Garden for Bats
Although we cannot guarantee to encourage bats to a garden, careful planning will increase its value to wildlife. A variety of animal visitors will be attracted, from insects to birds, and hopefully bats will be among them.
All British bats feed on insects; they need a continuous supply of food during the summer and a wide choice of places to roost, or shelter, throughout the year.
Before planning any changes, look beyond your garden at what bats already have access to nearby. Try to enhance what is available, for bats live and feed over a wide area.
Flower Borders and
Lawns
Larvae and adults of many insects will be catered for by introducing a wide range of food, in the form of nectar, seeds and fruit as well as vegetation.
- Grow night-scented flowers. These attract moths and other night-flying insects of particular importance to bats.
- Plant herbs and old fashioned cottage-garden annuals attractive to insects.
- Leave part of your lawn unmown from about mid May to encourage insect larvae which feed on grass. Allow to seed before cutting, and rake up the hay afterwards.
- Sow wild flower seed collections in your borders.
Trees
and Shrubs
At woodland
edges space and sunshine combine with the trees to give shelter and warmth, and
insects will concentrate there. So even in the smallest garden try to have at
least one tree or shrub. Native trees are more attractive to insects than foreign
species.
If space is limited, silver birch and goat willow are quick-growing
and are host to many insect visitors. With a little more space, try to make a
bank of vegetation to give your garden a woodland edge structure.
Shelter Belts
- Rows of bushes or trees can be created or improved, encouraging concentrations of insects and providing a feeding area for bats.
- Plant up gaps in natural hedges.
- A row of fast-growing cypress can be valuable.
- Train climbers using battens against a wall or fence, to provide possible roosting sites.
- Create a sheltered corner by using any combination of walls fences, or woodland edge at two angles
Added Attractions
A pond
Many insects start
life in freshwater, emerging only as adults. As one pipistrelle may eat up to
3000 such insects in a night, a pond is an important part of any garden designed
to attract bats.
If concerned for the safety of small children, make a pond
in the normal way then fill it in to form a marsh. An old leaking concrete pond
can also be converted to a marsh. Construction details are available in many wildlife
gardening books.
Habitat
piles
A pile of logs left undisturbed in the shrubbery or a corner of the garden to rot, will become home to a host of insects and other organisms.
Rockeries
Build a rockery on the principle of dry stone walling. A double sided wall, filled with straw and incorporating very little soil, can become an attractive feature as mosses and lichens colonise. The spaces will be available as roost sites for bats, as well as home for some of the invertebrates upon which they prey. Alternatively, an earth bank faced with dry stone walling may be more suited to your garden. Leave cavities in the centre as well as plenty of small holes in the facing.
Bat Boxes
By simulating tree holes, bat boxes offer an additional option for bats searching for a roost site. Entrance is usually by way of a narrow slot.
Use of Chemicals
Avoid using chemicals. Certain insecticides may not only cancel out much that you are doing to encourage bats, but may also harm the bats themselves.
If you have any questions about any of these pages then:-
Please feel free to e-mail me on info@gardenwildlife.co.uk
Or please talk to others in my wildlife Discussion Forum or Chat Room
