WILDLIFE PROJECTS FOR YOUR GARDEN Illustrated by 1st Bleadon Brownies A COMMUNITY PROJECT BY BLEADON IN BLOOM
A WELCOME Welcome to the first ever Wild Bleadon book of habitats! The people who live in Bleadon are very fond of our rural Parish and the wildlife they encounter. In the last Bleadon Parish Council Community Survey it was noted that 97% of the people in the parish sited the rural character of the parish as one of their favourite things about living here. We also know that the rural landscape, habitats, wildlife, and character of the area is often one of the reasons that planning applications are not granted in our parish. Across the UK there has been a huge decline in wildlife habitats and even here in Bleadon we have noticed less frogs and hedgehogs. So Bleadon in Bloom have decided to make a guidebook which shows, step by step, how to create habitats in your garden using very simple methods. The Brownies have created all of the illustrations, and these have been professionally compiled by our very own Bleadon Business “Drink Tea Eat Biscuits” at no cost! This will be distributed around the parish so that people can make habitats in their gardens. Once the habitats have been created, they can be registered on the website www.wildbleadon.co.uk and everyone can see how many of each of the habitats we have in the Parish. The website has also been designed, built, and hosted by another Bleadon Business, Web Glu. We sincerely hope you are inspired to create some of the habitats in your gardens so that we can show everyone how much wildlife means to Bleadon.
You will need: • A plastic box (at least 45 litres) • A stick or pointy tool for marking • A spade • Bricks, stones and pebbles • Water (ideally rainwater) • Native pondweed Instructions: • Select the space for your pond. • Mark out the area by drawing a line around the upside-down box. • Dig the hole – dig a little deeper than needed and remove any sharp stones. • Place the box in the hole and backfill with soil to fill any gaps. • Line the bottom of the box with pebbles. • Place additional bricks, stones or pebbles inside the container on one side to give creatures a way to get in and out (you can also use logs or tiles). • Add pondweed and water. • Check regularly to refill the water and see if you have any visitors! You can also make a small wildlife pond using an old upside-down plastic dustbin lid! Top Tip Our guide will help you to create some beautiful habitats and give you a greater understanding of the creatures you can support by making simple adjustments in your garden. We are capturing the habitats and we would love to hear more from you about your experiences using the guide. Also, please get in touch if you would like to share another habitat build as we can make it up and add it to our ideas. Make the habitat Go to www.wildbleadon.co.uk and register your habitat Photograph the habitat Share you experience with your friends or on social media Watch the creatures use the habitat Go back to point 1 Select a habitat to make and keep a note of its number in the booklet 1. 2. 4. 3. 6. 5. 7. STEPby STEP: MAKE A WILDLIFE Project 1 Project 1 POND Getting STARTED
You will need: • Bricks with holes in or stone rubble • Logs • Tree/bush branches and garden cuttings (optional) Instructions: • Find a suitable quiet location in your garden. • Stack up a log pile as a bottom layer. • Cover the pile with branches and garden cuttings. • Wait for visitors to check in! • How many different visitors do you have? Wait for visitors to check in! Jam Jar feeders: You will need: • Jam jar with lid • String or twine • Hammer and nail • Acrylic paint • Sugar solution • Cotton wool Feeding Tray: You will need: • Four metal screw eyes • 30cm square piece of plywood • String • Jam jar lids • Sugar solution Jam jar instructions: • Decorate your jar with paint. • Knot the string around the jar to enable the jar to be hung upside down. • Add a hole to the jam jar lid using the hammer and nail. • Thread cotton wool through the hole (should be snug) so some inside the jar and some poking out. • Add sugar water to the jar, screw lid on tight and hang in the garden. Feeding Tray instructions: • Screw metal eyes into plywood. • Thread string through eyes, hang over a branch and secure. • Ensure tray is level. • Add jam jars with sugar solution. Sugar solution: 1 tablespoon of sugar dissolved in 9 tablespoons of hot water BUILD A BUG Project 2 HOTEL MAKE A BUTTERFLY FEEDER Project 3
You will need: • A selection of bee and butterfly friendly plants and flowers – see list for examples. • Choose varieties that have a simple structure rather than lots of rings and petals as these are easier for bees and butterflies to obtain nectar from. Examples of plants that bees and butterflies love: • Lavendar • Majoram • Catmint • Verbena • Helenium • Foxgloves • Coneflowers • Salvia • Penstemon • Buddleia Instructions: • Plant in your garden! • Plant in groups for easy detection by colour and smell. • Prolong the feeding opportunity by selecting plants that flower from early spring to late autumn. You will need: • A shallow dish • Marbles or small pebbles (or similar) • Water Instructions: • Place the shallow dish on a level surface near where bees are active (usually around the flowers!). • Fill with marbles or small pebbles so that bees can land and take off again (they can’t swim). • Fill with water. • Keep clean and top up regularly. Milk bottle caps make great water stations for bees – simply attach to wood using a drawing pin and fill with water. Top Tip CREATE A BEE WATER STATION Project 4 CREATE A NECTAR CAFE Project 5 Milk bottle caps make great water stations for bees – simply attach to wood using a drawing pin and fill with water. Top Tip
You will need: • A terracotta plant saucer (minimum 30cm diameter) • Something to stand the saucer on (for example, bricks or an upturned plant pot – just ensure that it is stable!) • A couple of rocks or large pebbles for the birds to perch on • Water (ideally rainwater) You will need: • Google ‘How to build a hedgehog house’ for a simple design and pattern to follow. • You can build a house out of wood or bricks. • Soil, logs, twigs and dried leaves. • Ensure the opening to your house is approximately 13cm wide to allow hedgehogs in but keep predators out. • A very simple method is to lean a piece of board against a wall. Instructions: • Place the plant saucer on top of stand (you may wish to glue it in place) • Add the rocks or large pebbles – large enough that they sit outside of the water. • Fill with water. • Keep clean and topped up. Instructions: • Find a shady, sheltered and quiet spot of the garden to put your hedgehog house. • Cover with soil, logs, twigs and leaves to keep the house warm and attract insects for the hedgehog to eat – just make sure that the opening doesn’t get covered. • Pile dry leaves outside which the hedgehog can drag in for bedding. Add a wooden plank so that hedgehogs can also access it. Top Tip Top Tip MAKE YOUR OWN BIRD BATH Project 6 BUILD A HEDGEHOG HOUSE Project 7 • Bread and milk is not good for hedgehogs – cat or dog food or special hedgehog food is much better. • Consider cutting a couple of holes in your fence (approx. 13cm x 13cm) or dig a couple of holes under the garden border to enable hedgehogs to get in and out and travel around.
• Rewilding encourages biodiversity and creates balance within the food chain. • Even the smallest area can increase biodiversity – consider just having a corner of the garden for example. • Let the weeds grow – these are often the plants that wildlife like the best, especially when there aren’t many other flowers around. • Allow the grass to grow long. • Plant a mini meadow of native wildflowers. • Mulch instead of digging. • Create a log pile. • Place random rocks or large stones around the garden to create shelter and damp areas for insects. REWILD YOUR GARDEN Project 8 Create your own habitat project Give your habitat a name... Who is the habitat for? You will need: Pictures or diagrams Instructions: (step by step) What is it providing? (food, water, or shelter)
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Illustrated by 1st Bleadon Brownies A COMMUNITY PROJECT BY BLEADON IN BLOOM www.wildbleadon.co.uk GO TO... & REGISTER YOUR HABITAT 1st Bleadon Brownies
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