TALK: WEDNESDAY 4th MARCH 2026
SPEAKER: RICHARD SCHMIDT - late replacement for Amber Hind
TITLE: GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE
Richard Scmidt, who stood in at the last minute for our scheduled speaker, gave a very clear and helpful talk about how to Garden for Wildlife. Gardens in England are extremely important for wildlife as they cover an estimated 4.9% of the country’s area, the third biggest category after agriculture and forestry and open ground. In urban areas gardens can account for up to 30% of the area.
Richard divided his talk into 11 sections:
1. WATER. This is the one thing essential to life and wherever possible building a pond is the single best thing to help wildlife. It provides drinking water, a home and breeding ground for amphibians: frogs, newts and toads, a home for the lava stage of insects which then provide food for other animals. The pond should have a shallow access area or beach, oxygenating planets and cover/shelter plants like water lilies.
2. PLANT A TREE. Apart from giving height and structure, it will support a variety of animals, mosses and lichens. The oak supports up to 3,000 species. Birds nest and hide in them, squirrels make their drays in them.
3. DIVERSITY. Don’t forget to provide for mammals, insects and other animals
4. PLANT FOR POLLINATORS. It does not matter which plants as different insects have different needs, as long as you avoid highly bred sterile flowers as they do not produce pollen. It is necessary to think of the whole life cycle and include something for caterpillars.
5. PLANT FOR BIRDS. Trees, shrubs and ivy provide berries as food in winter, sites for nests and places to hide. If you have a bird feeder place it near a tree or shrub so birds can flit to it and back to hide again.
6. LEAVE SEEDS HEADS in autumn as food for birds and let leaves lie on flower beds and they will be pulled into the soil by worms to provide plant nutrition
7. HAVE A PILE OF DEADWOOD. Left in a corner beetles will feed on the dead wood and it provides shelter for any number of critters. It will encourage mosses lichens and bacteria.
8. ARTIFICIAL HABITATS. Bird feeders, nest boxes, bug hotels (put a mesh over the front to stop wood peckers from breaking in to feed on the bugs) all help. Some commercial stuff is not very good, for example I have a bird feeder where the little perches by the access holes are so short only blue tits can use them. Bird feeders should be cleaned weekly.
9. SOIL. Follow not dig and disturb the soil as little as possible to preserve the micro-organisms.
10. COMPOST. Produce your own, try to achieve a 50/50 mixture of soft green material (nitrogen) and brown woody stems (carbon).
11. CHOP AND DROP. Cut down perennials and leave the chopped-up stems on the ground around them. This provides projection to small insects and eventually provides nutrition to plants. It can be a bit messy.
Finally GROW YOUR OWN FOOD. It always tastes better than shop bought; try to share a bit with wildlife it you can.
SPEAKER: RICHARD SCHMIDT - late replacement for Amber Hind
TITLE: GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE
Richard Scmidt, who stood in at the last minute for our scheduled speaker, gave a very clear and helpful talk about how to Garden for Wildlife. Gardens in England are extremely important for wildlife as they cover an estimated 4.9% of the country’s area, the third biggest category after agriculture and forestry and open ground. In urban areas gardens can account for up to 30% of the area.
Richard divided his talk into 11 sections:
1. WATER. This is the one thing essential to life and wherever possible building a pond is the single best thing to help wildlife. It provides drinking water, a home and breeding ground for amphibians: frogs, newts and toads, a home for the lava stage of insects which then provide food for other animals. The pond should have a shallow access area or beach, oxygenating planets and cover/shelter plants like water lilies.
2. PLANT A TREE. Apart from giving height and structure, it will support a variety of animals, mosses and lichens. The oak supports up to 3,000 species. Birds nest and hide in them, squirrels make their drays in them.
3. DIVERSITY. Don’t forget to provide for mammals, insects and other animals
4. PLANT FOR POLLINATORS. It does not matter which plants as different insects have different needs, as long as you avoid highly bred sterile flowers as they do not produce pollen. It is necessary to think of the whole life cycle and include something for caterpillars.
5. PLANT FOR BIRDS. Trees, shrubs and ivy provide berries as food in winter, sites for nests and places to hide. If you have a bird feeder place it near a tree or shrub so birds can flit to it and back to hide again.
6. LEAVE SEEDS HEADS in autumn as food for birds and let leaves lie on flower beds and they will be pulled into the soil by worms to provide plant nutrition
7. HAVE A PILE OF DEADWOOD. Left in a corner beetles will feed on the dead wood and it provides shelter for any number of critters. It will encourage mosses lichens and bacteria.
8. ARTIFICIAL HABITATS. Bird feeders, nest boxes, bug hotels (put a mesh over the front to stop wood peckers from breaking in to feed on the bugs) all help. Some commercial stuff is not very good, for example I have a bird feeder where the little perches by the access holes are so short only blue tits can use them. Bird feeders should be cleaned weekly.
9. SOIL. Follow not dig and disturb the soil as little as possible to preserve the micro-organisms.
10. COMPOST. Produce your own, try to achieve a 50/50 mixture of soft green material (nitrogen) and brown woody stems (carbon).
11. CHOP AND DROP. Cut down perennials and leave the chopped-up stems on the ground around them. This provides projection to small insects and eventually provides nutrition to plants. It can be a bit messy.
Finally GROW YOUR OWN FOOD. It always tastes better than shop bought; try to share a bit with wildlife it you can.
