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HI All,
Well hasn't it been a really tough time for all us gardeners over the last 12 months or so!?...
My garden here on the edge of the North Somerset Levels has spent much of the time either under water or really boggy! I have definitely lost a few plants along the way but starting to now feel optimistic about how much has survived! As well as the plants overwintering and now putting on impressive growth my wildlife has also been successful in overwintering in my little patch!
I thought that I would share a few of my 'wildlife gardening' successes with you in the hope that you are all still inspired to continue to garden for wildlife! If you don't yet garden for wildlife then you really must now consider it as our wildlife will rely on our gardens for survival, it really is a matter of life and death for them!!!!....
My perennial pollinator plants are a month behind flowering but by being a bit 'wild' we were still very well visited with some of our 'less planned' plants becoming a lifeline...
1. Forget-me-nots were very busy....
2. Self seeded and sown Cuckoo Flower played a valuable part...
3. But the 'saving grace' of early pollinators here went to the humble Dandelion....
I think that the picture above clearly demonstrates how valuable a few 'weeds' can be when flowers are scarce? By just leaving your weeding for a couple of weeks can be so helpful to a great range of pollinators!
4. Now out and bridging the gap here are Alliums...
I have to say that I really can't wait for the first perennials to start flowering which I think should be my Astrantias and of course the gorgeous Foxglove that is so valuable to Bumble bees.
Successes of my garden so far include these newly recorded visitors...
5. 22-spot Ladybird
6. Snipe Fly....
7. Arge Pagana......
8. Rhingia Campestris.....
And these are only a few of my recent newly recorded visitors!!
So COME ON what more evidence do you want GARDEN FOR WILDLFE as OUR WILDLFE NEEDS YOU!!!!....
I would be really interested to hear and see what's happening in your gardens at the moment? Post up for everyone to see and to get this great section of the forum moving again!!.....
If you want to see more of what's happening and the wildlife now arriving in my garden, feel free to click through on the link below....
Best
Higgy
Lovely thread Higgy, I'm helping out my dad with his garden. I've planted loads of plants from Dahlias, Gladiolis, Calendulas (self seeded) cosmos's, wild flower bumble seed mix, rudbeckias, echinecea and plenty of teasels!! So it should be coming up nicely now :) I'll pop up some photos up.
Just a question? Do you have a pond? I have a wildlife pond in my garden and pleased to say that I have a resident frog :)
Cheers, Jason
Lovely photos, Higgy. I think the lifeline in my garden this spring has been the bulbs. Everything was late, even the snowdrops.
I was beginning to worry because even the pulmonaria had not really come into bloom so I bought some violas and dotted them around. The pieris haa a few flowers open; cowslips and priimroses were out. Then the snake-headed fritilliaries came into their own. I've let them self-seed near the hedge and they came into bloom when we had a little sun. Soon the bumblebees were buzzing happily.
Hi Jason, Alan & Grandmamac.
Thanks for your replies.
Jason
All your planting sound superb and yes it would be really interesting to see it as it all starts to flower and the bees and insects get on them all?...
I do have a wildlife pond and in fact I am just completing another one which will bring the number of ponds in the garden to four!!! Let me clarify this...
The big main pond is raised and houses my Koi, Tench, Rudd, Crucian Carp among other fish! This is 10feet square and abot 4-5feet deep. Although it does have lillies and irises it's not really a wildlife pond and is situated at the same level of the raised decking up by the house....
My man wildlife pond is at the very bottom of the garden in the wildlife area. I built it last year using and old bath and some old pond liner (all reclaimed)! This picture doesn't show it very well and when I get time I'll take some more snaps as it's maturing nicely. This area is natuarally damp and will get really water logged when we get lots of rain (last year!!!) so that's why I used the bath as a base to prevent the liner from being pushed up...
Pond number three is very very small and is just an old sink sunk into the ground and landscaped using rocks and a few plants in a quiet unused shady corner. Not necessarily the best location but it brightens up a stark area behind the entrance arch onto the main lawn. As it is near the bird feeders it gets well used by the birds for bathing in! I already have toads here and several invertebrates in the pond so it demonstrates the value of water in the garden however small!!!...
Finally I am just in the process of my fourth pond!! This is situated in a large rockery and is right next to where our main seating area is so I'm hoping it will be an interesting place to sit in a year or two's time! it's an old rigid liner that someone at work was throwing out and those of you who know me will know that is unresistable to me!! I do try and recycle when ever I can and this was an opportunity I couldn't resist!! Again it's quite smal lbut once finished and planted up should attract lots of bugs and stuff hopefully....
