Myths

Only “wildlife gardens” are any good for wildlife Read More

- All typically planted gardens are great for wildlife even if their owners don’t know it!

Only big gardens are of value Read More

- Big gardens have space for more of everything, but little gardens hold masses of invertebrates – and

adjacent little gardens work together to make a bigger whole.

Wildlife gardening can be in one small area of your plot Read More

- The bugs don’t know that you have called one area a “wildlife patch” – they will be using all of your garden anyway, so help wildlife at the whole-garden scale

City gardens are of no value for wildlife Read More

- There are lots of species in inner-city gardens that have habitats for them

Wildlife gardens must be informal (and scruffy) Read More

- Not so, tidy and well-designed gardens are just fine. Don't pretend your laziness in the garden is to help wildlife!

Only common species live in gardens so they are not important for conservation Read More

- LOTS of common species live in gardens, AND plenty of less common, and many endangered ones.

Conservation isn’t just about rare stuff, the common ones are the most ecologically important.

You must only plant native species! Read More

- It’s your garden and you should plant what you like! All the science is telling us that most non-native plants are very beneficial for wildlife, and a typical garden mix is excellent.

You must plant nettles in wildlife gardens Read More

- Only if you really like them – in which case you are practically unique.

Lawns are poor for wildlife and must be replaced with flowering meadows Read More

- Lawns are actually surprisingly good for wildlife,and you should think hard about what you want if you are thinking of replacing it with a (difficult to achieve) true wildflower meadow

You must buy special homes to attract garden wildlife Read More

- Resist the temptation! most aren’t needed and don’t work

It is always helpful to feed garden birds Read More

- Yes it can be, but if you don’t observe hygiene properly you can encourage avian pandemics

You must garden organically Read More

- Organic gardening is great, but if you use a few chemicals (when you think necessary and according to instructions) there’s no evidence you will lose any wildlife

Real wildlife gardeners don’t kill pests or weeds Read More

- Real wildlife gardeners have every right to consider some biodiversity to be a problem and control pests. It’s a garden! – even nature reserves remove invaders.

There is a perfect wildlife garden blueprint to copy Read More

- No there isn’t, gardens differ hugely in their weather, soil and latitude, and the more variety in gardens the better for wildlife.

You can only grow wildflowers in low fertility soil Read More

- It’s a lot more complicated than that. Wildflowers grow happily in fertile soil, but they can’t compete with grasses without help, which is why wildflower meadows are a challenge to have in a garden.

Wildlife Gardening Myths

Myths are false truths that we like to believe in - like the Fairy Shoemaker shown here.

There are a lot of myths in books, articles and TV programmes about wildlife gardening.

The reason they continue is that most of us assume that things we have heard or read about are true, without stopping to question them. What is written in one book is copied into others, and becomes party of gardening folklore.

Even the concept of a high diversity of wildlife in gardens would have been seen as a myth until quite recently.

Wildlife Gardening Myths

The Fairy Shoemaker Photo: The Book of Fairy Poetry, Goble, Warwick (illustr.), Longmans, Green and Co., 1920 Wikimedia Commons

Myths are false truths that we like to believe in - like the Fairy Shoemaker shown here.

There are a lot of myths in books, articles and TV programmes about wildlife gardening.

Even the concept of a high diversity of wildlife in gardens would have been seen as a myth until quite recently.

Following Jennifer Owen's ground-breaking studies, scientists woke up to the importance of gardens for wildlife, and started to study how much biodiversity they contain, and how they function ecologically. This has allowed us to debunk a number of myths and assumptions which we list below - follow the links for a full discussion.

Only “wildlife gardens” are any good for wildlife Read More

- All typically planted gardens are great for wildlife even if their owners don’t know it!

Only big gardens are of value Read More

- Big gardens have space for more of everything, but little gardens hold masses of invertebrates – and

adjacent little gardens work together to make a bigger whole.

