Jenny Steel and her partner Alan Pottinger have turned an old apple orchard into a haven for wildlife. AMANDA COWLEY reports... Gardener Jenny Steel has always had a wild streak. So what better place to indulge her passion than her own corner of the Oxfordshire countryside?

Jenny and her partner, forester Alan Pottinger, have created a glorious haven for wildlife in the 1U-acre garden of their cottage in Kingston Bagpuize.

She took up the challenge of turning an old apple orchard into a nature reserve after reluctantly closing down her wildlife gardening nursery.

But it's not the kind of job which would appeal to lazy or half-hearted gardeners. "Wildlife gardening is not just a garden that goes wild," explained Jenny.

"It's a bit like having your own nature reserve. You have to work to encourage the wildlife because they are all attracted to different things."

Against the backdrop of the orchard, she has planted a cottage garden, a vegetable patch, a birch copse, nectar borders, fruit trees and a lily pond.

Each plot has its particular purpose. Lavender beds attract bumble-bees, for instance, while wild blackberry flowers are irresistible to butterflies. Jenny's dream is to re-open her garden to the public and convince more people that wildlife gardening is not just a pastime for "weirdos in sandals".

"The countryside is disappearing - or at least it's changing - so gardens are becoming incredibly important," she said. "This is a way of doing your little bit to help."

Jenny herself became hooked on wildlife gardening at an early age. "I was the kind of child who sat for hours watching the birds and bees," she said.

"I had my own little bit of garden where I grew pansies and sunflowers, but I was always more interested in how many ladybirds I could count."

Jenny's first job was as a technician in the plant sciences department at Oxford University, where she nurtured her love for natural history and plants. She eventually opened her own nursery on the site of an apple orchard set up by Gordon Maclean, himself a natural historian and wildlife photographer.

"It was a great success. We sold more than 200 species of seeds, wildflowers, herbs and cottage garden plants that were good for wildlife," she said. Jenny eventually closed the nursery because she wanted more time to share her life's work through talks and articles on wildlife gardening and plant folklore.

She now writes for magazines such as Butterfly Conservation News and is compiling a month-by-month book for wildlife gardeners called Nature's Garden.

When the orchard closed down, Jenny and Alan decided to buy their picturesque cottage and a large plot of land. "It was just within our grasp," she said.

"The idea was a bit alarming, but it gave me the opportunity to create a real wildlife garden. We've been here five years now and there's still masses to do."

The garden is a magnet for the wilder side of life. "We have masses of birds, butterflies and bees. When the sun shines, the air positively buzzes," she said.

"But it's no good expecting to attract much wildlife if you mow the lawn to within an inch of its life. You need to create a habitat for insects to breed. "Since we've attracted more insects, we've seen many more wrens and there is also evidence of foxes, weasels, badgers, hedgehogs and moles - which I tolerate."

But her favourite visitors are the numerous species of butterfly and she is particularly proud to have attracted a breeding colony of the marbled white.

"These butterflies need long grass to breed because they fly around and drop their eggs like bombs," she said. "We have 24 species of butterfly here and 18 have bred."

Surprisingly, perhaps, Jenny says she has no ambitions to spend the rest of her days pottering around her wild little corner of paradise.

"I don't see this garden as my lifetime's work," she said. "I can see me living by the sea. The challenge of planting a new garden would be fantastic." FIVE STEPS TO A WILDLIFE GARDEN

1. Borrow a good book on the subject from the library. Jenny Steel recommends Creating a Wildlife Garden by Bob and Liz Gibbons.

2. Decide what kind of wildlife you want in your garden, such as birds, bees or butterflies, and buy two or three plants that will attract them.

3. Start on a small scale. A corner of grass left unmown or a few carefully chosen shrubs will soon entice wildlife into your garden.

4. Choose the right plants. Butterflies, for instance, love the pale mauve flowers of buddleia but turn up their noses at the darker variety.

5. Save money by growing your own seeds or taking cuttings from plants.

For more information, call Emorsgate Seeds on (01553) 829028.

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