[HelenW]

Sounds like people have most things covered - things for animal, large and small to eat, and places to shelter. Once these have been provided as year round as you can, then perhaps a place to breed is a bonus.

The Sheffield University BUGS project did garden based research on what works outlined at http://www.bugs.group.shef.ac.uk/

A couple of notes I seem to remember coming from this....

Nettles are only really useful if they get plenty of sun. leaving a nettle patch behind a shed is not much use to much - certainly not butterflies.

Deadwood piles are great - and will stand a shady corner but try to pack them quite tightly and get plenty of wood in contact with the ground.

And from my own experience a rather random selection..

Bees and butterflies like sun. Thymes,hyssop and majoram etc in a sunny patch are great....but in a dark corner will fail to thrive or be of interest.

Don't be over tidy - especially in the autumn. If you can leave stems and summer growth standing until March, you will have winter shape and shelter. This does not mean your garden cannot be glorious and beautiful.

Choose plant species that will be happy - look at nearby gardens like yours and see what does well.
Ask neighbours for spare plants - things which do well often seed around and go on the compost heap/or in the green bin when the owners have enough! In my experience gardeners are usualy very happy to pass on spares or cuttings or advice - or all three! Early Spring is a good time to spread the word.

If you buy at a garden centre - read the labels - if it says moist soil and you have dry sandy loam...forget it. We have just that and bult a 'dry garden' modelled on Beth Chatto's Essex patch and by choosing drought tolerant species have a garden that looks great even in a spring with NO rain. Also check they are not root-bound...if the pot is a solid rootball, leave it behind. Smaller younger plants often establish more quickly than instant impact bigger (and more expensive) ones.

If you plant mature pot grown plants any time from spring onwards, you should anticipate watering them for a full season if you are without significant rain....it is best to offer half a watering can once or twice a week than a sprinkle every day.

Have a thought about your wider impact - locally sourced plants, grown in a peat free medium are more friendly to the wider environment. If you have room for a rainbutt, get one (or many) and use it/them. It is crazy to use drinking quality water for plants if you can avoid it.

There is lots of useful stuff on the Wild About Gardens website http://www.wildaboutgardens.org/