8) GARDENING WITH WILDLIFE
Birds, bees, frogs, toads, lizards, chameleons, hedgehogs, and if you are lucky, even a shy bushbaby or genet - all these fascinating creatures could make their home in your garden. To encourage them, provide a habitat that offers what they need for nesting, resting, feeding, and breeding.

* Provide at least one tall tree for nesting. If possible, do not remove dead branches as they provide nest sites for barbets, owls, and hoopoes. Rotting wood is home to many grubs which are food for tits and wood-hoopoes.

* Nest boxes, which you can make yourself or buy from a nursery, should be put up in autumn to allow birds to become familiar with them over winter. Hopefully with the arrival of spring, they will be ready to move in and breed.

* Dense shrubberies, planted far from the activity of the home, offer safe nesting sites for small mammals, such as mongooses, and shy birds such as thrushes, shrikes and coucals. In this area put out finely chopped meat (to attract lizards and frogs) and fruit (for the birds) on the ground.

* Don't put all your grass clippings and leaves on the compost heap - sprinkle them between plants to create a mulch. This provides a haven for many insects, which in turn are food for hedgehogs, lizards, frogs and birds. Mulch reduces weed growth as it blocks out the light that weeds need to grow. It also prevents soil from drying out.

* Earthworms will fetch the mulch from the surface and carry it down into the soil - no need to dig at all! In fact, it is best not to turn the soil as this disturbs the habitat for the many creepy crawlies that live there. Leave tilling the soil to the earthworms.

* Birds are attracted to water for drinking and bathing. Provide water in both an open area and a densely vegetated section. Some birds, such as herons and hadedahs, like to be in the open so that they can see any possible predators, and others prefer to be hidden away in thick bushes. Your bird bath should have gently sloping sides as birds do not like to go into water of unknown depth. Alternatively, place rocks in a deep bath to provide shallow areas.

* Plants which bear berries, fruit, seeds and nectar, provide food for birds - see "Indigenous Plants" below, for examples. In addition, you can put fruit, seed and bone meal on a feeding tray.

* Never destroy a termite nest as when the termites erupt, they attract a wonderful variety of animals, particularly birds, which feed on them.

* Leave a patch of long, wild grass to seed. This will provide both food and habitat for many birds.

PROBLEM ANIMALS
All gardens have problem animals that can damage plants. Pesticides will kill these 'pests', but they often kill useful creatures such as birds, spiders and lizards, many of which are helpful to the gardener. There are many ways of controlling pests in your garden, without using highly poisonous chemicals.

* Ants can be controlled by sprinkling a little agricultural lime over their nest holes. Increased watering will also keep them at bay.

* Many birds eat caterpillars, so avoid using a chemical spray as you may well harm some birds. Karbaspray, however, has little effect on birds and is effective against caterpillars.

* Boil up khakibos, and once cooled, use a watering can to drench any aphid infested plants. One teaspoon of green dishwashing liquid per 5 litres can be mixed with khakibos water.

* Encourage the natural predators of pests to live in your garden by developing dense, bushy areas for coucals, thrushes and robins, all of which are insect eaters. Rocks and logs will provide a home for hedgehogs, frogs, toads and lizards. *

Many pests can be picked off by hand. If you find aphids on your rosebush, break off the infested branch and burn it. Remember, ladybirds eat aphids and you wouldn't want to kill those symbols of good luck!

* Choose chemicals with great care, making sure that you follow instructions closely. Under- or over-dosing can reduce the effectiveness of a chemical and result in pests developing a resistance to the active ingredient. Look for pesticides that are advertised as environmentally friendly.

The recent decline in the urban owl population is thought to have been caused by owls dying after eating rats poisoned with a rodenticide. A rodenticide that will not have this effect is `Racumin', available from most supermarkets.

Once you stop using chemicals in your garden, there might be a terrific outbreak of insect life in spring. Predators will be attracted by the vast amount of food available, and soon a balance will be established between the pests and their predators.

INDIGENOUS PLANTS
Both exotic and indigenous plants will attract wildlife to your garden, but the latter will be more successful as they have evolved with the indigenous animals and are thus best suited to meet their needs. In addition, many people prefer to grow plants that belong to a particular area. `Wildlife gardening' will be most successful if you grow plants that are indigenous to your local region. For example, proteas are indigenous to South Africa, but are not suited to the Natal coast. Consult your local nursery or botanical garden for advice.

Indigenous acacia trees provide popular nesting sites. In addition, their flowers attract insects and their gum and seeds are eaten by many animals. Karee species are a good food supply for birds, as well as providing very welcome shade. Pink sage (Orthosiphon labiatus) and Cape leadwort (Plumbago auriculata) have attractive flowers and provide dense shrubbery for the undisturbed part of the garden. Cape honeysuckle (Tecomaria capensis) offers nectar for sunbirds, and occurs in a variety of different flower colours. The cream flowers of the butterfly bush (Buddleja species), as its name suggest, attract butterflies in late winter and early spring.

FURTHER READING
GARDENING WITH INDIGENOUS TREES AND SHRUBS. D. and S. Johnson. Southern Books, 1993.

GARDENING WITH INDIGENOUS PLANTS. K. Pienaar. Struik Timmins, Cape Town, 1991.

GARDENING IS FUN. L. Hurry and K. Kirsten. Human and Rousseau, Cape Town, 1989.

A CHILD'S GARDEN: IDEAS AND PROJECTS FOR CHILDREN AND PARENTS. R. Schermbrucker. Tafelberg, Cape Town, 1993.

GARDENING FOR WILDLIFE. A brochure produced by the Green Industries Council, address below.

WILD GARDENING. G. Nichols. Wildlife Society and Durban Parks Department.

All books are avilable from Russel Friedman Books, PO Box 73, Halfway House 1685. Tel. 011-7022300/1.

USEFUL CONTACTS
Botanical Society of South Africa. P/Bag X7, Kirstenbosch, Claremont, 7734. Tel. 021-7972090/3

Green Industries Council. PO Box 3554, Halfway House, 1685. Tel. 011-315 1920.

Sunkloof Nursery. PO Box 15032, Lynne East, 0039. Tel. 012-8080810

Witkoppen Wildflower Nursery. PO Box 67036, Bryanston, 2021. Tel. 011-705 2703.

Val-Lea Vista Nursery. PO Box 10049, Scottsville, 3209. Tel. 0331-903527.

Afro Flora Nursery. 41 Old Mission Road, Bluff, 4052. Tel. 031-474415

Constantia Nursery. PO Box 100, Philippi, 7781. Tel. 021-6921146.

Lourensford Nursery. PO Box 16, Somerset West, 7130. Tel. 024-517624.

Tree Fellows. Supply nesting logs. PO Box 68612, Bryanston, 2021. Tel. 011-705 1546.

NATIONAL BOTANICAL GARDENS

Harold Porter Botanical Garden, Betty's Bay, Tel. 02023-9711

Pretoria Botanical Garden, Tel. 012-861164

Karoo Botanical Garden, Worcester, Tel. 0231-70785

Lowveld Botanical Garden, Nelspruit, Tel. 01311-25531

Natal Botanical Garden, Pietermaritzburg, Tel. 0331-443585

OFS Botanical Garden, Bloemfontein, Tel. 051-313530

Witwatersrand Botanical Garden, Roodepoort, Tel. 011-6621741

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, Cape Town, Tel. 021-7621166

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