Wildlife garden
Bats in the garden: moths, water and a bat box
You help bats with a garden full of moths and other insects: plant native shrubs and flowers that are scented in the evening, dig a pond, keep the garden dark at night, avoid pesticides and hang a bat box high up on a sunny wall or tree.
What to do
- Plant native shrubs and climbers such as honeysuckle, ivy, elder and wild privet: their flowers and leaves attract moths, the food of bats.
- Grow flowers that are scented in the evening, such as white campion, soapwort and common valerian, and let part of the lawn grow long: that is where the insects bats hunt live.
- Dig a pond or a pool without fish: in the evening, mosquitoes and midges swarm above the water, and bats love to hunt there.
- Keep the garden dark at night: no lights left on all night, and if you need light, a warm, low light pointing downwards, with a motion sensor.
- Hang a bat box 3–5 m up, in a spot that gets a few hours of sun, with a clear flight path and no lamp nearby; ideally put up two or three on different sides.
- Do not use insecticides or slug pellets, and keep hollow trees and ivy on old walls where you can: bats shelter there during the day.
Caution: If you find a bat on the ground or in the house, do not touch it with bare hands, as it can bite, and call a wildlife rescue centre.
Why it helps
- All our bats eat insects. A common pipistrelle, the species you see most often in gardens, catches hundreds of mosquitoes, moths and other small insects in a single night.
- Bats hunt along hedges, rows of trees and over water, and follow these lines to find their way. Bright lights, felled old trees and blocked-up gaps in walls and roofs make life hard for them.
- All bat species are protected by law in Belgium and the Netherlands: you must not disturb them, or destroy or block their roosts.
Which plants?
- Common honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum Climber · flowers June–September NativePoisonous
- Common ivy Hedera helix Climber · flowers September–November NativePoisonous
- Elder Sambucus nigra Shrub · flowers May–June Native
- Wild privet Ligustrum vulgare Shrub · flowers June–July NativePoisonous
- English oak Quercus robur Broadleaf tree · flowers April–May Native
- Goat willow Salix caprea Broadleaf tree · flowers March–April Native
- White campion Silene latifolia herbaceous plant Native
- Soapwort Saponaria officinalis perennial · flowers July–September NativePoisonous
- Valerian Valeriana officinalis herb · flowers June–August Native
- Hemp agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum perennial · flowers July–September NativePoisonous
- Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria perennial · flowers June–August Native
- Dame’s rocket Hesperis matronalis annual · flowers May–July
When?
February–September.
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Did you know? A common pipistrelle weighs only 4–8 grams and fits, wings folded, in a matchbox, yet it flies kilometres every night to hunt.