Top Tips for Urban Gardening

Urban gardens make up a considerable amount of our wild spaces in cities, so why not make the most of yours with a little help and some great tips from our charity partner the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust?

Tiny tips for small spaces
Even small hanging baskets, window boxes and containers provide a great way to attract insects such as bees and butterflies, which are vital for good crops of flowers, fruits and vegetables. If you have a small patch then planting climbing and trailing plants is a great idea, as they’re particularly flexible growing over balcony railings or up a wall. Planting sweet peas along with mange tout will provide you with pretty sweet smelling flowers for pollinators and yummy veggies to add to a stir-fry or summer salad.

Have a go at growing your own
Growing vegetables can be very rewarding and if you have children can be a fantastic fun learning experience. Not only will you get lovely veggies for the whole family to eat you’ll also be providing enhanced habitats for wildlife. There are a couple of different options when it comes to growing your own – grow a few of your favourites in containers, dig a specific vegetable plot or plant within your current borders. Companion planting works well as you can mix and match. For example, by growing flowering plants alongside vegetables like tomatoes you’ll attract insects such as hoverflies and ladybirds, which have the knock-on benefit of eating any aphids on your tomatoes. Some garden centres sell seed packets which contain suitable partners and you can also buy specialised dwarf vegetables to grow in small gardens and containers. So get sowing and reap the rewards!

Wildlife-loving water features
Water is vital for life, even a small bird bath regularly kept toped up will help all kinds of critters. If you fancy a family project then why not install a small pond? Ponds will attract birds, amphibians and insects without being too time consuming once installed. Not only will you be able to admire extensive wildlife in and around your pond but you can experiment with pond plants. We recommended keeping them native, with the yellow flag iris a special favourite. This dramatic plant is also robust and bees love them!

A bird’s eye view: encouraging birds into your garden
As you would expect bird feeders can be a great way to encourage birds to pay a visit. It is important to keep these topped up, as birds will pick a place to feed from and keep returning to that place even if there is no food to be had. Gardens plants which produce fruit, berries, hips, seeds and nuts will all provide a natural source of food; along with any insects, worms, slugs and snails in and around pots or borders. Sunflowers are great fun to grow and provide free seeds which if not eaten can be stored and added to your fat balls in the winter. In a nutshell, liven up your garden and the birds will come flocking in…

Busy lifestyle? Fast fixes…
The majority of us love the idea of creating a wildlife haven, but often can’t find the time. Well, the trick is to keep things simple- plant native flowers, which will be well adapted to our climate and require relatively little attention. The first step is to have a look at what is already growing and build upon it. Foxgloves are fantastic for pollinators as are nasturtiums which look wonderful and establish quickly. Colour is important; bees in particular are attracted to blue, purple, white and yellow so plant clumps of marigolds and lavenders in pots or borders. Lavenders are not only great for bees but if you delay cutting off their seed heads until spring then birds like goldfinches can make the most of this natural food source. Even bug houses or log piles will increase your garden amenities for wildlife and take up very little time.

For more top tips or to keep up with Yorkshire’s wildlife, follow Yorkshire Wildlife Trust on Twitter or join the YWT facebook group. YWT have received over £78,000 from charity lottery People’s Postcode Lottery. Over £8 million has been raised for charities across Great Britain to date.