I’m writing this at the time of year when sitting outside means dodging a wasp or feeling itchy as ants suddenly develop wings and take flight. However, it’s also the time of year when anyone driving to their holiday destination used to get ready to clean the car windscreen to remove the splatter of dead insects. But pause … think … when did you last have to do that?
The decline of insect populations in the UK is now well documented and is certainly something to worry about. Whilst you might get annoyed by the wasp ruining your picnic, the overall lack of insects around us could cause some serious issues, such as the failure of crops due to the lack of pollination. So what can be done about this? And can we, as individuals, make any difference to this massive decline? From what I’ve observed in our own garden this summer, I do feel the answer is ‘yes’. Nurtured with wildlife in mind, I think our little patches of ground can do their bit to halt the decline in biodiversity.
For some years now, we’ve been ensuring that any plant we choose to add to the garden has single flowers which make it easy for insects to reach the vital food source stashed away at the centre. We’ve also deliberately chosen plants that are either ‘bee-friendly’ or ‘pollinator friendly’ such as echinacea, helenium, cosmos, echinops, lavender and verbena to name but a few. Our garden certainly buzzes away with activity on just about any dry day of the year, and I include the middle of winter in that as our winter flowering shrubs step into the breach when the weather starts to chill. However, this summer I feel that I’ve seen more insects than usual and insects that I’ve never previously seen, which got me thinking. Why is this?
This summer has been our third year of participating in the ‘No-Mow-May’ campaign and I think it’s been our most successful attempt so far. The idea behind No-Mow-May is to let your lawn grow long during May to enable insects to nest and breed amongst the longer grass. The first year we attempted this, the grass just became messy. We cut bits back here and there and weren’t really sure what we were doing. In year two we became a bit more organised and, come the end of May, cut a few swathes around and through the long grass, and we experimented with leaving some longer for longer. This seemed fortuitous when the summer of 2022 turned into a scorcher and one of drought. However, soon the grass began to turn into a dust bowl and we even feared the threat of wildfires, especially when park areas in Hampton and Twickenham burned. This year, with the generous supply of rain and the lower temperatures, the grass has thrived. It seems to have reached its natural height and flowered, leaving us with a cloud of dusky pink. Cutting a clear path around it performs the magic trick of making it look planned rather than just ignored. None of that, however, tells you about what I’ve observed.
In early July I spotted my first ever skipper butterflies in the garden. These small orange and brown butterflies did seem exceptionally plentiful this year. A camera operator at the Hampton Court Flower Show obviously thought so as they kept homing in on them during the BBC coverage. Clearly it wasn’t difficult to find them if they were even making it into our garden. Then on another occasion I saw a couple of meadow brown butterflies in the garden. As their name suggests, they are usually found in long grassland so clearly they now felt at home in the garden.
It’s not been just butterflies. One day I found a luminous green beetle perched on one of our echinacea flowers. I think I’ve identified it as a rose chafer beetle. My salvia plants seemed to attract a black and orange beetle which, several days later, appeared to have brought along its friends. One soon became three. These turned out to be soldier beetles. I’m sure I’ve never seen them before. We also had visits from a couple of lesser stag beetles. I confess that whilst I don’t mind these on the ground, I dislike seeing them fly! My final mystery bug might be a thick-legged flower beetle but, if it is, then it’s a female because it’s rather brown and dowdy whereas pictures I’ve seen of the male are iridescent.
As mentioned above, we always have a good selection of bees in the garden but this year I feel we’ve seen more hoverflies. In the spring we get something called a bee-fly which is quite big and furry and hovers in mid-air about eye level. We also get what I believe are called ginger hoverflies. These are a little bit like a miniature wasp but much more attractive. With their bright orange stripes, they also have the advantage of not stinging, but are happy to graze across the flowers. I think I’ve seen more of these this year and they’ve been joined by smaller all-black hoverflies which are extremely difficult to photograph and identify.
As we come towards the end of August, we are going to have to make the decision when to cut all the grass back. Traditionally I believe meadows are cut at this time of year so may be the Bank Holiday weekend?
Outside the Backdoor 