A place to learn, share and inspire others to create a haven for you and for wildlife.
Sign In or Register to join the conversation
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
Brilliant photos everyone and great to see all the wildlife subjects. As we've been watching Springwatch we've all learnt that everything has a purpose in the wildlife world. I love to see all wildlife and that folk out there are passionate about creating habitats and such. Brilliant :)
Cheers, Jason
Hi Jason,
You are absolutely right and it's when you realise this that you understand that every little critter you find in the garden how ever small has a purpose and belongs there!
Here's an example...
I have lots of Honeysuckle in the garden and when I went out at the weekend I found this...
In case you are wondering that is a honeysuckle bud completely covered in aphids! YUKKK!!!
A few years ago everyone would be reaching for the insecticide and gven it a good helping to kill them off!!...
I am proud to say I enjoyed the spectacle, took some pictures and left them to it.....
About an hour later I was doing the washing up (yes I do help around the house also!!) when a Bluetit came down and started picking the aphids off this plant only to then be joined by a second bluetit who did the same! Both of these birds then flew back down the garden and into the nesting box where they are currently feeding young!!! Brilliant!!!
The other thing that we are overrun with in the garden this year is Ladybirds with terriffic numbers of 7-spot and both 22-spot & 14-spot that we haven't recorded before now. It seems that it is a good (or bad depending how you look on it) year for aphids meaning lots more food for the ladybirds and the tits! This is truly how nature works and the reason why you don't need to use pesticides and other chemicals in the garden!
And look at this it really is a ladybird frenzy here!!....
So there you have it, if you garden for wildlife embrace everything that comes to the garden however small it may be as it's sure to have a purpose!!
my very first macro shots.....
London Pride (shame about the foot!!)...
Weigela...
Chive...
Much practice required methinks! (now I will confess that I sent to USA for macro lens etc. for my cam only to find out - 2 days after it arrived - that I have macro built in - whoops!! But don't tell everyone LOL)
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Hi Higgy, great aphid shot! I have had experience with aphids who took resident on my sunflower plants! And I saw ants working right on and through the sunflower plant and protecting the aphids. I didn't see any birds going for them, not when I was looking anyway, but it was interesting to see the ants working.
The ants basically sucked my sunflowers from life, I think they feed on the sap inside the stem. therefore killing the plant. I could open a crack in the sunflower head and hundred of ants came pouring out! Amazing.
Great set of macro photos, such fine detail ....... I dare not get my new Macro lens out now I've seen the standard I have to live up to LOL
_________________________________________________________________________
Regards, Hazel
Brilliant Wendy, well done that's a great start.
Don't worry about having a macro setting in the camera I can almost guarantee that you will get far better results using a proper lens! If you need any help you know where I am!
Jason that's a fascinating story and another reason why nature is so interesting and dare I say it addictive!?
My philosofy has always been to try it and if it doesn't work or it gets eaten like your sunflowers, find something else that does work. However in the current climate I can't afford to throw away decent plants so I sow my own now a lot of the time. I find that you get lots of extra plants this way that you can use to plug gaps or even plant out on mass which generally leaves a few survivors even if some do get eaten! Sometimes by growing the plants on and planting out when they are bigger it will deter the ants that are after the sap from young plants as the stems are softer making it more accessible. Try growing some on and planting out when bigger and the report back if it worked or not?
Hazy
No such thing as acceptable quality on this site with all pictures welcome in my view. I'd rather see them than not and don't forget that we all started out in the same way! My photography started when I first got told I had to give up sport and I needed another focus that got me out and about and kept me active to some degree! I just fell in love with it and let it develop by reading up and practising as much as I could. I can assure you that the best way to learn is by making mistakes and learning from them. Second for me is to speak with like minded people and not being afraid to ask questions. There are lots of people happy to help especially on here which make this such a lovely site to belong to in my book! I did join a photography site in the early days and found it completely unfriendly with many members seemingly unable to say a nice thing or help anybody! I no longer use it!!! As I said to Wendy if I can assist you know where I am. Remember though I am purly a keen ameteur and no expert by any stretch of the imagination! I often look at my own pictures and see things I would change and am fully aware that my photography still needs lots and lots of work. You may not agree with me but it's what keeps the interest for me by trying to do things a little better next time (obviously the wildlife is of most importance anyway!)
So Wendy & Hazy...
We're expecting to see lots of pictures from you both now and I'm sure people will enjoy them even if you feel they need some work, remember this is a wildlife site not a photography site....
There you go that's my motivational speach for the day done!! :-)
PS
If it makes you feel a little better here's one I took at the weekend!!!...
That's the beauty of digital, take lots of pictures and bin what you don't want!!! LOL :-)
lol Higgy, thanks for your inspiring words of confidence and I agree, even a bad photo is good in that you learn your mistakes from it and I am a bit like a dog with a bone and will practice until I get it right ! If we all got photos perfect the first time around then photography would become boring lol I especially like the Bad pics of wildlife thread ... it is so much fun !! I love everyone's pics, for good or bad and most of all the guys and girls on here are a lot of fun too with great humour which is what makes the world go round :)
Thanks for your input & encouragement Higgy - will try new lens now for comparison!
And aitch - your turn now!!
Looking forward to seeing the results now....