Oh, Lordie, just saw the words Guerrilla Gardening. That's all very well and good if you are acting responsibly. I'll give you an example the fills me with horror every time I walk past. About a mile up the road some very well meaning person had decided to 'brighten up' the water trough area. They are planted primulas, foxgloves, and all manner of other dainty things. The none-native dainties, I can almost live with but the garden variety natives drive me crazy. It's really important not to pollute what natives are already in your area with what is usually foreign plants bread for vigour, colour and pest and disease resistance. The last thing you want in a wildlife garden is pest resistant and vigour could well mean upsetting the delicate balance of an ecosystem. I'm all for encouraging people to do a little here and a little there in the hope that they enthusiasm will grow but as long as we aren't doing more harm than good. If I could go back in time one thing I'd do is, well, two things. Shoot those Cheshire grey squirrels before they escaped and give the guy who introduced Spanish Bluebells a good talking to before he did it. Oh, dear, I really didn't want to rant.
hiya..just seen your original email from last year re Chris Baines 'Bluetits and Bumblebees'' and I totally agree. We saw this programme shortly after we were married and have adopted that approach every since.
Unfortunately I never saw the programme but was lucky enough to be told about his work by one of my Lecturers at college, I bought his book and hot his pamphlets and learned every every suggestion by heart and was later the conservation advisor for Hounslow Council. I think the title was more of a political thing at the time but that was 1985 I suppose.
One thing my garden sadly lacks is a pond. I brought my dogs up to love water, living by the Thames they'd get a swim every day, they still love swimming an plodging in puddles. I used to stay at a friends in Ham, Surrey during the summer while they were in the France, my dogs were never out of their pond. By the way, though the garden in Ham was by no means a wildlife garden they had a huge 'compost' heap. I use the inverted commas because I don't think it was ever turned but still it had plenty of frogs and toads around it. I don't have a compost heap either, not because I'm lazy but the lasst thing I want in my garden is nutrients going back into the soil. A wildflower garden should be iimpoverished. When we first moved in here I obediently started one and it was home to lots of bugs and even a wasp nest but I sudenly realised I had nowhere to use the compost. Now I have so much packed into the garden I don't want to spare any room for it. I do have a very large log pile and hybernaculum plus a couple of filled in ponds that the frogs like to hybernate in under some rocks I put there over the winter.
I like a bit of all the things I like, the natives, the oddities and unusual plants, meadow, water, trees. But I have room for all those.
If I had to chose, to fit into a small garden it would be difficult.
Not sure that wildflowers really need impoverished soil. Wildflowers in grass are overwealmed by the grass in rich soil but in the garden they grow in what they get. Ask any weed
I do have to keep telling myself my Wild Garden, should till be a Garden and I think some foreign species really complement the natives, a perfect example is Nasturtiums. I did say i didn't like them but after the show this year I'm warming very much to them and will definitely grow them again next year. I was very surprised by the lack of caterpillars on them though. I remember my mum growing them and they were devastated by caterpillars. I got plenty of black-fly though which the sparrows took great delight in collecting. I would also add I have a tendency to write to myself if you know what I mean so I really hope nobody would ever feel I was being pushy. I strongly believe in letting other make their own decisions about what they grow but if they ask for my opinion I'll give it very freely.
You're right Nut, the wildflowers don't *need* impoverished soil per se, however they will grow far too big and floppy with too good a soil and need staking. The best example in my garden is Chicory. This year is the first year I've been able to allow it to do it's thing. I had given up with it in the winter border. It grew to 7 feet tall and flopped over every year. Same with the Greater Knapweed in the same area which is grass free. I use the word 'free' very loosely. Where as the Gr Knapweed and Chicory in the meadow this year were no taller than three feet and stud up straight right up to mowing time, I even collected seed from the Chicory for the first time. Yeah! It was great to be able to enjoy those lovely blue dandelion type flowers.
I've also bought a thousand crocuses this year and a mixture of blue named varieties too. Just so they look more natural, you understand. I do draw the line at getting anything non-British that I could get British and anything non-local that I can get local. I did give in and buy some Berkshire ox-eye-daisies though despite them growing everywhere around here. Every year just when I thought I had a chance at getting some seed the council would come along and mow . Thwarted every time. I'd inadvertently brought up seed lurking in pots from London anyway, so I gave in. I even went so far as to buy or give all my neighbours meadow seed for her so I knew she was getting local or British wild seed. She was more than happy to have whatever she got as long as it was free.
Anyway whatever my choices they only will ever be my choices and I would defend anyone's right to make their own, even my neighbour. It's so hard to say it's 'my choice' though, maybe i'm getting too philosophical, take my compost heap. I spent £100.00 on three big ones because 'it's what a responsible gardener does' Now they're just bird boxes.
It's blackfly that I associate with nasturtiums Jim. Didn't grow them this year but had some volunteers. Right mess all round this year, just hope to get it back next.
Have to try and get the pond cleared a bit or the newts may find new quarters where they can move around. I hate clearing it out though, I worry about evry inhabitant down to the last nematode worm. But if nothing is done there will be no pond, it will fill up with leaves, bullrushes, sedge, irises and watercress
Posts
Thanks Gingly for the vote of confidence! I'm going take it up with the parish council first, see what they say and go from there!