The scary thing is that when I recycled this pond I actually got given two rigid liners!!!!!!!!!!!....... :-)
Alan
That extra space sounds great mate and I know that we have spoken about hedging in the past. It would be great to see a picture of the area now that it is bare and then follow it as you plant it and it starts to grow? It would be a good record of what wildlife it attracts also?....
Grandmamac
Everyting is late this year and I really feared for our pollinators I have to say! Outside the front of our house we have a massive Ceonotheous and it is absolutely alive with bees now, as well as seeing the bush almost moving there is a loud buzzing which actually causes people to stop in the street!!! I have actually taken a video of it that I will post at some point!
It's good to see that all my plants are now starting to catch up and the wild flower lawn is starting to hold some good colour again at last which is a real relief!!!
Keep up the good work all....
I love all your ponds, Higgy.
I turned one of my small raised beds over to wildflowers this year and sowed it with a seed mix. The tiny seedlings are just poking through en masse. I decided to be a bit more organised because I have one very narrow border along the side of the house without many flowering plants. If it turns out well, I'll get my son to take photos.
I went to Gardening Scotland yesterday - such beautiful plants. There does seem to be more emphasis on wildlife and bees in the gardening world.
Hi Alan,
The blackberries will provide geat cover and food for birds if you leave a couple in and train them through the other hedging plants. This will create a really natural native hedge, by only leaving a couple in it should make them a little easier to keep in check also?? Looking forward to seeing the results....
I did see a few snippets of the Gardenng Scotland show on the telly and it looked very good. Did you have a good day out?
Great to hear about your wild flowers they really will attract LOTS of different pollinators and other insects. My only tip would be to sow some into pots next year and then plant out the plugs, I find you get bigger and healthier plants this way that start flowering nice and early.
My wild flower area has just started to get going and looks like this at the moment...
Sorry not the greatest picture but gives a general idea. This was actually taken about two weeks ago I think and this area has meadow buttercups, white campion and a few other things out already! I have also planted out nearly 100 plugs since this picture was taken!...
Carrying on from the initial post above I have been struggling to keep up with all the new arrivals this last week which is thrilling and demonstrates how this type of gardening really can work. Here are a few more new records for the garden...
1. 14-Spot Ladybird - Propylea 14-punctata - really really chuffed to have recorded two of our smallest ladybirds within a week! We get lots of Harlequine ladybirds here so to see these and our very common 7-spot thriving is thrilling for me!
2. Cercopis vulnerata - Common but quite striking and again another first...
3. Malachius bipustulatus - Again quite common but initial sighting (apologies for quality of this one)
4. Not a first in the garden by a long way but first for the new wildlife pond is this very welcome frog....
I really do hope we can get a few more members hrough to this section of the forum and inspire a few more would be wildlife gardeners!!??....
Like your bug pics Higgy & the wild garden area! You've got me at it now & have been raiding a derelict site where I found a tall white flowered native plant which I have yet to identify but looks the part & a supply of white dead-nettle which I shall try to transplant! No doubt I shall find more over the next few days of foraging!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
LOL,
That's great Wendy, we all have to do our bit especially with the current declines in many species.
Once I have got you all gardening for wildlife on here I shall be turning my attentions to the local parish council and getting all the road verges planted up with wild flowers!! What do you reckon??....
Be excellent if you can swing it - but I suspect they might well argue that it would look too untidy or be dangerous in some way!!
Thanks for the suggestion of growing plug plants next year, Higgy and for the inspiring photo of your area. The seedlngs are growing strongly.and I can't wait to see what comes up.
Gardening Scotland was a great day out - it improves every year. I try to use plants so that I have accessible flowers for insects year round and keep an eye out for early bumbles. I have echinacea, asters and japanese anenomes which will flower until the first frosts.
Hi Gandmamac,
Tha's a good array of flowers and as you say gives help to those later pollinators. My wild flower area is earlier than my perennial borders which like yours get really going July/August time.
Glad you had a good day out at the show, it did get good press this year so that should help it to keep growing!
Thought I'd post a clearer picture of the wild flower are that actually shows some flowers!!!!...
Taken yesterday evening...
I can't wait until it really gets going!!! Getting really excited now!!
Wendy Wendy Wendy! How could you throw that dreaded 'health & safety' at me, you'll be giving them ideas! LOL You probably are right though, if it's not visilbility it'll be in case a bee stings a cyclist or some such thing!!...
I've just had a walk round the garden as I always do to de-stress after work and recorded a couple more new species of insect out there!! I think I'll have to start an insect section on here soon the way this is going!!... :-)