Wildlife gardening can be in one small area of your plot

- The bugs don’t know that you have called one area a “wildlife patch” – they will be using all of your garden anyway, so help wildlife at the whole-garden scale

City gardens are of no value for wildlife

- There are lots of species in inner-city gardens that have habitats for them

Wildlife gardens must be informal (and scruffy)

- Not so, tidy and well-designed gardens are just fine. Don't pretend your laziness in the garden is to help wildlife!

Only common species live in gardens so they are not important for conservation

- LOTS of common species live in gardens, AND plenty of less common, and many endangered ones.

Conservation isn’t just about rare stuff, the common ones are the most ecologically important.

You must only plant native species!

- It’s your garden and you should plant what you like! All the science is telling us that most non-native plants are very beneficial for wildlife, and a typical garden mix is excellent.

You must plant nettles in wildlife gardens

- Only if you really like them – in which case you are practically unique.

Lawns are poor for wildlife and must be replaced with flowering meadows

- Lawns are actually surprisingly good for wildlife,and you should think hard about what you want if you are thinking of replacing it with a (difficult to achieve) true wildflower meadow

You must buy special homes to attract garden wildlife

- Resist the temptation! most aren’t needed and don’t work

It is always helpful to feed garden birds

- Yes it can be, but if you don’t observe hygiene properly you can encourage avian pandemics

You must garden organically

- Organic gardening is great, but if you use a few chemicals (when you think necessary and according to instructions) there’s no evidence you will lose any wildlife

Real wildlife gardeners don’t kill pests or weeds

- Real wildlife gardeners have every right to consider some biodiversity to be a problem and control pests. It’s a garden! – even nature reserves remove invaders.

There is a perfect wildlife garden blueprint to copy

- No there isn’t, gardens differ hugely in their weather, soil and latitude, and the more variety in gardens the better for wildlife.

You can only grow wildflowers in low fertility soil

Only “wildlife gardens” are good for wildlife Read More

- All typically planted gardens are great for wildlife even if their owners don’t know it!

Only big gardens are of value Read More

- Big gardens have space for more of everything, but little gardens hold masses of invertebrates – and adjacent little gardens work together to make a bigger whole.

Wildlife gardening can be in one small area of your plot Read More - The bugs don’t know that you have called one area a “wildlife patch” – they will be using all of your garden anyway, so help wildlife at the whole-garden scale

City gardens are of no value for wildlife! Read More

- There are lots of species in inner-city gardens that have habitats for them

Wildlife gardens must be informal (and scruffy)! Read More

- Not so, tidy and well-designed gardens are just fine. Don't pretend your laziness in the garden is to help wildlife!

Only common species live in gardens so they are not important for conservation Read More

- LOTS of common species live in gardens, AND plenty of less common, and many endangered ones. Conservation isn’t just about rare stuff, the common ones are the most ecologically important.

You must only plant native species! Read More

- It’s your garden and you should plant what you like! All the science is telling us that most non-native plants are very beneficial for wildlife, and a typical garden mix is excellent.

You must plant nettles in wildlife gardens! Read More

- Only if you really like them – in which case you are practically unique.

Lawns are poor for wildlife and must be replaced with flowering meadows Read More - Lawns are actually surprisingly good for wildlife,and you should think hard if you are thinking of replacing it with a (difficult) true wildflower meadow

You must buy special homes for garden wildlife Read More

- Resist the temptation! most aren’t needed and don’t work

It is always helpful to feed garden birds Read More

- Yes it can be, but if you don’t observe hygiene properly you can encourage avian pandemics

You must garden organically Read More

- Organic gardening is great, but if you use a few chemicals (when you think necessary and according to instructions) there’s no evidence you will lose any wildlife

Real wildlife gardeners don’t kill pests or weeds Read More

- Real wildlife gardeners have every right to consider some biodiversity to be a problem and control pests. It’s a garden! – even nature reserves remove invaders.

There's a perfect wildlife garden blueprint to copy Read More

- No there isn’t, gardens differ hugely in their weather, soil and latitude, and the more variety in gardens the better for wildlife.

You can only grow wildflowers in low fertility soil Read More

Page written by Steve Head