How to plant trees & hedgerows for wildlife. Gardening for Biodiversity series.

So this hedgerow here is just bursting to life. I'm afraid I'm getting splattered on any minute by the birds nesting above but it's a really good example. There's loads of native species and we can see here the ivy and the hawthorn and they provide really good shelter for nesting birds, really good as nesting sites but also as well a really important food source for not only birds but butterflies, bees and a range of insects and ivy in particular has berries late in the autumn and winter when the other food is scarce and also hawthorn with haws in the winter, really important food source. And just the ground cover we can see, really good. There's loads of diversity of plants and dense as well, excellent habitat for small mammals. So as well as the hawthorn and the ivy here there's loads of other native species around. So we have scots pine where all the rooks are nesting, there's silver birch, there's blackthorn, there's bramble and we can see just the diversity of wildlife. We can hear the birdsong, we can hear the bees buzzing in the background so there's just so much going on here and that's why native species are important because they tend to support a lot more wildlife than non-native species and our wildlife has adapted alongside these trees and these plants. And as well as these trees here, also species like holly, like spindle, like willow, like rowan, all really important species to have in your garden. Gardening for biodiversity is all about creating mini habitats in your garden and trying to replicate natural ecosystems, many of which have been lost. So the greater the diversity of mini habitats that you can create in your garden, then the greater diversity of wildlife that your garden will support and that you'll attract to come and live in your garden.