Top 10 Wildlife Shrubs

Posted by Shannen Godwin on 17th Jun 2021

Top 10 Wildlife Shrubs

Woody shrubs provide food, shelter and breeding spaces for our wildlife. Nesting birds and hibernating insects make their homes in them and insects like butterflies use them as natural windbreaks. We have some great recommendations for insect, wildlife and bee friendly shrubs that can make great habitats for wildlife in your garden.

Pyracantha

PYRACANTHA ORANGE GLOW

Winning the RHS Garden Merit Award, Orange Glow is a sturdy evergreen shrub that produces spring blossoms and bright orange berries in the summer. This shrub provides nesting for birds and an abundant source of pollen and food for bees.

Viburnum

VIBURNUM OPULUS ROSEUM (SNOWBALL TREE)

This vigorous deciduous viburnum shrub is smothered with large, fragrant, pompom-like clusters of white or pale green tinted flowers every May and June. Purple foliage appears autumn when vibrant red berries, which provide an excellent food source for the birds.

Honeysuckle

HONEYSUCKLE BELGICA

A true ‘wildlife hotel’. Brings a profusion of vibrant colour to the summer garden with the Honeysuckle plant. The sweet, heady scent carried on a warm summer breeze is one of the most delightful experiences of the season, and the scent is strongest at night, which attracts pollinating moths.

Image: Honeysuckle Belgica


Buddleia

BUDDLEIA EMPIRE BLUE

A must for wildlife lovers. Also known as the ‘Butterfly Bush’, this equally bee friendly shrub of Buddleia is a beautiful cool violet-blue blooms produce a lovely honey fragrance that is guaranteed to attract masses of butterflies and bees.

Weigela

WEIGELA PINK POPPET

Awarded the RHS ‘Perfect for Pollinators’ Award, this fantastic dwarf-growing shrub is certainly a wildlife haven. Weigela Pink Poppet is a long flowering variety that will attract a range of pollinators, from bees, butterflies and other nectar loving insects.

Sarcococca

SARCOCOCCA HOOKERIANA HUMILIS

This Sarcococca variety produces small white flowers renowned for their vanilla aroma. After flowering, this compact and hardy shrub will also yield an abundance of shiny black berries that birds love, making it the perfect plant for a winter wildlife garden.

Image: Weigela 

Clethra

CLETHRA RUBY SPICE

Winner of the RHS Garden Merit Award for their reliable performance, stability of colour and form and good resistance to pests and diseases. This fantastic Clethra shrub is perfect for attracting bees into the garden, through their heady fragrance.

Syringa

SYRINGA MEYERI PALIBIN

This upright deciduous Syringa shrub produces dense clusters of sweetly fragrant, light pink and white panicles over attractive heart-shaped foliage from late spring into early summer. When in bloom, the gorgeous flowers will bring butterflies to your garden.

Gaura

GAURA WHIRLING BUTTERFLIES

The ideal border perennial with an abundance of star shaped flowers. Gaura Whirling Butterflies pretty free-flowering white flower spikes, which resemble a fluttering butterfly, and also are handy for attracting beneficial insects to the garden, such as bees.