Welcome to our Sheppards Close Wilderhood Watch page!
A lot of residents on our street are already very aware of the need to give more space to wildlife in our gardens. We’re hoping that through our Wilderhood Watch projects, we’ll be able to create a wonderful green corridor which will make it simple for animals to travel between our gardens and the Lower Heath that lies behind them.
Our Pollinator Highway Project will encourage residents to collaborate so that insects including bees and butterflies will enjoy a supply of nectar and pollen all year round, in all our gardens.
As you can see, this garden on our street is already providing lots of food and habitat for wildlife. Garden herbs (left) are perfect for pollinators, while hedges (centre) provide food and shelter throughout the seasons. They’re also good places to grow shade-tolerant pollinator friendly plants such as foxgloves (pictured), garlic mustard and bush vetch. On the right is a wild patch of stinging nettles – an essential food plant for the caterpillars of peacock and small tortoiseshell butterflies.
We haven’t seen hedgehogs in our gardens for a long time now, so are very keen to do whatever we can to attract them. Our Hedgehog Street Project will first involve making sure our gardens are safe from chemicals and debris, and then putting 13cmx13cm holes in our fences so that hedgehogs can roam freely.
Compost heaps and dead wood provide habitats for a wide variety of invertebrates, all of which are food for hedgehogs. Dead wood in this garden is also being used as a hedgehog hole – perfect!
Hedgehogs’ favourite foods are caterpillars and beetles, so grow some of your grass long to create caterpillar habitat and create a log pile or bug house to entice beetles. Also add water to your garden to ensure hedgehogs and other animals never go thirsty.
If you would like to become involved with either or both of these projects, please contact our street coordinator, Katie Carr at katie.carr@btinternet.com.
