Your Wildlife Garden. Jackie Bennett

Your Wildlife Garden

the previous night, as they find mates and make preparations for the birth of their cubs.

Resident birds will also be gearing up for the breeding season. An early morning chorus of robins, blackbirds and thrushes signals the increasing interest males and females are taking in one another as they noisily advertise for mates. In a small garden it is unusual to have more than one pair of any particular species nesting, simply because the males will defend their territory against incomers of the same species. Even in mild weather birds are still reliant on supplementary food from the bird table, particularly the females who are building up their strength for breeding. Frogs and toads are beginning to emerge from hibernation, although if the weather is extremely cold they will stay out of sight for another month. Butterflies, particularly brimstones and commas, may be stirred into life by a spell of weak sunshine. This is the month that catkins begin to appear on the branches of hazel and alder trees. Hazel catkins are known colloquially as ‘lambs’ tails’, making a connection in our minds between the first sight of these flowers and the beginning of a new seasonal cycle. Beneath the trees, celandines, sweet violets, spring crocus and snowdrops are making a carpet of scent and colour, offering sustenance to waking insects and setting the scene for spring.

      tasks
      FOR THE
      month

MOVING TREES AND SHRUBS

This is the last month for lifting and replanting shrubs or trees which may be in the wrong position. By spring, nest building will be underway, and moving established plants can be very disruptive. If the ground is too hard or the weather bad, leave until autumn.

CHECKLIST

Continue feeding birds

Prune Buddleia davidii

Cut back overgrown berberis and cotoneaster

Lift and divide perennial border plants

Prune shrub roses

Plant lily of the valley

Trimming back perennials

FEEDING BIRDS

Continue putting out food and water on the bird table, particularly during cold spells. This is also a good month to put up nesting boxes that garden birds will use during the spring.

PRUNING BUDDLEIA

Buddleia davidii bushes may be pruned this month. Strictly speaking, buddleia does not need to be pruned — witness the hundreds of thousands of garden escapees growing untended on urban wasteland. However, bushes which have outgrown their space or produced a poor show of flowers will benefit, producing strong new stems and, more importantly, large clusters of flowers for the butterflies.

Cut back all last year’s shoots to within 5 or 8cm (2 or 3in) of the old wood as shown.

In mild winters, new rosettes of leaves may already have started to form at the junction of the old and new wood and these should be left undamaged.

PRUNING BERBERIS AND COTONEASTER

Barberry (Berberis) and cotoneaster shrubs, both of value for their berries, can be cut back to prevent them becoming too overgrown and woody. The thicker, tougher three-year-old stems (or older) are cut out at ground level, opening up the plant to allow more light and air to the centre.

Using sharp secateurs, prune the old wood back to within a few inches of the ground as shown.

LIFTING AND DIVIDING BORDER PERENNIALS

Hardy perennial plants which have been in place for three years or more can be lifted and divided now to make new plants. All the species listed are good for wildlife, and this is the simplest method of propagation. (Division can also be done in autumn.)

Prepare the ground where the new plants are going to be put, by digging over and adding some garden compost.

Using a fork, gently work the clump out of the ground, taking care not to break the roots.

For large clumps, insert two forks, back to back, into the centre of the clump and prise the roots apart. Small clumps can be pulled apart by hand.

Select small, healthy pieces from the outside of the plant with at least three or four young shoots, for replanting. The central woody portion can be discarded. The new sections can be planted immediately, allowing enough room between plants for development to their full size.

PRUNE SHRUB ROSES

The species shrub roses can be pruned now that the hips have been safely eaten during the winter months and while the plant is still dormant. Wild and species roses, whether grown as hedging or as shrubs, do not need annual hard pruning like the hybrid bush roses, but from time to time they will benefit from a light ‘tidying up’ — perhaps every three or four years. Dog rose (Rosa canina), sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa), Rosa rugosa, Rosa x alba, and Rosa glauca can all be treated in the same way.

Using sharp secateurs,

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Your Wildlife Garden. Jackie Bennett