How to encourage more wildlife to your garden, The Garden Arch
How to Attract Wildlife with a Simple Garden Arch 🐝🦋
Filmed in my wildlife garden, which is climate friendly, this video shows how a humble garden arch can become a thriving habitat for bees, moths, butterflies, and birds. I explain the best position to place your arch for maximum ecological benefit, and share ideas for what to grow on it to support pollinators and nesting species.
Featured wildlife-friendly climbers:
Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) – nectar-rich for long-tongued moths, berries for birds
Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) – fragrant and insect-attracting
Clematis tangutica & ‘Bill MacKenzie’ – pollen for bees, seedheads for nesting birds
Clematis rehderiana – a bee magnet with stunning yellow flowers
Hops – larval food for Comma butterfly caterpillars
Bonus tip: Leave clematis seedheads in place through winter—birds will use them for nesting material come spring!
Other climbers like Jasminum officinale ‘Clotted Cream’ are also worth exploring, though not covered in this video.
Whether you're starting from scratch or enhancing an existing garden, this guide will help you turn a simple arch into a biodiversity hotspot.
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Martyn Priestley Wildlife field officer Low Moor & Oakenshaw conservation group.