be found along the embankments of functioning railway lines.

Herb-rich grassland, shrubs and tree also occur as verges alongside roads, and have the potential to make a valuable contribution to biodiversity. Their management can be adjusted to favour a particular mix of species appropriate to the area. Roadside safety must always take priority in the management of roadside verges but the native biodiversity of our roadsides can be enhanced with small changes to management or timing of management. Road verges may be the only unbuilt land in some areas and if not intensively cut can support many plants and associated invertebrates.

A variety of Local Biodiversity Action Plans (LBAPs) in Scotland target action for such linear wildlife corridors and other greenspaces. These can be viewed at  www.biodiversityscotland.gov.uk

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