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Hi everyone,
First post so please be gentle! I'm hoping that you good people can give me some guidance on how to help make my garden friendly for attraching and feeding wildlife but also keeping it child friendly - perhaps this is just a utopian fantasy, but I hope not! Here's a picture of the back garden:
At the back left there is a small pond, which does tend to have a couple of resident frogs despite its size (I have the green light to extend this in the autumn) which has a small (30 cm high) log pile next to it. Behind the obligatory trampoline there's a veggie patch, providing a good supply of slugs for the frogs. In the foreground behind the shed there is a bird feeding station. We do have a dog, and she is outside most of the day but cannot get onto the lawn and is a decent deterrent to cats.
My question is whether we can do anything else but still retaining the child friendly aspect? Last year we used to get the odd Coal Tit that came for the sunflower seeds, a couple of years ago we spotted a couple of goldfinch, I even saw a pair of linnets in the neighbours garden! However, all we get now is wood pigeons, blackbirds and, particularly since we started leaving rehydrated mealworms out, starlings, which tend to swarm by and demolish whatever is on the feeding station (nothing against starlings, but would numbers like this this put off the smaller birds?).
Things I've considered are hanging feeders from the concrete fence posts, moving the feeding station (although not sure where would be better), planting one or two of the potted fruit trees in the veggie patch, planting certain bee/butterfly attracting flowers in planters. I know different types of food attract different birds, but despite trying sunflower seeds, hearts, suet pellets etc, this hasn't really helped.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. As I say, perhaps it's not meant to be, but I'd rather give something a try!
Many thanks
David
Hi David
Where to start! There is a lot you are already doing. I don't think you mentioned the age of the children, but if you have a pond, presumably they are already old enough not to find that a danger. Extending the pond would be good, especially if you give it wildlife friendly access where creatures can easily get in and out of the water and where possibly there are a few nooks and crannies and rocks for pond creatures to spend their time out of the water and possibly some edge planting to provide habitats as well. You may have dragonflies too if it is sunny enough. It may be that you need an expanse of grass for football etc, but do you have any garden beds? There are so many plants that will attract insects to the garden, which in turn will attract the song birds because they need them for feeding their young. Or you could have a wild area, where the grass isn't mown and wild flowers can grow? The log pile is good for giving a home to numerous species. You may need to move the feeding station around a bit. It is recommended that it is not always in the same place to keep some of the more common diseases at bay. It will take time for you to get to a good combination, but I believe children and wildlife can safely mix. It is not a utopian fantasy, but you may have to take small steps and see how they work. Send some photos if you make changes and keep us up to date on the progress.
bye for now
Imagine you are a wild creature the most important thing for them all is security and safety. So try and create cover. Some climbers like clematis, trees/shrubs, tall grasses that sort of thing. These are also the places where insects will live attracting other creatures in. You've already got some good suggestions to incorporate.
Another thing that really makes a difference is can you persuade your neighbours to develop their gardens along the same lines? This begins to create a corridor and greatly increases the chances of wildlife coming into your garden. Avoid poisonous plants and spiky ones and your kids will love it too. Hope this helps
Steve
Hi David,
Your title says exactly what I set out to do about five years ago! Take a look at my blog for a few ideas that might work for you...
higgysgardenproject.blogspot.co.uk
I will come on a reply in more detail when I have a little more time. In the mean time have a read and see if any of my ideas fit in with your plans?
Best
Higgy