AS I SEE IT
BY MARIANNE HERON
From 1:am this Sunday it will be later than you think! Clocks will spring forward thanks to Daylight Saving, a change to take advantage of long hours of summer daylight which has been happening since 1908. Thankfully, the EU plan to do away with it was dropped during Covid and, while it means an hour less in bed, it’s a signal enjoy the great outdoors as new life emerges.
We tend to overlook some of that life – literally – for it includes the myriads of tiny creatures that hang out in our gardens going quietly about their business, most of it really useful. They may be small but they can be totally fascinating. Did you know, for instance, that earwigs are fantastic mothers, building secure nests and guarding their nymph-stage young from predators or that during the marriage flight of ants, worker ants clear a runway so that the maximum number of females can take off for their weddings in order to confuse predators.
Maybe most unlikely are the spectacular nocturnal mating habits of leopard slugs, which, when entwined in a hermaphrodite embrace on hanging twigs, emit a glistening orb which lights up like a chandelier. Don’t worry though, they eat other slugs and decayed matter, not your seedlings!
My newfound insight into these critters is thanks to Collie Ennis, zoologist and Biodiversity Officer at Trinity College Dublin.
Involved in the wilding of Trinity’s grounds, he also encourages people to make space for nature while enjoying their gardens through talks and events. He also co-presented the Garden Safari Critter Shed podcast with Colette Kinsella.
He explains how the work carried out by bugs keeps our gardens healthy: ”They are essential, without them you won’t have a garden. They are essential for fertilisation and for breaking down waste matter, they are absolutely essential for everything and they exist because they have evolved over millions of years,” says Collie. The team bug – aka invertebrates – have divisions which carry out different tasks.
There are vital pollinators like bees, bumble bees, hover flies which ensure the lifecycle of plants can continue.
There are the predators which prey on other bugs keeping them under control like ladybirds, beetles and spiders and the recyclers like worms which break down decaying plant material turning it into fertile soil, woodlice which break down woody matter and various beetle larvae which help to tidy up the environment.
All of them are a vital part of the ecosystem, not least because they provide grub for birds and animals higher up the food chain.
Like bigger creatures, insects and creepy crawlies are under threat. Ireland has around 31,000 species, of which only 10% have been assessed and, of those that have been, one in five are under threat of extinction, including some bugs.
Think of how, back in the day, car windscreens would have to be cleaned after journeys to get rid of smashed insects. That simply doesn’t happen anymore due to pesticides and farming methods which reduce habitat. Fewer insects mean fewer swifts and swallows, fewer garden bugs mean fewer hedgehogs because they have less food.
“Invertebrates support so much in the food web. When invertebrates decline it has a knock-on effect on everything else,” says Collie.“With the reduction of numbers due to the use of pesticides and over tidy gardens over time you will see a reduction of life in your garden. For instance, when there aren’t caterpillars for birds to feed to their young in the nest you will see the bird numbers going down.”
Among the things he suggests you can do to ensure biodiversity are: avoid using pesticides and use alternative methods; make a log pile or a bug hotel; have a pond to encourage wildlife; and don’t keep your garden too tidy, or leave a wild corner.
Some plants which are considered weeds are important for wildlife. Nettles provide food for about 40 species of insects including butterflies and dandelions provide early nectar for bees and bumblebees. Natural remedies can be used to see off bugs you don’t want, like companion planting, marigolds deter aphids for instance, neem oil or garlic spray can be used to protect seedlings. Ponds no matter how small attract wildlife but they also need to be nature friendly with plants around the edge and ways for critters to climb out.
Happy gardening!
