A home made Hibernaculum

Hi John - I have just read Mark's blog, and very interesting it is too. I totally agree, it doesn't matter how small the area, if you provide the right materials / food and make the creatures feel safe then they will come.

Although we have a large back garden (100 ft, approx) all my bird feeders / tables and baths are in my yard. Also in my yard is an assortment of tubs containing grasses, bulbs, 2 Christmas trees and sundry climbing plants. The climbers are supported by three 6 ft x 6 ft lengths of trellis which abut the fence between my yard and that of my neighbour.

You may wonder why, with such a large back garden, all the facilities for the birds are in a 6 ft x 18 ft yard. The answer is twofold - 1 = the number of cats in the vicinity and 2 = I can't see the garden except from upstairs.

All the birds have come to know that my yard is a protected area and that next door's cat (the only one who does chance her arm and enter occasionally) will be instantly evicted. They have now reached the point where they even alert me, from a point of safety, if she has managed to creep in unnoticed. Believe me, the warning screech of a starling is very hard to miss - unless you are several counties away!

Hi Squirrel
Have had an idea about the OH's veg patch that still keeps it for its intended purpose? You've heard about time share - well what about using some of the ideas being posted and mixing dead wood with vegetables?

I'm particularly thinking of long logs, about 3 - 6 ins diameter, being buried vertically like organ pipes in a curved shape to stand between 1.5 and 2m. You could grow beans and peas up it and plant other vegetables around it.

You could also use stumps to create different heights of raised beds, back fill them and plant with vegetables. You could grow other vegetables as per normal in the bed among the dead wood features!

Just go wild and be whacky! The more outrageous the idea then try it - there's nothing to loose except a bit of time. You'll have all winter to gather poles, etc - best try a local tree surgeon and see if they have any. They're bound to have all kinds of wood that could be used.  

I like your ideas John but I’m afraid a vegetable grower wouldn’t thank you for them. The wood is excellent for wildlife but that does include slugs, it would be like giving them a luxury apartment next to a free McDonalds.

I love my wildlife and do all I can to encourage it, I also love my vegetable growing, there are ways to successfully combine the two, it just takes a little more work.

Hi John - many thanks for the suggestion. It is a great idea for our area as it is now unused due to my arthritis. It always was dreadfully hard work as a vegetable garden due to the bindweed but I can no longer dig and double dig and continually fight the bindweed so I am slowly trying to change it to a wildflower meadow.

I have left the currant bushes (all along the fence) as the birds enjoy those and, of course, the plum and apple trees are still there but for the rest I have decided "if you can't beat it, join it.  It already has a self-seeded buddleia and forget-me-nots and I have packets of wildflower seeds to scatter at the appropriate time. So, your ideas would work for us as that way, if OH wanted to grow a few vegetables, then he could but in a reduced area which is manageable for him.

Wildlife friendly, fantastic work.

I might just have to copy you. :)

Fortunately bindweed isn't a problem in my garden, but ground elder is... As it grows along rhizomes I never seem to get it all up so now I've given up and just accepted it as a good ground cover...

Well you've all been really busy since I last had time to post. Its great to see such active discussions going on and that you're all helping each other.

Wildlife - thanks for pointing out to people the added risk of growing vegetables around dead wood features - of course you are right things like slugs would pose an increased threat. I'm just one of those gardeners who doesn't mind sharing some of its foliage with the resident invertebrates!

The beetle bank information is great and I'm sure those with large enough gardens can find somewhere to create one. We provide advice to farmers about creating beetle banks at field scale! You can find out more here where there is also a PDF download available to.

Its certainly interesting reading all the posts about bindweed. I used to refer to it as being 'terminal' if you had it in the garden! But all the advice is really great and as loath as most of us are to its use, sometimes we still have to use herbicide as a means of control. But, as the discussions indicate on this forum it may take a combined technique of constant removal of fresh growth coupled with herbicide, but with the aim to reduce or remove use of the latter.

Keep the posts coming they are all really great.