the online meeting place for all who love our amphibians and reptiles |
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Describe your Wildlife Garden! |
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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Posted: 06 Apr 2014 at 11:14am |
I thought I would get our new section going (thanks Chris!)
So a place to put a description of your wildlife garden. So what we've got. There is logic to most of it, the shed was positioned so I can collect rain water to top up the pond. The bund helps to keep airborne spray from the neighbouring agricultural field out of the pond, as well as providing a place for reptiles to hibernate. The compost heap provides compost for the veggies and is managed around grass snake egg laying times. (so I've just dug out all the compost and put it on the veggie plot and got new ones going before the end of March). You'll probably see I'm not much of a lawn person! Planned decking will cover most of what we had as lawn, which will also provide cover for wildlife. The clay here gets very wet in the winter so I'm hoping the decking will make it a more all year garden. |
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Tom Omlette
Senior Member Joined: 07 Nov 2013 Location: Stoke on Trent Status: Offline Points: 449 |
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looking great gemma.
i must confess to being a sucker for cultivated plants and modern garden design and it has been challenging trying to cultivate a 'nice' looking garden while also catering for wildlife. however, a combination of children, their stuff (mainly trampoline and climbing frame) and lack of time has meant that the garden has been neglected over recent years and much of it has become 'wilder'. i have also made some conscious decisions like not pointing brick borders after realising that all sorts of creatures including amphibs use the gaps etc as shelter. so its much better for wildlife than it was. the small pond helps as well of course. at some point, when the trampoline and climbing frame can go, i will re-design it all. i'll be much more mindful of wildlife but will still want a mixed border or two. tom
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GemmaJF
Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 Location: Essex Status: Offline Points: 4359 |
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I've got a thing about fuschias and like a lot of acid loving plants (which hate our clay!). I'm hoping when I get the planned greenhouse to indulge this much more. My solution to liking cultivated plants is I'm going to use containers like hanging baskets and pots. So veggies and native plants in the ground, but I can also have plenty of the other stuff I like around the garden too. Probably all be a bit old-worldy, geraniums, foxgloves and hollyhocks are among my favourite garden plants.
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Robert V
Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1264 |
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I moved house fairly recently and as I mentioned before, loads of phezzys, buzzards and red kites.
So, as there is a ditch on the other side of my fence leading down to a lake I decided to build this pretty hazardous brush pile out of holly off cuts, budlieah branches and old ferns and placed an old metal dustbin lid next to it, with a stone at the edge, and lots of dried moss underneath. There are some Rabbit holes fairly close, so next job will be to plant loads of lavender and heather around the rims of the tunnels and in the corner of the garden (hottest part) I'll begin a compost heap. See how it goes... |
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RobV
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Robert V
Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1264 |
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OOPs,
chris / gemma, I've put my bit in the new forum thingy above, can you transfer it across to here??? Rob
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RobV
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Iowarth
Admin Group Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Status: Offline Points: 743 |
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Hi Rob
All done - yer tiz! Chris |
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Chris Davis, Site Administrator
Co-ordinator, Sand Lizard Captive Breeding Programme (RETIRED) |
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Robert V
Senior Member Joined: 06 Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 1264 |
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Thanks Chris
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RobV
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