Attracting wildlife to a garden

[disco-barry]

Hello all i'm fortunate to live in the pennines where there is a lot of wild life about, some of which we get in our garden but i'm just wondering what i can put in my garden to really pull in all the animals and insects i can. This could be by plants/ponds of whatever, but i just don't know.

Thanks in advance.

[peterf]

Hello all i'm fortunate to live in the pennines where there is a lot of wild life about, some of which we get in our garden but i'm just wondering what i can put in my garden to really pull in all the animals and insects i can. This could be by plants/ponds of whatever, but i just don't know.

Thanks in advance.

first shout has to be a pond or several small ones,dont add fish just yet let it naturalise itself.

keep certain parts or corners of your garden unkempt,log piles work great.

always allow a clump of nettles to grow in a distant corner,and never use slug pellets .

learn to accept certain crop failures year after year.

once you garden stabilizes (3-5 years) you will be so much more proud of your achievments.

GOOD LUCK AND ENJOY PETER.

[valiant]

i'm just wondering what i can put in my garden

Cat scarer Save the wild life you've got.

[Louby]

A buddleia will attract butterflies.

[James M]

As suggested above a log pile is a good idea and halt the use of any chemicals. For butterflies a buddleia is brilliant, be sure to get a buddleia davidii as I haven't seen any of the others species attract butterflies. If you don't mind spending a bit of money bird feeders are a must and seeing as you don't live far away from me I would imagine you would get quite a variety. Another idea is to not cut your grass or least leave a patch to grow wild and maybe only cut it once a year, alternatively you could could turn it into a wild flower meadow as we don't have many left in Britain. For birds aswell as some insects, planting fruiting trees and shrubs is a good idea, such as Hawthorn and Cotoneaster, we have a cotoneaser the birds love but also the bees when it flowers we get literally hundreds of bumble bees on ours and the tree "hums" loudly ( a possible downside to this is they also attract wasps if you don't like them, but they can be good for the garden aswell as they will hunt pests). As for ponds if you have enough room it is a brilliant idea, but when your planting your pond plants be sure they are native as there are some very invasive non natives that are sold in garden centres.

[Greyowl]

Sunflowers are good for insects and the finches love them when the seed is ready. As someone else said set aside a patch of garden for wildflowers but make sure they are British ones. A compost heap is good for insects and a good hunting ground for other wildlife. If your going to do a logpile bury some in the ground as well. Stag beetle larva love rotting wood.

[BARRY]

we planted what flowers we have,14 years ago and since then it's not seen a slug pellet or any insecticide's or weed killer,ever year everything grows plus any that have been self seeded by birds and natural selection keeps the weeds under control,we have had baby hedgehogs twice and the pigeons love the small twigs from the birch trees that we leave lying around on purpose.

[Louby]

would love to have a self maintaining garden like that!! Does it actually take much work Barry?

[Somerset Squall]

Is there any way other than using slug pellets to protect sunflowers from the pesky slugs? Three of my sunflowers have had there stems eaten right through and it's a shame especially when I have grown them from seed. I have used slug pellets (which I don't really like using) but the slugs still manage to chew through the stalks of the sunflowers before dying a grizzly death.

BTW, I'd definitely recommend Buddleia too. Swarms of butterflies around it throughout the flowering period with is most of the summer and early Autumn. Honeysuckle is also another very good plant for attracting insects including butterflies and particularly bees.

Edited June 1, 2008 by Somerset Squall

[0000]

You could dangle your nuts on the birdtable to attract tits

[jethro]

Is there any way other than using slug pellets to protect sunflowers from the pesky slugs? Three of my sunflowers have had there stems eaten right through and it's a shame especially when I have grown them from seed. I have used slug pellets (which I don't really like using) but the slugs still manage to chew through the stalks of the sunflowers before dying a grizzly death.

BTW, I'd definitely recommend Buddleia too. Swarms of butterflies around it throughout the flowering period with is most of the summer and early Autumn. Honeysuckle is also another very good plant for attracting insects including butterflies and particularly bees.

