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Birds & Wildlife in Your Garden

For release 10 April 2002

Everyone who has a garden - from an ivy-covered back yard to a country
orchard - has a potential home for an amazing variety of animals and plants - a nature sanctuary on your doorstep. This new book published by the IPCC gives you ideas and DIY tips on how to attract birds and wildlife to your garden, how to recognize the common birds in your garden and how to recycle all the natural organic material produced in your kitchen and garden for re-use as a soil improver. Home made compost replaces peat in the garden and helps save bogland habitats and their wildlife. This booklet has been
developed by IPCC as part of the Peat Free Gardening Campaign - Keep Peat in the Bogs. The book was sponsored by Flogas Ireland Ltd.

Making a Wildlife Garden
Wildlife gardening requires the minimum amount of maintenance so instead of being a slave to your garden, you let the garden work for you. The golden
rule to remember is that everything in nature is recycled and nothing is
left to waste and so a harmonious balance is achieved. Another secret of
successful wildlife gardening is to create lots of different habitats for
wildlife.

Diversity is the Key
The more diverse your garden is, with different plants and different
features, the more habitats are created and the more likely you are to
attract a variety of wildlife. The book provides 20 ideas to get you started
including feeding garden birds, erecting bird nest boxes and bat roost
boxes, planting nectar-rich plants for butterflies, avoiding the use of
chemical fertilisers and pesticides, making a composting heap, making a
water feature and so on.

Garden Soil
The very first step in creating a garden is a healthy soil. To help plants
grow strong you need to add organic matter. But before you add it to the
soil, it needs to rot a little. You can help organic matter to rot by
composting. Compost is the wonderful secret of growing good food and plants.
Details are given in the book on how to make a compost heap, a worm bin and
how to make leaf mould. Gardening for wildlife involves caring for the
wider environment beyond the garden and for that reason gardening without
peat is fundamental. On the peat-free gardening issue, the book will help
you to choose peat-free bags of compost in a garden centre and take you
through the ways in which you can make a difference in your own garden plot.

Surveying Garden Wildlife
Gardens are an ideal place to watch wildlife. As natural habitats disappear
at an alarming rate, a garden can be an important element in the survival of
butterflies, dragonflies, frogs and birds. Survey tables are provided in the
book for all these creatures together with information on the groups who
need your results each year.

Get Your Copy
Order your copy of the 31 page, full colour Birds & Wildlife in Your Garden paperback book today.

IPCC have also produced a range of colour postcards of Ireland 10 best loved
garden birds and have a CD to help you learn the song 27 different Garden
birds.

All can be ordered on the form below or from the IPCC at 8722397 or
bogs@ipcc.ie.

Irish Peatland Conservation Council
119 Capel Street
Dublin 1
Ireland

Fax: +353 -1-8722397
Telephone : +353 -1-8722397
e-mail us here bogs@ipcc.ie
web: www.ipcc.ie

Action for Bogs & Wildlife

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