Tips on how to encourage your children - and wildlife - into the garden - plus, find out what else needs doing in the garden this week.

By Hannah Stephenson


Adam Frost has already urged people to think about wildlife at this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show, but the gold medal-winning garden designer isn't done with his campaigning yet. He is now urging parents to get their children into the great outdoors this summer and help reverse the decline of British wildlife.

The State of Nature report, carried out by a coalition of conservation organisations, recently revealed that 60% of British wildlife is in decline, while at the same time, a further research found two thirds of British school children want to be taught more about gardening and to engage with the outdoors.

"I have four children aged between six and 16, who all have a keen interest in nature," says Frost, who designed the Homebase 'Sowing The Seeds Of Change' garden at the RHS Chelsea Flow Show. "The garden is at the heart of our home, where many memories are made while children are growing up.

"I've spent lots of time with my own children both in my own garden and in the wider countryside. We do things together like going on country walks, growing and picking fruit and bird spotting - the list is endless."

Encouraged by these thoughts, Frost has now come up with a plan for parents on how to bring their children into the garden and to attract wildlife at the same time.

Create a planting plan

Mix together plants that are both beneficial to people and wildlife, such as fruits, vegetables and herbs, with shrubs and perennial herbaceous plants, to create an area where there is produce for humans and wildlife. Recommended plants that attract wildlife include sunflowers, wild strawberries, thyme, herbs and firethorn shrubs which offer nectar and berries to a range of wildlife.

:: Grow a selection of salad crops

This requires regular attention and will give children something to focus on right up until they eat them. Seeds should be watered every evening and given plant food once a week. Lettuce and other salad leaves can be sown in spring and summer.

:: Go seed collecting

Look closely for plants in your borders where flower heads have fallen off and seeds are growing. If the seeds are brown, get the children to help you pick them and put them in a warm place to dry out ready to plant for next spring.

:: Create a compost heap

This is a great way of encouraging kids to recycle garden waste and also helps them understand the natural cycle of growth and decay. Create three tightly fixed walls in your chosen area and begin filling it with organic materials such as grass clippings, weeks, straw, manure, shredded newspaper, kitchen waste, plant cuttings and soft prunings.

:: Take games outdoors

Go on a treasure hunt or play hide-and-seek to encourage children to explore the garden and stimulate their curiosity about the outdoors. If you have daisies in the garden, teach them to make daisy chains.

:: Set up bird feeding and cleaning stations

Birds come to gardens to feed, breed, nest and rest. To make sure your garden is accommodating, introduce a bird house, feeding station or a bird bath - all of these are a must for budding young bird watchers. The water in a bird bath needs to be at least 2.5cm deep and should be placed in the open away from areas where cats may hide.

:: Store logs

Plenty of wildlife makes its home in dead wood, and other animals use it as a source of food. Children can help make this into a proper wildlife shelter in a small, shady spot so that it remains cool and damp. If moving wood, check beforehand that nothing has already made itself at home.

:: Make an insect box or ladybird house

Use spare or dead wood to create a small space to attract spiders, bees, lacewings and ladybirds, where they can seek refuge from predators and from the cold. Screw together four lengths of wood and fill it with hollow canes. Place the box in a sheltered area and on the fence so the insects can find it.

:: Families can receive further help on how to encourage wildlife into their garden by visiting the Homebase online forum www.getintogardening.co.uk.


Best of the bunch - Lily

They have the most glorious, heady scent in summer along with beautiful blooms in shades from white and pink to gold and coppery amber. There are so many varieties, whether you want compact and colourful or tall and exotic ones. Some varieties are perfect for summer pots, such as the Asiatic and oriental hybrids with short stout stems and fresh green foliage. Try Lilium 'Mona Lisa', a highly scented type reaching 40cm in height, with open blooms or pink and white flushed deep pink towards the centre.

Lilies are just as happy in the flower border, filling in the gaps where others have run out of steam in mid-summer. Trumpet lilies such as the white Lilium regale look fabulous in the border, while L. Pink Perfection Group can reach 1.5m in height and their dusky pink petals look amazing grown next to the purple foliage of Prunus cerasifera 'Nigra'. The coppery amber tones of the African Queen Group flower later and work well with some of the hotter colours of crocosmias in late summer. In borders, plant bulbs 15-20cm apart in early spring, burying them at least three times their depth and laying the bulbs on their sides when planting to prevent water from becoming trapped between the fleshy scales, which can rot the bulb. Plant them in a sunny spot and you should have wonderful results. When blooms have faded, cut off the flower heads but leave the stems and keep watering and feeding to promote the bulbs' strength for next year.


Good enough to eat - perfect peaches

You don't have to live in a Mediterranean to enjoy mouthwatering peaches in summer. However, peaches do need a lot of care in our climate. They can be grown in warm areas with the protection of a fairly high south-facing wall or fence but the flowers come early and the fruits need a lot of time to ripen. It's therefore probably best to start them off in a greenhouse and keep them there at flowering time to protect them from frost.

The trees need deep, well drained but moisture-retentive slightly acid soil, with plenty of organic matter added. They should be planted in autumn and respond well to fan training.

They are self-pollinating so you can grow single trees, but, as they blossom before many insects appear, it's wise to hand pollinate them as well. The easiest cultivars to grow in pots are compact or 'patio' cultivars, standard trees on high stems with a ball-like head.

In late winter peach trees need to be sheltered to keep the rain off and stop peach leaf curl developing.


Three ways to... stop vegetables bolting

1. Delay sowing cold-sensitive plants such as turnips, endive and Swiss chard, until temperatures are more stable.

2. Keep soil moisture levels constant, as dry soil can encourage bolting, particularly with cauliflower, rocket and spinach.

3. Raise early crops of onions and beetroot in modules in a greenhouse and plant out when temperatures are warmer. Choose cultivars less likely to bolt, such as 'Boltardy' beetroot.


What to do this week

:: Prune rambling roses after flowering

:: Pinch out the growing tips of wallflowers to encourage them to bush out

:: Plant strawberries as soon as possible so the plants become well established before next year

:: If there is a drought, concentrate on watering trees and shrubs planted this year

:: Collect ripening seed from plants you want to propagate

:: Take cuttings from tender perennials such as fuchsias and pelargoniums

:: Trim lavender after the flowers have faded

:: Start to dig up the first maincrop potatoes

:: Sow spinach beet or true spinach until early September to crop from November until spring

:: Sow spring cabbages in mild areas

:: Feed dahlias with a high-potash feed to improve flower colour, strengthen the stems and improve tuber production

:: Visit public gardens for inspiration and ideas that can be adapted