Cut the top and bottom off a large lemonade bottle, oil it inside and out then slip it over the Sunflower, pushing it an inch or so into the ground. Looks a bit odd to begin with but once the Sunflower gets going and the stem toughens up, it can be sliced through and removed.

[PersianPaladin]

You could dangle your nuts on the birdtable to attract tits

Please dont invite the culture of Sacristonites onto this forum.

[0000]

Please dont invite the culture of Sacristonites onto this forum.

One shall endeavour to ignore that comment as one feels one is misquoting one

Fat balls in the winter I find attract a multitude of native birds.

Edited June 2, 2008 by hannegan

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Tits like coconuts.

[0000]

If you live in a rural area one must never ignore the game birds I find

[disco-barry]

As suggested above a log pile is a good idea and halt the use of any chemicals. For butterflies a buddleia is brilliant, be sure to get a buddleia davidii as I haven't seen any of the others species attract butterflies. If you don't mind spending a bit of money bird feeders are a must and seeing as you don't live far away from me I would imagine you would get quite a variety. Another idea is to not cut your grass or least leave a patch to grow wild and maybe only cut it once a year, alternatively you could could turn it into a wild flower meadow as we don't have many left in Britain. For birds aswell as some insects, planting fruiting trees and shrubs is a good idea, such as Hawthorn and Cotoneaster, we have a cotoneaser the birds love but also the bees when it flowers we get literally hundreds of bumble bees on ours and the tree "hums" loudly ( a possible downside to this is they also attract wasps if you don't like them, but they can be good for the garden aswell as they will hunt pests). As for ponds if you have enough room it is a brilliant idea, but when your planting your pond plants be sure they are native as there are some very invasive non natives that are sold in garden centres.

Thanks a lot, i have already planted a biddleia and i have some bird feeders...we seem to be getting a lot of bull finches at the moment which is nice. I already have the wild flower seeds which are probably a bit late for sowing but we haven't sorted the top part of the garden out yet. We are going to put a small pond in with a log pile close to it and a compost pile near by as i've noticed if you leave cut offs from the plants in the garden birds go mad for it. I have an apple tree ready to plant in the area i'm sorting out and i've noticed the birds love my rosemary bush which is growing well now.

I'll let you know how i get on

[BARRY]

would love to have a self maintaining garden like that!! Does it actually take much work Barry?

Yes it does work but you have to be patient and don't rush out to dig the flower beds once you do the initial planting

[Louby]

That shouldn't be a problem for me, I have only just got into this gardening lark, and don't feel the need to do much yet I will get there though, eventually

[Coopsy]

Dont put anything in, by pulling in the wildlife you make them reliable upon man made influences and remove them from their true wildlife habitat....get a pair of binoculars

[0000]

When I lived in South Shields there was often a shag in my garden

[4paws]

:lol: is that as naughty as it sounds?

Seriously though...I have a fox just started visiting my garden and eating all the peanuts that have fallen off the bird table.

Could anyone tell me what he might prefer to eat? I wondered about tinned pet food but all the neighbourhood cats would wolf it down first.

[valiant]

dont add fish just yet let it naturalise itself.

Don't add fish at all ... they will eat all the mini-beasts in the pond. A water supply to drink/bathe in attracts the birds as much as food .

I keep my feeders under tree canopies or large shrubs. Otherwise it's a killing field for Sparrowhawks.

[Anti-Mild]

My garden isn't big enough for a pond unfortunately, but I do have a few bird feeders and a log pile and so far there has been a good variety of wildlife.

I do have a major issue with slugs though and last night following all the rain I went out and plucked about 20 off my sunflowers/spinach/lettuces!!

I have never tried the bottle idea but I will definitely give it a go to protect my sunflowers. I had heard of organic slug pellets but haven't found them yet!

[Louby]

http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/prod...roducts_id=1821 only one of the places online that stock them A-M just do a google search and plenty come up

[Anti-Mild]

Many thanks Louby, I've just ordered some!

So, the worm has turned Mr Slug (so to speak)! No longer will you taunt me with your slime and voracious appetite for my leafy veg, oh no! Prepare to taste the wrath.........of ferrous sulphate!!!

Mwuah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!