Peter Dowdall: Winter berries are not just for the birds

As our feathered friends tuck into haws and holly berries, let's feast our eyes on the colourful display

A blue tit enjoying winter berries. File picture

In this post-Halloween world, even though the milder than usual temperatures may be confusing us, we are certainly in winter now and headed towards the end of the year. The great outdoors can be a challenging pace for wildlife during the next few months so it's good to give them a helping hand.

One of the most important ways that we can do that is by using berried plants in our gardens. We can often overlook winter berries as a source of colour in our gardens but we shouldn’t. The display that they give and the beauty that they bring during otherwise pretty dull months is every bit as dramatic as the colours of the summer and perhaps more important as we can often do with a bit of a lift during the duller months when daylight amounts are dwindling.