Wildlife garden?

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Thomassio
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Wildlife garden?

Post by Thomassio »

Evening all, I'm after a bit of advice and ideas.....
So my front garden would be the ideal place for a bit of a 'wildlife garden'. It seems like a popular thing at the moment and I hope it's because people are becoming more aware of the importance of natures little helpers and not just a passing fad.

Currently it's a sloping lawn which is absolutely rife with dandelions and clover etc. good for the creepy craw lies but I would rather it was a bit more interesting to look at and not so full of dandelions! I have three apples and a plum tree out there as well as three roses under the front window. I plan to have a lavender hedge too as I bought 45 lavender plugs for £7 at the start of spring and have been nurturing them ever since. They are great for bees and smell nice too although I'm not worried about it being a formal style hedge. If I introduce a new flower bed, what should I be thinking about planting exactly? I'm after specific varieties that will do well competing against the weeds and still look nice too.

The garden is kind of north and East facing but still gets pretty much full sun at this time of year due to it being pretty open and lying on a hill.

Any ideas welcome. Thanks,

Thom.
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lancashire lass
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Re: Wildlife garden?

Post by lancashire lass »

I'm not a "flower" person so my input would be small. I do know Buddleia are brilliant for encouraging butterflies and bees.

And how about making a Bug House a feature in the garden (see the top banner for the competition details - if you google, there are loads of ideas which you could use) I know it's the front garden but can still be made to look interesting and certainly a talking point with the neighbours LOL

To encourage ladybirds to the garden, they like aphids so sometimes a few sacrificial plants might have to be grown - those that are magnets for blackfly and greenfly like nasturtiums.
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Mo
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Re: Wildlife garden?

Post by Mo »

lancashire lass wrote:To encourage ladybirds to the garden, they like aphids so sometimes a few sacrificial plants might have to be grown - those that are magnets for blackfly and greenfly like nasturtiums.

nasturtiums self-seed into any bare earth, so once you have them they are there for ever - at least in my garden (not sure if there are soils that they don't like).
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Thomassio
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Re: Wildlife garden?

Post by Thomassio »

Thanks guys. Hadn't thought about Buddleia but its an obvious choice thanks LL......at least it is now as coincidence would have it in tesco tonight.....Image
Needs a little TLC but should be able to save it. Reduced from £10 to 1p!
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KarenE
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Re: Wildlife garden?

Post by KarenE »

Just be a little bit careful with buddlea - it can grow like a weed, can self seed easily too and can grow tall. We've got them growing in wasteland all over the place, so I'm sure a bit of TLC will bring your 1p bargain back to life.
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