Plant list for a wildlife garden.
The following list was compiled by the RSPB and the RHS as suitable plants for wildlife gardening, and is especially designed to attract birds and insects.
Click to see 10 top tips on how to create a wildlife garden.
Common Name | Latin Name | Conditions | Season | Quality to wildlife |
| Field Maple | Acer campestre | Small size makes it ideal for gardens | Summer | Commonly found in wild hedgerows and woodlands, it provides good cover for birds and attracts many insects |
| Yarrow | Achillea milleflora | Good in full sun, requires little care | Provide colour in summer | Attract insects and butterflies |
| Chives | Allium schoenoprasum | Open sunny situation and well-drained soil. | Summer | Attracts insects to its purple globe flowers |
| Pheasant Tail Grass | Anemanthele Lessoniana | Excellent all year accent plant for a sheltered sunny border | Summer | Bushy grass provides cover for insects and ground feeding birds |
| Windflower | Anemone x hybrida ‘Pamina’ | Perfect for the middle of a shady border | Summer | |
| Astilbe | Astilbe x arendsii ‘Irrlicht’ | Shade loving | Thick foliage and large clusters of flowers to attract insects | |
| Gold Dust Plant | Aucuba japonica ‘vaiegata’ | Evergreen shrub | Thick foliage to provide good cover for birds all year round. | |
| Weeping Birch | Betula pendula | Suitable for small gardens | Good cover for birds and insects, the seeds are eaten by many finches | |
| Bellflower (Telham Beauty) | Campanula persicifolia | Self seeds readily tolerating even poor soils | Low rosette of leaves all year round, flowers in summer | Attracts insects with its large stalks of bell flowers all summer |
Sedge | Carex pendula | Fully hardy. Evergreen tuft forming. | Cover for birds and insects | |
Hornbeam | Carpinus betulus | Low lying rich soils – is shade tolerant | Their nuts are attractive to birds | |
| Cornflower | Centaurea cyanus | Requires sun, in any well-drained soil. | Summer/Autumn | Their flowers attract insects in the summer |
| Rock rose | Cistus x hybridus ‘Corbariensis’ | Ideal for large patio containers or a sunny shrub border. Requires protection from wind. | Summer | |
| Dogwood | Cornus Alba | Will tolerate variety of soils and locations. Prefers neutral to acid, moist soils with full sun to promote winter colour. | June-August | Berries taken by wide variety of birds. Winter interest. |
| Cotoneaster | Cotoneaster x Cornuibia | Grow in moderately well-drained soil; sun or part-shade. | Evergreen | Berries are eaten by thrushes, ring-necked parakeets, starlings, blackcaps, tree sparrows, finches and waxwings. Small compact leaves provide good nestcover. Clusters of flowers to attract insects in the summer, turning to large clusters of bright red berries in the winter |
| Foxglove | Digitalis Purpurea | Fully to frost hardy. Does best in semi-shade and moist but well-drained soil. | Summer | Bees |
| Ferns | Dryopteris affinis | Partial sun or shady conditions | Good cover for ground feeding creatures in summer | |
| Buckler Fern |
