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Planting for wildlife (1 Viewer)

Still a great Thread and enjoying reading it. And maybe this weekend i might get out and do some weeding. Need's to be done....Keep this thread going.
 
Well if the weather stays good like its meant to I will take my little stool out and pull up a few weeds, they seem tobe growing fast.
 
weeds popping up everywhere again here too. all in the cracks of the paving slabs.

by the way, i have a problem. underneath my bird feeder station, the grass has worn away and is bare dirt. why is this happening and how do i prevent it?!
 
I also agree with planting native to attract native wildlife. And not just native but locally native, especially in larger countries. I could plant a native Australian plant, but if it's from the top end it's of no use to me. Although I confess I do have a few 'generic' natives, though they've been doing a good job with the natives so far. I also have a lot of locally native stuff, grasses, sedges, shrubs, groundcovers, a small tree, which once they developed more should give me good results.

The cutting of the lawn is a little bit of an issue. We don't keep up with it too well, but my mum does like it to look tidy. Last winter, we had almost daily visits from diamond firetail finches, which is really special. They weren't visiting for my native plantings (of course) but they were eating the seed from the lawn which had been left to grow. I am hoping they return this year and that I can convince my mum that the lawn looks fine a little longer ;)
 
If any of you got a Homebase near by it would definatley be worth going. They have a clearence section and most of the plants there are revivable or not even needed to be revived plus if they are not bought they would just be thrown out. I have bought many things in the clearence and today even got a Silver Birch for £1.79. They have a variety of things most of the time and some sell as little as 20p.
 
Morrisons have a great range of shrubs for between £1.50 and £2.00 - I stocked up on pyracantha, honeysuckle and clematis for my new hedge for a fraction of garden centre prices. Also got lavender, sage and buddliea.
 
Morrisons have a great range of shrubs for between £1.50 and £2.00 - I stocked up on pyracantha, honeysuckle and clematis for my new hedge for a fraction of garden centre prices. Also got lavender, sage and buddliea.

The lavenders are a steal at morrisons! £2 each!
 
anyone doing any recent projects in their garden for wildlife?
I've got a row of sunflower seedlings I'm growing at the moment. all seems to be going well, had to stake them today as they've gotten quite tall as it's pretty windy at the moment.
 
weeds popping up everywhere again here too. all in the cracks of the paving slabs.

by the way, i have a problem. underneath my bird feeder station, the grass has worn away and is bare dirt. why is this happening and how do i prevent it?!

The birds scratch where the seeds fall out. When they do this repeatedly you get that result.
If you cannot move the feeder around the yard, you can put a screened table/tray underneath the feeder to catch the falling seeds and birds can feed from it as well.
 
Having read thru this thread I see that no one has mentioned the evening primrose, a biennial which, once established comes back on its own, tho I have never found it invasive as the seedling are easy enough to pull out where they are not wanted.
The evening primrose is also a great winter feeder for the birds as the seed pods hang on for very long time with the birds checking them for seeds and bugs that the pods may harbour. The variety I have is a tall growing one, affording the birds the protection of feeding off the ground. If left un-pinched, in a fertile spot it can get to 8' tall but is usually about 4-6' . A brilliant yellow flower that opens as the light diminishes during the evening and closes up during the heat and light of day.
Just thought I'd mention this one as the evening primrose has been one of my hardiest bird feeding plants for 20 yrs in this garden.

I saw a Towhee up on top of an artichoke last winter, digging away at what was left at the top of a flower spike, the remnant of the last flower that had bloomed and seeded but the birds got all the seeds. :)
The Scottish thistle also makes for a bird's and bees' delight. They are not as invasive as our native Canada thistle and are much easier to pull out if unwanted. They attract insects too.
Thought you might be interested as you asked after teasel which is cruelly prickly.
Broom has the potential of making those with allergies sick - perhaps if you dislike an allergic neighbour?
 
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