Janice Cripps | Beautiful Gardens by design
 Wildlife Garden |  Design outline plan |
|---|---|
 Drawing of finished garden |  Alchemilla mollis looks so pretty when it catches the light |
 Japanese blood grass and helenium are an attractive planting combination |  Sea holly |
 Ornamental grasses add movement and create an ethereal feel |  Hot colours of helenium, achillea and echinacea |
Wildlife garden
Wildlife gardens are a great way to introduce biodiversity and teach children about nature. What’s more they’re growing in popularity as towns and cities become increasingly built up.
My brief was to create a garden that was colourful, informal and, above all, wildlife friendly. The main feature of my design is the wildlife pond - a perfect habitat for newts, frogs and dragonflies A cantilevered pergola in weathered mild steel provides shade over the dining area and timber decking creates a warm, natural, easily-laid surface that handles the change in levels, so avoiding the need for costly earthworks. I chose the flowers not only for their pretty blooms, but also to encourage insects like ladybirds, butterflies, lacewings and hoverflies. Ornamental trees, berry-bearing shrubs and grasses with ornamental seed heads supply food for wildlife of all kinds. While in one corner, near the compost heap, an old decaying log store is the perfect home for beetles and hedgehogs (slugs’ and snails’ worst enemies).