NATIVE SPECIES

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Wildlife gardening is becoming increasingly popular and many of us would now like to grow more native species of trees and shrubs, which will not only benefit our local wildlife who's habitat is under pressure in so many areas these days, but can often be easier to grow. If you are looking to plant up an area of your garden for your local wildlife no matter how large or small, it's good to use native species where possible as your bugs, butterflies, birds and all sorts will be the happier for it.

Our own wild space is just an area set aside, having been cleared of some out grown conifers, and just left to get on with it. It's been interesting to see what comes up, though the odd nettle and bramble have been pulled out to allow space for other things. A few native trees and shrubs have been planted on the eastern side which will gradually take over, leaving a small sunny area where the grass is cut annually giving us a mini woodland and meadow.

We have a few native trees and shrubs currently on offer, with one or two perennials, and are hoping to increase the selection in years to come.  Many of our native trees species are used in hedges so are used to being regularly trimmed making it possible to fit perhaps one or two into even the smallest garden, even in containers.

New resident

Below is a list of what we currently have available: Those in green are found elsewhere on our website for the edible fruit they produce.

Alder: (Alnus glutinosa) £5.00

Small to medium sized tree with lush dark green leaves, catkins in the early spring and little cones in the autumn. Useful as a nitrogen fixer and loves wet soils.

Barberry: (Berberis vulgaris) £5.50

Large spiny shrub once common in the hedgerows. The bees love the yellow flowers in the spring and the birds love the bunches of red berries in the autumn. These were sometimes picked and preserved in days gone by.

Beech: (Fagus sylvatica) £5.00

Large tree often used as a hedge, young leaves are silky and make good eating in the spring and the russet leaves hang through the winter providing cover for many things, or a handsome tree if you're lucky enough to have the room. Beech mast for your pigs too.

Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) £6.50 SOLD OUT

Our native Bilberry is a sweet little shrub in more ways than one.  It has many local variations on the name, (round here its known as the Whinberry) a testament to its long and constant use as a wild food.  Not growing more than 0.5m high it is at home in either woodland or open moor so it can cope with anything the elements throw at it. 

The berries are like miniature Blueberries, to whom they are closely related and so can be used in similar ways.  They do make a very good muffin and have been much used for tarts and home made wines over the years.

Bird Cherry (Prunus Padus) £6.00

A small to medium size tree that would fit well into many a wildlife garden.  Easy to grow tolerating deep shade, small white flowers in May followed by little 6-8mm dark cherry like fruit in Autumn much loved by the birds.  The leaves have also been used cooked and the flowers and bark have been used for tea.

Bog Myrtle (Myrica gale) £5.50 SOLD OUT

Useful small shrub native to our bog lands, preferring moist conditions and sun. The scented leaves can be used for an unusual flavouring.

Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus) £5.50 STOCK LOW

We only have a few of these sweet little plants which are like miniature versions of their American cousins. Native on our acid bogs they like a peaty moist soil to thrive though I keep a small colony going in a soggy pot.

Dewberry (Rubus caesius) £6.00

A close relative to the blackberry but by no means as thuggish so much easier to accommodate in most gardens. The Dewberry is a less common native, found on sand dunes and poor chalky soils to which it is well adapted. In habit it is like a mini blackberry, low growing with slightly arching or creeping stems and the familiar white flowers in the summer are followed by delicious bloomy black fruits used in any way you would a blackberry.

Dog Rose (Rosa canina) £5.50

An excellent addition to the wild life garden is this vigorous native found in many a country hedgerow. The stems are arching and can get up to 3m if you don't cut them back, but they will be covered in the familiar pale pink single roses followed by small but numerous hips for your wines and syrups.

Eglantine (Rosa eglanteria) £5.50

Very much at home in our native hedgerows is this vigorous, spiny, arching rose with apple-scented foliage growing up to 2m.  It has bright pink, single flowers and good sized, smooth hips much loved by the birds (and people).

Gorse: (Ulex europaeus) £5.00

Extreme wildlife gardening perhaps and certainly on the spiny side but it provides cover for many bugs and birds, and the flowers are around for most of the year giving colour and food for bees. A nitrogen fixer that enjoys poor dry soils.

Hawthorn: (Crataegus monogyna) £5.50

Beautiful in the spring and common in the hedgerows it will become a tree of up to 10m if left alone or can be trimmed to size. The flowers are wonderful in May and the young leaves in the past were eaten in salads and sandwiches. Though sometimes used for wine making, I would leave the fruit for the birds and mice.

Hazel: (Corylus avellana) £5.00

Can get up to 6m in time but is often kept smaller. Much coppiced in the past and used for making hurdles. The nuts are good for many creatures, the nuthatches spend hours tapping away at them here.

Juniper (Juniperus comunis) £5.50

The Juniper is an evergreen native sometimes found in hedges about the countryside.  A large to medium shrub but sometimes has a much lower habit.  Very hardy and easy to grow even in containers.

Oak: (Quercus robur) £5.00

No you are not growing one of these unless you have a serious amount of room and a eye to the future. Slow growing but in time a large long lived tree reaching at least 30m that is home to so many of our bugs and beetles.

Scots Pine: (Pinus sylvestris) £5.00

The only pine native to the UK, it's tough, handsome and big. Many creatures make use of its cones, most famous being the red squirrels of course...

Sea-buckthorn: (Hippophae rhamnoides) £6.50

A medium sized shrub, a native of the costal areas, especially sand dunes where there fibrous nitrogen fixing roots help stabilize the soil. The berries are plentiful in the late summer and through the autumn, they are very nutritious but are fiddly to pick, if you're human that is.

Silver Birch: (Betula pendula) £5.00

Large familiar tree, well known for it's white bark and delicate habit. Catkins in the spring and the leaves in the autumn  are a glorious gold. Tapped in the spring for it's sugary sap that is used to make wine.

Sloe: (Prunus spinosa) £5.50

The Sloe of course, is a much loved and much used native, well known for its masses of white flowers in the spring hedgerows and its gin flavouring berries in the autumn.  Obviously well adapted to life in the UK, no wildlife garden or hedge should be without one.  Much used in the making of country wines and the flavouring of Gin.

Wild Cherry: (Prunus avium) £5.50

Speaks for it self really.  Our native Wild Cherry is very attractive, still commonly seen in woods and hedgerows and a must for any sizable wildlife garden.  A large tree, it can get to 20m and is one of the ancestors of most of our culinary cherry trees so the quality of the fruit is therefore rather variable, it can be either sweet or sour.  The spring blossom, autumn colour and grey pealing bark more than compensate for that though.

Whitebeam (Sorbus aria) £6.00

Compact, small to medium sized tree with large beautiful leaves which are dark green above but silvery white below. Very easy to grow, even happy on chalk it is good value with masses of white flowers in May turning into bright red fruit in the autumn which look great against the leaves as they turn to gold. It is tolerant of windy conditions where the dramatic leaves can be shown off to good effect. The fruit is said to be edible but doesn't taste great, unless you are a bird.

Ramson: (Allium ursinum) £4.00

Common in the woodlands in the spring, lots of starry white flowers and the scent of garlic, they will naturalize and seed themselves to form a carpet through the spring and early summer. Leaves are delicious in spring salads.

Cowslip: (primula veris) £4.00

Once common in the meadows they've declined in recent years, a casualty of intensive farming methods. They will seed themselves around your garden and are an absolute delight in the spring for you and the bees. If you can bring yourself to pick them, then make some country wine.

Trees     Larger Shrubs     Smaller Shrubs     Perennials    Tender

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Early June in our 'meadow'.