2026 Gardening for Wildlife

Gardening for Wildlife

Key notes from the talk given by Ailsa Claybourn on 10th September 2026

After a long career in teaching, Ailsa Claybourn now likes to share her passion for nature, and literature, and to raise awareness and understanding of the wonders and vulnerability of the natural world around us. As well as giving talks, Ailsa organises guided walks exploring the ecology and history of the countryside in our area many starting from the nature centre in Thatcham.

Introduction

Ailsa began her talk by explaining her love of gardening and how her garden caters to wildlife in so many ways. She focused on how we can help our invertebrates, on which so much wildlife ultimately depends.

Attracting animals, bird and insects to our gardens

The RHS estimate that there are 30 million gardens in the UK, if gardeners all took steps to supporting wildlife it would make a difference. Wildlife gardens are untidy gardens. We are urged to leave piles of leaves and logs to provide wildlife with food and somewhere secure to live. Allow lawn ‘weeds’ to flower by mowing less often, provide water throughout the year and don’t tidy your garden until the spring.

Plants which are great for pollinators

Try to grow native plants and choose flowers where the centre is open, allowing insects easy access to the nectar. Spring and Autumn flowering plants are particularly important and trees provide vital corridors of safety for birds and bats. Consider RHS ‘Chaos gardening’* – horticulture with mad abandon. Be aware that some plants bought in Garden Centres may contain pesticides; see Dave Goulson’s ‘Parsnip Ploy’**. Never use pesticides.

Some of Ailsa’s favourite garden flowers for pollinators:

White buddleia Bird’s Foot trefoil Heathers

Nepeta Jasmine Honeysuckle

Rudbeckia Thyme Ivy

Tutsan (Hypericum androaemum) Lavender Daisies

White clover Phlox Mint

Clematis Non-native scabious Sweet William

Clover Evening Primrose Yarrow

Dandelion flowers

Insects

In the last 40 years the UK insect population has gone down by 75%. Insects that are beneficial to gardeners include:

Bees – all types

Hoverflies – 28 different species of hoverflies including the Marmalade hoverfly and Football jersey hoverfly. The larvae of many species feed on aphids.

Lacewings – 14 species. Lacewings hibernate over winter. They need shelter but not central heating so advice is to place safely in a shed or outbuilding if you find one on the curtains. The larvae feed on aphids.

Ladybirds and Ladybird larvae can eat 25 aphids a day. Ailsa covered the difference between the usual 7 spot ladybird and the invasive species, the Harlequin (Asian) variety which are very common in households. The Harlequins have not evolved to live with others. Their eggs hatch earlier and eat the larvae of the native 7-spot ladybird.

Butterflies - Gatekeeper butterflies like marjoram. The name ‘admiral’ comes from the word ‘admirable’.

Ailsa commented on how many hummingbird hawk moths have been spotted in her garden this year which struck a chord with the audience! Although these moths are not native, they do not compete with native species, and this is the first examples of them breeding in the UK.

Ponds

These benefit birds, and attract frogs, toads and newts to the garden (and frogs and toads eat slugs). There are 44 species of slug in the UK and only 9 of these species eat plants.

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) have a comprehensive guide to creating and planting a wildlife pond. See https://www.bbowt.org.uk/actions/how-build-pond.

by Ann McMath and Julia Goodman

Chilton Foliat Wildlife Group

Footnotes

* ‘Chaos’ Gardening

Chaos gardening is a low-maintenance trend popularized by the RHS Chelsea Flower Show where you mix leftover or spare flower, herb, and vegetable seeds together and cast them randomly without any strict planning. See also the RHS extensive list of plants for pollinators: https://www.rhs.org.uk/science/research/plants-for-pollinators

** Dave Goulson’s ‘Parsnip Ploy’

A humorous personal anecdote that highlights the unexpected trap well-intentioned gardeners face when trying to buy wildlife-friendly plants.

Popularised in his bestselling book The Garden Jungle: or Gardening to Save the Planet, Goulson notes that he frequently visits garden centres intending only to purchase a simple packet of parsnip seeds. However, while there, he routinely succumbs to the temptation of buying beautiful potted plants prominently labelled with cartoon bumblebees or the Royal Horticultural Society's "Perfect for Pollinators" logo.

The irony of the "Parsnip Ploy" lies in what Goulson's laboratory at the University of Sussex discovered when they chemically tested these exact "bee-friendly" plants:

• The Toxic Bouquet: Testing revealed that 76% of the nursery plants marketed to help wildlife actually contained at least one pesticide.

• The Chemical Mix: Nearly 40% contained a cocktail of two or more insecticides, and 70% contained notorious neonicotinoids—systemic poisons that completely saturate the plant tissue, making its nectar and pollen toxic to the very bees gardeners are trying to save.

Further links:

See also the butterfly conservation charity Citizen Science project such as the great butterfly count (https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/about) which helps monitor butterfly numbers and distribution.