The birds and the berries
Net or regret
Birds love berries and fruit, so if you want any yourself, maximum security is the only way. Cute scarecrows and dangling CDs won’t do it.
Permanent or temporary tree protection may be necessary if your fruit crops are regularly being raided by wildlife. Of course, it is easier to cover dwarf fruit trees, berry plants and espaliered trees due to their shorter stature.
Fruit cages with wire or mesh netting make excellent permanent structures. Another option is a frame, which has the netting secured over it as the fruit ripens. This is useful if bees are needed for pollination or if cheaper netting is used – this won’t last more than a season or two – check for holes if you are using last year’s.
An easy, but less effective, option is simply to cloak the tree in netting. This must be secured underneath the tree too, as birds are very persistent and will find a way in if there is an opening. As there is no gap between the netting and the tree, birds and other pests (like possums) will still be able to nibble at the ripening fruit they can reach, but a scoffing riot will be avoided.
Variety and successive planting are the key to providing food for bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. Instead of relying on just one type of plant for bee fodder, plant a variety of different flowers around the garden for year-round supplies of nectar and pollen.
They prefer plants that produce a flower with a single row of petals, which make landing and retrieving nectar much easier. Plant in swathes or groups about 1 metre in diameter, as this will provide a stronger visual clue for foraging bees.
Bees especially love the flowers of brassicas, stone and pip fruits, asters, sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos and dandelions, basil, bee balm, catmint, lavender, lemon balm, mint, rosemary, sage and other salvias, and thyme.
Borage, comfrey and phacelia are rich in nectar as well. Fennel, coriander and parsley provide a good source of nectar and pollen to bees as well as other beneficial insects, including hoverflies and parasitic wasps.
Pick your moment
Seedling chillies, grafted eggplants, tomatoes, lettuces, courgettes, pumpkins and brassicas (but protect from cabbage white butterflies) can all be transplanted now.
Transplant seedlings at dusk – not dawn. The weather is starting to heat up, and if you pop your new plants in your garden first thing in the morning, they will have to cope with the hottest part of the day without having an opportunity to bed in.
Plant them in the late afternoon or even early evening and water in gently. That way they have the whole night to settle in.
– compiled by Barbara Smith