PROTECT AND SERVE

Choose nature-friendly ways to guard your garden from troublesome wildlife visitors for a healthy and more harmonious plot

- HEATHER MARSHALL

From badgers digging up lawns to pigeons in the vegetable patch and rabbits in the borders - while many of us enjoy the sight of wild animals and birds in our gardens, the destruction they can leave behind isn't always so welcome.

But how to protect your plot without causing harm? Chemicals and traps aren't the answer: We encourage people to steer away from these as they're often bad for the environment, and can end up affecting the wildlife you do want in your garden as well as the things you don't,' says Helen Moffat from the RSPB.

How can I protect young trees and shrubs?

Deer and rabbits can be particularly destructive here. Preferring the new, sappy growth, deer can quickly strip a sapling bare, while gnawing rabbits make short work of bark.