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Hi again,
It says approximately 20 varieties hardy/half hardy annuals and perennials. It mentions that it doesn't contain foxgloves. What have foxgloves done to offend? I am still at the stage of deciding what goes where. Will cover 25m2 or 5-10m2 for a denser display!!!
Are you thinking about a wildflower lawn or sowing them in a border?
Hi Higgy,
I'm not planning a wildflower lawn but I haven't decided what I am doing yet! I'm still at the planning stage. I expect you spend a great deal of time gardening. I saw a tv programme which included the garden of a man who spends ten hours a day gardening. It was perfect!
Hi Alan,
Don't shout about it too loud otherwise everyone will want to see it!! LOL :-)
10 hours a day what a dream that would be!!!
There's no chance of doing anything near to this when working full time as I do unfortunately.
I will hold my hands up and say during the summer I may do 8-10hrs per week but sometimes less and sometimes none! The period now between November through to Spring I may do 20hrs in total and that's if I'm lucky! So far this year I've only amassed about 3hrs since Autumn sowing a few seeds and planting some shrubs and trees!!
That is the beauty of wildlife gardening, once you have the basic structure in place it can be as labour intensive as you want to make it or have time for! This is where the planning comes in and by planning features such as wildflower lawns which only require a cut once a year and maybe a little planting you are already factoring out a lot of work! Log Piles and other features made from old logs need little work as you don't want to disturb the valuable habitat that they create. Wildlife ponds may need excess weed cleaning out very occasionally and netting or leaves taken out in Autumn but again that's about it!
All of a sudden this wildlife gardening concept becomes very attractive doesn't it? So long as you don't let things get too out of control you can be quite casual about it and less disturbance means more settled habitats for the creatures that you are trying to attract!
Other than a bit of pruning, weeding and some dead-heading to keep things in bloom during the summer I don't do a lot unless I'm creating a new feature. In Spring I will do a few more hours to cut down the dead flower heads that the birds have enjoyed feeding from over the winter but until then it's pretty relaxed here! And lets be fare we do it to enjoy watching the wildlife that visits so you need time to sit, relax and just enjoy don't you! :-)
Best
Higgy
I wish I had seen the programme. I believe Alan Titchmarsh has two gardeners who assist him in his own garden. He has an area given to wildflowers. I can't help thinking I have bitten off more than I can chew with my garden plans although they are a bit vague at the moment.
All the best,
Elizabeth
I asked you how much time you spend gardening to try and get an idea of what to expect at different times of year. I read an article about a man who cuts his lawn more than twice a week. He wouldn't let his son play on it but fortunately there were play areas close to his home. He welcomed people into his garden for charity but he found it difficult to watch them walk on his grass. I cut the article out as it interested me. Where does enthusiasm become obsession?
Hi Elizabeth,
Interesting isn't it?
I love my garden and do get a thrill when people come round and are 'gob-smacked' by it but at the end of the day it is an area for the whole family to enjoy. The wildlife is an added bonus and I always had it in mind that I wanted to demonstrate that anyone could do their bit for wildlife yet still have a jaw dropping garden that is child, adult, dog and wildlife friendly.
My daughter is now six and has her own play area and some planting space to plant whatever she wants each year. She loves this and it encourages her to explore the rest of the garden and the mini-beasts that reside in it.
This is the play area and the border in front although much bigger now features many plants that my daughter chose. A garden really is for everyone to enjoy in my opinion!...
I managed to incorporate a wildlife feature into her play area by using log rounds as fun 'stepping stones' and if you move them they have loads of beetles and other bugs under them in their own mini habitat....
I also have a nesting box for her to hang up somewhere in her own area and this really makes her feel like she is part of the 'garden thing' and can use it as and when she wants.
We do also have to remember that everyone likes or wants something different out of a garden so if an immaculate lawn mown three times a week is your thing the that's fine but it's not for me! My lawn gets mowed but sometimes I may let it grow on a little so that the daises, clover and selfheal flower giving another nectar source yet anyone is allowed to run around on it as they are the rest of the garden. I've created a series of little twisting paths that kids love to explore and they do actively encourage them to do this. Each to their own I suppose but gardens are for kids as well as adults in this house!! :-)
I'm interested to know what your plans are Elizabeth and where you are planning to plant the new seeds that you keep acquiring?
P.S. The Springwatch guide to butterflies and moths is still available on the internet if you google it but I warn you that it isn't that good and doesn't really show the garden off to it's full potential.
You certainly have some really lovely shades of green in your garden and your grass looks like grass should.(I'm glad you can't see mine!!) I googled Springwatch guide to butterflies and moths and had to write down a bit of gobbledygook for my daughter to fix my tablet so I can watch film. She usually pops round on a Sunday so I'll ask her about it then. My friend John asked me today if I had known the butterfly and bee box contained ten thousand seeds would I still gone ahead and bought it. It does not name plants and says that the picture on the box might not show the plants I'll grow. The picture includes poppies and ox-eye daisies. It has a spreading agent in it.I'll need to Google that!! I think if I grew ten thousand plants in the garden there'd be no room for the postman, visitors or me. I can't visualise that number - would we have to knock the house down and uproot everything else? Joking aside it does say 25m2. I'm going to have to get a hold of all the seed packets and work out what can go where when. I may be some time....
Hi Higgy I forgot to ask you about the shrubs and trees you planted. I'd be interested to know what you chose and why? My parents were given a silver birch as a silver wedding anniversary gift many years ago but they were worried about size and dug it out. I know from your map and photos that you have an extensive garden so space for these plants is surely not a problem.
All the best
All the shrubs and trees that I have planted have been chosen with wildlife in mind.
The garden is about 140feet x 40feet so long rather than square, this does allow the planting of slightly larger shrubs and trees towards the bottom of the garden. I also have shared ownership of a small field at the bottom of the garden and it is here that I have planted three trees. These being an Alder, Small Leaved Lime and Wild Cherry. All of these are native an benefit specific and different wildlife. At the end of the garden is a Hawthorn hedge which is a superb wildlife hedge and already here when we moved in was a large Oak, Field Maple and one other large tree that I can't name at this point. All of these were planted 20+ years ago.
I am slowly adding native shrubs up both sides of the garden in the form of native hedging. Within this hedge I have planted the following shrubs/trees..
There's a few other shrubs mixed in also but the ones are above are the main native wildlife specialists.
Also planted in the garden further up for wildlife are a couple of conifers that the CoalTits seem to like, a Rowen that will provide berries loved by winter thrushes an old plum tree that isn't doing too well and an apple tree just planted but that's for us!!
That is about it, as you can see careful consideration has gone into deciding what to plant but despite the range of shrubs and trees the garden isn't actually massive but I have tried to plan it sensibly to allow this planting.
I hope that answers your question Elizabeth?
Are you considering shrubs and trees in your garden?