Auntie E I wish you were my Auntie
Oh, Lordie, just saw the words Guerrilla Gardening. That's all very well and good if you are acting responsibly. I'll give you an example the fills me with horror every time I walk past. About a mile up the road some very well meaning person had decided to 'brighten up' the water trough area. They are planted primulas, foxgloves, and all manner of other dainty things. The none-native dainties, I can almost live with but the garden variety natives drive me crazy. It's really important not to pollute what natives are already in your area with what is usually foreign plants bread for vigour, colour and pest and disease resistance. The last thing you want in a wildlife garden is pest resistant and vigour could well mean upsetting the delicate balance of an ecosystem. I'm all for encouraging people to do a little here and a little there in the hope that they enthusiasm will grow but as long as we aren't doing more harm than good. If I could go back in time one thing I'd do is, well, two things. Shoot those Cheshire grey squirrels before they escaped and give the guy who introduced Spanish Bluebells a good talking to before he did it.
Oh, dear, I really didn't want to rant. 
Unfortunately I never saw the programme but was lucky enough to be told about his work by one of my Lecturers at college, I bought his book and hot his pamphlets and learned every every suggestion by heart and was later the conservation advisor for Hounslow Council. I think the title was more of a political thing at the time but that was 1985 I suppose.
One thing my garden sadly lacks is a pond. I brought my dogs up to love water, living by the Thames they'd get a swim every day, they still love swimming an plodging in puddles. I used to stay at a friends in Ham, Surrey during the summer while they were in the France, my dogs were never out of their pond. By the way, though the garden in Ham was by no means a wildlife garden they had a huge 'compost' heap. I use the inverted commas because I don't think it was ever turned but still it had plenty of frogs and toads around it. I don't have a compost heap either, not because I'm lazy but the lasst thing I want in my garden is nutrients going back into the soil. A wildflower garden should be iimpoverished. When we first moved in here I obediently started one and it was home to lots of bugs and even a wasp nest but I sudenly realised I had nowhere to use the compost. Now I have so much packed into the garden I don't want to spare any room for it. I do have a very large log pile and hybernaculum plus a couple of filled in ponds that the frogs like to hybernate in under some rocks I put there over the winter.
I like a bit of all the things I like, the natives, the oddities and unusual plants, meadow, water, trees. But I have room for all those.
If I had to chose, to fit into a small garden it would be difficult.
Not sure that wildflowers really need impoverished soil. Wildflowers in grass are overwealmed by the grass in rich soil but in the garden they grow in what they get. Ask any weed
In the sticks near Peterborough
Hi Nut and Verdun,
I do have to keep telling myself my Wild Garden, should till be a Garden and I think some foreign species really complement the natives, a perfect example is Nasturtiums. I did say i didn't like them but after the show this year I'm warming very much to them and will definitely grow them again next year. I was very surprised by the lack of caterpillars on them though. I remember my mum growing them and they were devastated by caterpillars. I got plenty of black-fly though which the sparrows took great delight in collecting. I would also add I have a tendency to write to myself if you know what I mean so I really hope nobody would ever feel I was being pushy. I strongly believe in letting other make their own decisions about what they grow but if they ask for my opinion I'll give it very freely.
You're right Nut, the wildflowers don't *need* impoverished soil per se, however they will grow far too big and floppy with too good a soil and need staking. The best example in my garden is Chicory. This year is the first year I've been able to allow it to do it's thing. I had given up with it in the winter border. It grew to 7 feet tall and flopped over every year. Same with the Greater Knapweed in the same area which is grass free. I use the word 'free' very loosely.
Where as the Gr Knapweed and Chicory in the meadow this year were no taller than three feet and stud up straight right up to mowing time, I even collected seed from the Chicory for the first time. Yeah! It was great to be able to enjoy those lovely blue dandelion type flowers.
I've also bought a thousand crocuses this year and a mixture of blue named varieties too. Just so they look more natural, you understand.
I do draw the line at getting anything non-British that I could get British and anything non-local that I can get local. I did give in and buy some Berkshire ox-eye-daisies though despite them growing everywhere around here. Every year just when I thought I had a chance at getting some seed the council would come along and mow . Thwarted every time. I'd inadvertently brought up seed lurking in pots from London anyway, so I gave in. I even went so far as to buy or give all my neighbours meadow seed for her so I knew she was getting local or British wild seed. She was more than happy to have whatever she got as long as it was free.
Anyway whatever my choices they only will ever be my choices and I would defend anyone's right to make their own, even my neighbour.
It's so hard to say it's 'my choice' though, maybe i'm getting too philosophical, take my compost heap. I spent £100.00 on three big ones because 'it's what a responsible gardener does' Now they're just bird boxes. 
oops that's where that page went to. Sorry I doubled up a post there.
It's blackfly that I associate with nasturtiums Jim. Didn't grow them this year but had some volunteers. Right mess all round this year, just hope to get it back next.
Have to try and get the pond cleared a bit or the newts may find new quarters where they can move around. I hate clearing it out though, I worry about evry inhabitant down to the last nematode worm. But if nothing is done there will be no pond, it will fill up with leaves, bullrushes, sedge, irises and watercress
In the sticks near Peterborough