Almost every garden has a patch of grass that could feed the larvae of nine butterfly and up to 40 moth species.

The most useful thing to do is to leave a strip of grass uncut until October. This works best if the strip is wider than 75cm/2.5 ft, in the sun and alongside a hedge or fence (to act as a wind break). There are various plants to grow in both the longer uncut grass and the shorter mown parts of the lawn.

A really helpful plant to put in the long grass strip is Yellow Rattle. Although no butterfly caterpillars eat its leaves (Grass Rivulet moth caterpillars do), Bumblebees love the flowers and, more crucially, it parasitises the grass around it, making the turf less dense, which assists other plants to thrive. Several of the other plants suggested are invasive, and removing their flower heads before the seeds are cast will help control their spread around the garden.