VAL BOURNE recommends hawthorn to attract important insects

I have been studying the wildlife in my garden for decades. But I don’t watch the birds and the hedgehogs. I try to get up close and personal to the smaller inhabitants of my garden — the bees, beetles, spiders, caterpillars and insects. Every year I try to put another brick in the wall of understanding. For conventional scientists know surprisingly little about how common insects interact.

One important thing I have learnt over the years is that herbivores (or plant eaters) are fussy feeders. My long-held belief was confirmed by last month’s article in British Wildlife by Richard M. Smith and David B. Roy who are relaunching The Database of British Insects and their Foodplants (www.brc.ac.uk/DBIF). In their fascinating article they explain that 76 per cent of herbivores rely on one plant family. Even one catholic feeder (the green peach aphid or Myzus persicae), has only been found on one per cent of plant species — some 40 families. The smaller the herbivore, the fussier they tend to be. I know from my own observations that plant feeders seem to select native plants in preference.

The aphids in my garden colonise our native Knautia arvensis (field scabious) in preference to the alien Scabiosa aucasica — even when the stems are completely intertwined. I see tiny insects (even aphids) as the most important piece in my living jigsaw. Blue tits, for instance, need 10,000 tiny creatures to feed their brood.

So I want my garden to be full of creepy-crawlies. For if you encourage a diversity of small creatures you attract sustain the higher orders of nature.

One of the best ways to encourage diverse insect life is to plant a native hedge. This could include a mixture of hawthorn, blackthorn, guelder rose, field maple and holly. Hedging specialists supply mixtures (see below). Now is the time to order and plant some bare-root whips while the soil is still damp and warm. Often a double row is best.

However, one particular hedging plant (the hawthorn (Crataegus onogyna) is head and shoulders above the rest as far as attracting insects goes. Wrens, blackbirds, yellowhammers, finches, tits, redwings, fieldfares and starlings visit hawthorn attracted by their insect life.

So your stablished hedge should only be cut back once the haws have largely gone, but before birds start to nest. Small mammals and amphibians will shelter at the hedge base so shape the hedge into a broad A-shape making the bottom of the hedge wider than the top. This area should be left undisturbed, especially in autumn and winter, for maximum shelter.

Hibernating creatures will make full use of this shelter belt. Pollution-tolerant hawthorn can be used in town or country.

Local Suppliers: Buckingham Nurseries www.buckingham-nurseries.co.uk; Nicholsons Nurseries www.nicholsons-nurseries.co.uk