Native v non-native plants

Native plants are important food plants for the larvae of moths and butterflies, and provide nuts and berries for birds, mice and other mammals. Although native plants will support the greatest diversity of wildlife, non-native plants will still attract plenty of wildlife, providing shelter, berries, pollen and nectar. Using a mixture of native and non-native plants gives you greater flexibility in your garden design, whilst still attracting lots of garden wildlife! Use the tables below to select useful native and non-native plants for your wildlife garden.

Flowering plants for wildlife

When choosing flowering plants for wildlife, select single-flowered varieties for bees and butterflies as they can’t access double flowers for pollen and nectar.

British native	Flowering period	Non-native	Flowering period
Bluebell		Allium
Corn Marigold		Aubrieta
Corncockle		Candytuft
Cornflower		Cherry Pie (Heliotropium)
Field Forget-me-not (Myosotis arvensis)		Echinacea
Foxglove		Evening Primrose
Lady's Bedstraw		Honesty (Lunaria annua)
Musk Mallow (Malva moschata)		Lavender
Ox-eye Daisy		Michaelmas Daisy (Aster)
Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)		Night-scented stock
Primrose		Phacelia
Purple Loosestrife		Poached Egg Plant
Red Campion		Red valerian (Centranthus ruber)
Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis)		Sunflower
St John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum)		Sweet William
Viper's Bugloss		Tobacco plant (Nicotiana)
Yarrow		Verbena

Trees and shrubs for wildlife

Both native and non-native trees and shrubs provide invaluable shelter for all sorts of creatures, and evergreen shrubs ensure there is shelter all year round. Don’t let a small garden put you off native trees and shrubs. Many are suitable for coppicing (cutting as you would Dogwoods for their winter stems), including Alder, Hazel, Hawthorn and Willow. This helps restrict their size whilst still benefitting wildlife.

British native	Interesting features	Non-native	Interesting features
Alder (Alnus glutinosa)		Berberis
Blackthorn		Buddleja
Bramble		Californian Lilac
Crab apple		Cotoneaster
Dog rose (Rosa canina)		Eleagnus
Downy Birch (Betula pubescens)		Escallonia
Elder (Sambucus nigra)		Flowering cherry (Prunus)
Gorse		Hebe
Hawthorn		Honeysuckle
Hazel		Jasmine
Holly		Mahonia
Hornbeam		Pyracantha
Ivy		Quince
Pussy Willow (Salix caprea)		Skimmia
Rowan		Strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo)
Sweet Briar Rose (Rosa rubiginosa)		Wisteria
Guelder Rose (Viburnum opulus)

For a further list of wildlife friendly plants, take a look at our 'Plants for wildlife' guide.

Written by: Sue Sanderson

Plants and gardens have always been a big part of my life. I can remember helping my Dad to prick out seedlings, even before I could see over the top of the potting bench. As an adult, I trained at Writtle College where I received my degree, BSc. (Hons) Horticulture. After working in a specialist plantsman's nursery, and later, as a consulting arboriculturalist, I joined Thompson & Morgan in 2008. Initially looking after the grounds and coordinating the plant trials, I now support the web team offering horticultural advice online.