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How many of you on this Forum have signed up to Homes for Wildlife? If so, have you been remembering to update what you've been doing on the 'My Garden' page which you can access from the link on your Homes for Wildlife login page? I've been doing a bit myself in the garden this year and not remembered until recently to update my actions and was pleasantly surprised when I did. I've decided to write more about it in my blog tomorrow. But, while I'm doing that, I know how much you all like a little challenge:- For all of you signed up to Homes for Wildlife, how many Actions and Gold Stars have you got and more to the point can you beat mine? If you’ve not downloaded any of the advice then log into HfW and return to your home pages to get the advice sheets and get ticking! If you’ve not signed up, use the link and see where it takes you. If you want to know how many I have you'll have to catch up with my blog tomorrow morning!
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Hi Aberdeenshire Quine.
I leave the leaves which fall on the beds too, I even add leaves under the shrubs, they keep the Blackbirds and Thrushes happy.
If the stumps are not in the way and are not harbouring the Dutch Elm beetle I would leave them. We cut down two very old apple trees and left the stumps, there is all manner of insect life living in them now. I noticed only a couple of days ago that there are fresh excavations in the stumps which look very beetle like, I’m hoping it’s Stags Head Beetles.
You're so lucky to have your own woodland, it's the one thing I've always wanted. I did manage to plant a tiny woodland area, but it was only big enough for 10 trees.
Build it and they will come.
What about scots pine needles? All those that fall on the ground under the tree are left and even those on flowers beds and lawn but I have a large pile that's getting bigger from sweeping the paths - should I put these under the Rhodidendrons as this is my area where the blackbirds and dunocks especially dig around and scratch about. If's strange to think that a few years ago everything was raked up in the autumn and burnt now we are all looking to make use of everything.
How sad to be loosing trees to Dutch Elm still - I heard on the radio recently that they have developed one that is resistant to it but dont think its available yet.
I know some pine needles are poisonous to animals but I’m not sure about birds, so I would say don’t spread them around where your birds feed unless you know the type of pine you have is OK.
We don’t have any pine trees so I’ve not looked into what to do with pine needles, perhaps someone on this forum has found a use for them. Has anybody any ideas?
It's only reaching us for teh first time. We don't have so many elms as middle England, so it won't be so devastating to teh landscape, but still.... 4 in my garden alone
When thou seest an eagle, thou seest a portion of genius; lift up thy head!
Hi AberdeenshireJust trying to catch up on some of the Forum posts. I certainly wouldn't worry about leaves in the shrub bed, in fact I'd encourage you to thinly spread more under the bushes (within reason). They are great at providing cover for invertebrates and worms, fungi and other bacteria will soon help break them down.
It’s very sad to hear about your elms, but I would certainly leave the stumps - they are a fantastic resource for all kinds of deadwood specialists. You would not have completely lost your Elms. They sucker prolifically and will re-grow for anything between 8 - 15 years, before they succumb again to attack. Elms have become almost self-coppicing in their nature. It provides an excellent, self-perpetuating continuum of young regrowth right through to dead wood. They are now to all intent and purpose more like a shrub/small tree than the great majestic beasts they once were.
In this part of the country, elms are very common and occur in many of the hedges. It’s always interesting to see how they attract different wildlife over their short life span.