New Cumnock Wildlife Garden & Community Orchard

Background

The Community Orchard

The Wildlife Garden

There is a different wildlife habitat to discover in each corner of the garden  – each one is home to its own special wildlife.

In spring the woodland wildflowers provide food for early insects. Summer brings lots of life as plants in the bog and meadow flower. Look out for red rowan berries in autumn before the birds eat them. Winter is a quiet time in the garden – feeding the birds helps them through cold times.

       

Spending time in a garden full of wildlife can be relaxing and fun; it is a great way for the whole family to discover more about nature.

Gardening for wildlife is also easy and everyone can make a difference – if you don’t have room for a wildflower meadow why not fill a window box with flowers that insects will love?  With a little space you can make a garden pond – in no time at all it will be a haven for frogs and insects.

Creating Wildflower Meadows:

Wildflowers provide food for insects and other native wildlife. We rely on insects like bumblebees and butterflies to pollinate our plants.

Over the last 60 years we have lost 98% of our wildflower meadows. Numerous bumblebees
and butterflies have become extinct and of those left, many are now in decline because of habitat loss and climate change.

It is easy to create your own wildflower meadow at home with bulbs, native wildflower seed mixes and plug plants.

Why not read the Royal Horticulture Society guide or look at the brilliant advice from The Wildlife Trusts (Cheshire) leaflet...

• Royal Horticulture Society Guide to creating a wildflower meadow
• The Wildlife Trusts Advice Sheet

Creating Bog Gardens:

Bog plants bring colour and wildlife to any garden. You can create a boggy patch by burying a sheet of pond liner to stop rainwater draining away.

 

Frogs and toads will spend time in your garden if you create a damp shelter for them.

There are some nationally and internationally important bogs around East Ayrshire. They are home to some astonishing plants and animals, including sundews and sphagnum mosses.

 
To help save our native bogs, don’t use peat in your garden – there are alternatives. Look for the ‘peat free’ label on your compost.
The two links below give some excellent advise as to how to create a bog garden...

• Plantlife's Guide to creating a bog garden
• RSPB Bog Garden Habitat

Woodland Wildlife:

Broadleaf woodlands are full of wildlife. All sorts of birds make use of the trees and undergrowth for shelter, food and nest sites.

Have you thought about how you can support birds in your garden?
Native rowan trees produce bright red berries in autumn, a time when food may be scarce for local wildlife.

Dead and rotting wood is just as important as living trees! Many mushrooms grow on dead wood and insects living under old logs make perfect food for hedgehogs.

There are some beautiful woodlands around New Cumnock, have you explored them? Why not take a wander down Glen Afton?

Learn more by visiting -

• East Ayrshire Woodlands
• The Woodland Trust
• Scottish Native Woods