A Day in the Garden...

I've had quite a busy day in the garden today; weeding, transplanting, watering and whatnot.

First and foremost was planting out my chicory. These are plants from last year, and they have very solid roots now which is perfect. The variety is "Witloof" which is good for cut-and-come-again leaves and also to be forced in the winter to create long, white spear headed lettuces.

Pretty little plug-plants!

 Up the back of the garden I have a 4m x 2m raised bed, in which I grew my pumpkins, squash and courgettes last year. This year, I am changing it to a soft fruit bed as it is a warmer spot with better soil and more sunshine.

I moved some of my healthiest strawberry plants and planted them in three rows. I have a few more to plant, so I will have 3 or 4 rows in total.

When the plants start growing runners, these will be pinned to the ground so that they develop roots and grow into new strawberry plants. Older, less fruitful plants, will be dug up and composted, and the new young plants will take their place.

I put together a new mini-greenhouse which is on my patio (with my salad boxes and fig tree).

Finally, I wanted to sow some sunflower seeds. I saved these seeds from a few flowers from last year, more than enough for this year!

There's about 42 sunflower seeds there, which sounds excessive, but slugs demolished most of my sunflowers last year before they even grew a foot tall, so I'm hoping that even if this happens again, I should still have enough sunflowers to plant out.







There is still plenty to be done in my garden; I have raspberry canes to move and gooseberry bushes to move as well. Not looking forward to that!


Ruth

Attracting Wildlife to the Garden

Hello everyone, 

I've spent quite a bit of time writing today's blog as the subject is something I not only find very interesting and fun, but also incredibly important. It's about boosting and attracting British wildlife back into our gardens. 

I always remember having loads of wildlife in my garden when I was younger; voles, bumble bees, butterflies, slow worms, frogs and all sorts were always jumping, flying and running around the garden.  Then we moved to a house with a larger garden and the wildlife was overwhelming! My parents bought me a British Wildlife book and I would spend hours exploring the garden to see how many different species I could find.

However, in recent years I have most certainly seen a decline in wildlife in my garden. The swarms of butterflies aren't there anymore, neither are dozens of bumblebees that would torment my dogs, nor the slow worms that would appear from nowhere only to quickly disappear again. Now, the only wildlife I see are the half chewed mice my cat brings me. 

So how on earth do I get them back? Wildlife is essential for our gardens; they prey on the bugs and aphids and horrible little things which will attack fruits and vegetables. They also pollinate trees and flowers which again helps the garden.

With a a bit of research and doodling, I have compiled a list of ways to get the wildlife back in our gardens.

Here are some ideas on how to attract certain species:

Butterflies
These colourful beauties love flowers with plenty of pollen and nectar, so flower choices should revolve around this. Bright colours will not only make your garden beautiful, but will also attract a range of butterflies, which have seen a decrease in population in recent years, especially the Monarch butterfly. Plants flowers that will be in bloom from spring until autumn so as to give a long season of foods for the butterflies. Hopefully this small gesture will help the butterfly population, as a garden, in my opinion, is incomplete without them.

Bees
Bumble bees are such lovely little things, it's such a pity there aren't as many of them around. So, to boost their numbers, plant flowers such as foxglove and honeysuckle to welcome them into your home.

Birds
A good way to attract a variety of birds to your garden is to have bird feeders available throughout the year. Bird boxes are also a good way to encourage birds to continuously inhabit your garden, and bird baths are an excellent attraction for birds.

Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs are such pretty little creatures and are friends to gardeners as they eat slugs. They like dark and warm nests, so to build a little home for them is simple enough. A conical shaped log pile would be perfect as it would shelter them from the cold and from rain, and would also provide space for them to move about and have their little hedgehogs (or hoglets, but I think that's a horrible name for such cute little spike-balls). Any pile of sticks, branches, leaves or logs would be a good home for them, however, if you're thinking of burning the pile of wood in the future, please make sure there are no animals in there before you light it. Nobody should have the death of hedgehogs on their conscience.
If you come across a little hedgehog venturing outside of the lovely home you've made for it, they like cat food or dog food (break and milk makes them poorly pups).

Frogs and Toads
We used to have so many frogs in our garden when we first moved here. There was an old car pit which was full of frogs, and we also had a well in our boiler room (it used to be a salting room back in the day) and frogs used to occasionally wander into the house from there. The garden was also full of frogs as the garden was relatively unkempt, so there were lots of stagnant water holes. Since the garden has been well looked after and the back field of ferns has been destroyed, there haven't been many frogs or toads leaping around. In fact, I can't remember the last time I saw one.
To remedy this, I just need to simply add H20.
I'm not going to build a full sized pond as 1) I don't have the space and 2) I cannot be bothered. However, I most certainly can build a mini-pond from a large container, some pond liner, some rocks and some pond flowers.
I will be giving an in-depth "how-to" on building a mini-pond as I will take pictures of when I do it and put it on my blog.
Not only will this pond be a place for frogs and toads to hang out, but hopefully it will attract other creatures such as dragonflies to the garden.

If you're more like me and want a little bit of everything in the garden, then these simple yet effective ideas are just for you!

Flowers
Helen Bostock, a Royal Horticultural Society wildlife gardening specialist, did some research into which plants attract the most wildlife. According to her research, these are the top 10:
1. Sunflower
2. Foxglove
3. Thyme
4. Lavender
5. Honeysuckle
6. Rowan
7. Ice plant
8. Firethorn
9. Barberry
10. Purple Loosestrife

Trees and Shrubs
An assortment of trees and shurbs will create food and shelter for wildlife. In addition to that, depending on what shurbs and trees you get for you garden, it may well be that it will provide for you and your family! What a bonus! Trees and shrubs such as crab apple, elder, blackthorn, hawthorn and barberry will produce flowers for the bees and butterflies, but also produce fruits and berries that you can turn into jams, jellies and chutneys. You can even pick the flowers from the elder tree and make delicious Elderflower cordial.

Log Piles
These will make a beautiful shelter for any little critter that needs a roof over its head, whether its frogs, toads, mice (hopefully not rats), voles, shrews and all sorts of insects. Hedgehogs may also be attracted to set up home in a log pile, although they may find it more homely if the pile is arranged in a tee-pee shape as they can happy nest in the hollow. Sticks, twigs, leaves and branches can all be assembled to make a log pile which is also an attractive addition to a garden.

Build Homes and Shelters
As previously mentioned, log piles make wonderful homes for hedgehogs. However, they will also make brilliant shelter for all sorts of insects, spiders and other creepy crawlies. Damp, dark spaces are ideal for these little ones.

This year I am going to portion off a small piece of the garden and create a Wildlife Haven. In this Haven I will build a small log pile, grow some wildflowers nearby and allow the grass to grow slightly unruly (I will have to run this by my father who likes the lawns to be neat and tidy). Then I will plant some shrubs to cordon off the little wildlife area and build a mini-pond amongst the wild flowers. Hopefully this will not only encourage wildlife to visit the garden, but also to create a happy little habitat for them to stay and benefit my garden.

If you'd like to ask any questions or share you ideas or news of your garden, feel free to leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.

Hoping you are all well,

Ruth