All our native insects are under immense strain , and biodiversity is on the edge of the cliff. Anyone even slightly concerned about global warming should be absolutely terrified about the decline in biodiversity which is on the verge of collapse. UK is the least wooded country in Europe and has the worst biodiversity in Europe.
As all the gardens in Britain cover a larger acreage than all the national parks put together, we can all take action to help save insects and this fauna and flora in general.
This is the time of the year to do something to help butterflies and moths who will be getting ready to hibernate or their pupae will be dropping to the ground or clinging to the dead plant matter to over winter.
Clear up the leaf litter and cut down the dead perennial stalks and you are culling next years beautiful moths and butterflies.
Don’t waste money on twee little insect hotels under the misguided belief that they are the best way to help insects. A lot of them are made of treated wood which by definition is toxic to insects, instead place a few part buried logs or branches with a pike of twigs and leave on top and dot a few pikes of stones and twigs around your garden which the insects will far prefer.
Never mind no now may, try to leave a small area at least of uncut grass, pile up fallen leaves under shrubs ( it’s the very best kind of mulch anyway, and it’s free!)
Celebrate native plants which are of far more use to wildlife than exotic looking foliage better suited to the Brazilian rain forest, and avoid double blooms.
There is no such classification as weeds, it is a term created by the multi £billion gardening industry to describe native plants.
Native plants usually require no double digging, fertiliser, excessive watering or even compost to grow which of course is a good reason the gardening industry doesn’t properly promote them.
Work with the soil you have rather than amending it constantly to try artificially recreate conditions to suit non native or non-regional plants.
Celebrate when leaves show signs of having been munched because it means an insect like them as opposed to plants whose leaves remain suspiciously intact throughout the season, probably because they offer nothing of value to wildlife.
Enjoy the beauty of a garden buzzing with life, rather than a sterile ever blooming wildlife desert, maintained with poisons and soil destruction.
As David Attenborough said
“If all the mammals on earth died out tomorrow, there’s would carry on quite fine.
However, should all the insects die out there is no future for life on earth. “