African Wildlife and Environment Issue 67

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

Positioning rocks For gardeners wishing to incorporate large rocks in the garden, it is strongly recommended to enlist the help of an experienced landscaper, who has a good understanding of how rocks occur in natural settings. Smaller rocks, however, can be positioned with the help of two or three people. I always suggest that gardeners study how rocks occur in nature before placing them in a wildlife garden. Positioning rocks carefully will determine how successfully they are incorporated in the wildlife garden. An isolated rock may provide a warming up spot for butterflies and other cold-blooded creatures, or a look-out for a Robin-Chat, but that is about it. Place a couple of rocks together, to create spaces for small creatures to take refuge in. Half-bury some of the rocks as they would occur in nature, to give a more authentic look and create more habitat for soil-dwelling or burrowing creatures. As rocks, stone, pebbles and gravel also help to retain some moisture in the soil near them or underneath them, they can be valuable in creating suitable areas for plants to establish themselves in an otherwise harsh ‘new’ environment. If you have a large enough area, bigger rocks can be positioned to form caves. These can be great for attracting bats – our greatest mosquito catchers ever! Lizards love to sun themselves on rocks, and find those that have cracks and crevices to hide in from would-be predators, particularly attractive. Shale is also a good addition to the garden, as the narrow crevices make excellent places to hide and keep warm and for lizards to lay their eggs. Stack pieces of shale on top of each other to create these narrow cracks and crevices. Wood Dead and decaying wood is found in almost all habitats – particularly woodland or forest, grassland, often along rivers, and in and around some natural water ponds. As with rock, it creates a valuable ‘micro-habitat’ within these larger habitats, thereby increasing the number of places that living creatures can inhabit. Unlike rock and stone though, for some creatures it is a source of food. For others, it is a place to find refuge and shelter within the actual wood itself. Dead wood is home to a host of creatures that range from micro-organisms to beetles and their grubs, wood lice and other dead-wood feeders to spiders, lizards and even birds and small mammals to name but a few. Various types of fungus that draw nutrients from dead wood help to decompose it, thereby breaking it down and making it available to soil organisms as valuable organic matter in the soil. Positioning wood in the wildlife garden Plant’ wood upright as a perch for birds and look out point for lizards, or lay it flat on the ground for a greater surface area to be used by small creatures. At Random Harvest Nursery, we have incorporated dead wood into our grassland, by laying it down as

Barbets nest in upgright wood

28 |