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Monty's wildlife garden
Is anyone else quite excited by the new wildlife garden that Monty said he's going to develop in GW this week? I'm trying to turn my garden into one so will be looking for hints and tips. It seems a good sized garden too - not too big to be unrealistic for most gardeners. Although I don't think I'll be planting an oak tree in my modest town plot.
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Gardens like fashions change over the years. Monty bless him admitted that area has lain dormant for a long time, it probably came as a good idea to keep the programme rolling, if we all had acres of garden then we could all do it.
My way is to put insect blocks around under bushes, leave the odd pile of brush in a hidden corner and make sure my hedgehogs can get under the cabin. The pond is a small urn with a pump and couple of plants. Bird tables and water baths for the birds, all small though the effort is being made though I do ask myself why. Living on the edge of fields dropping to a stream and a small wood in view, the wild life does its own thing around here. Still if the spirit is willing why not.
Frank.
Important in rural areas too particularly if it is intensive arable farming. Changes in farming practice has seen loss of habitat on a large scale particularly for the sometimes less obvious wildlife such as shrews, voles, newts, frogs and snakes. Insects too don't fair well with widespread use of insecticides.
A wildlife garden need not be huge at all. Much of my professional work involves creating habitat in ever decreasing spaces to keep the animals going, but on an industrial type scale. One can do exactly the same scaled down in a small patch of the garden too though.
I think our agricultural desert is more sterile than an urban area. Sprayers are dumping something on the soil every week. I know it's not all insecticides but none of it is likely to be beneficial to wildlife or my efforts to support it.
I try and maintain the whole site for wildlife. Occasionally I curse a stray rabbit or muntjac, when they nip off the hellebore heads or eat a newly planted shrub, but mostly we rub along OK.
Bees are buzzing today
In the sticks near Peterborough
my whole garden has wildlife in mind, not just part of it. Sounds like MD is jumping onto a bandwagon.
Theres plenty of deserts in the suburbs too, my inlaws didnt have a single plant in their garden til i moved in! Lots of the neighbours are the same, and so many seem to be terrified of trees...grrrrr! If they see anything crawly its instantly stamped on!
he's lived there for years, why has it taken him so long? or am I just being cynical?
I would imagine that a lot of his garden already supports wildlife. He probably doesn't need a particulary space for this. I expect he is doing it to show people what can be done in a small size plot. Whatever he does he gets a lot of criticism so he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.
Or perhaps not Hostafan, I started on the wildlife garden here the week I moved in. I could not stand to see a lifeless garden, so I could be a little cynical that somebody decides to do it for the cameras too.
There is a bandwagon at the moment around the whole thing with wildlife gardening.
Some of it overlooks that it can be a lot of fun, fairly instant and very unconventional.
I think it is difficult to really define what it is and many gardeners have gardened with wildlife in mind for many years and probably wonder what the fuss is about.
My view is it is about habitat creation on whatever scale. Providing exactly what a varied group of species require that might be missing locally, sometimes in a very small space. That is my take on it. So that could range from planting flowers for bees right through to pond construction or building a large hibernation bank for reptiles. Planting trees and hedges for birds, or just simply providing food for them. Making a bug hotel. Anything goes really.
I'll watch Monty's progress with interest.