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Why I plant and garden for wildlife

Anna33Anna33 Posts: 153
in Wildlife gardening
In my small garden, this week I've seen the following:

Hedgehog
Countless bees (bumble/honey/solitary)
Comma butterfly (twice)
Lots of (unidentified) little/medium sized moths
Possible Small Magpie moth (best ID I could get without a photo)
A number of wooly bear caterpillars (loads over the past few weeks)
Parasitic wasps
Territorial carder bee (guards 3 patches of flowers)
Evidence (lots) of leaf cutter bees
Sparrows
The usual lot of pesty-type insects and grubs

Oh, and I've put out a bowl of water on the shed roof for the gulls in this hot weather,which was used within a few hours of putting it out.

Bearing in mind my garden is about 8m x 5m total, including about 2m of patio. And has only been planted over the past 3 years.

I get so much enjoyment from seeing how connected all of us are to the world around us - we don't exist in isolation. I just wish more folk in my neighbourhood felt the same!




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  • JellyfireJellyfire SuffolkPosts: 741
    About as good an advert for the importance of gardens to wildlife as you could hope for. It doesn’t matter how much outside space we have, every thoughtfully managed plot makes a difference, and it only takes a few small gardens to make a substantial virtual nature reserve
  • wild edgeswild edges The north west of south east WalesPosts: 5,415
    Sounds lovely. It'll just get better every year as the garden matures too.
  • nutcutletnutcutlet PeterboroughPosts: 26,160
    How lovely
    I hope the 'How can I kill it?' and the 'Will it kill me/kids/dogs/cats?' posters can find the time to follow this thread
  • Jules41Jules41 Posts: 178
    That's great. I've spent the last 7 years clearly the endless sea of concrete from the front to back. It's now just all green! The hard work is worth it though, I've seen my first hedgehog this week and there are regular visits from little chubby partridge,  wood pigeons , beautiful shield bugs, bees in my bee hotel, a squirrel!  and even the little ants 🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜and pretty snails 🐌🐌🐌🐌🐌 are all welcome 😊
  • PurplerainPurplerain Posts: 1,052
    I have never grown deliberately for wildlife, but over the years I have noticed what the bees and butterflies like and ignore, so I mostly grow what they like. 

    Wild Cornflower, Nepeta, Ivy, Scabiosa, Geraniums, Honeysuckle,or anything else purple and not sterile. I have never seen a hedgehog so I can only feel pleased about the life I have here on the edge of the suburbs.

    I also take pleasure from my colourful hanging baskets and if wildlife ignore them then that is ok by me. It's my garden after all and wildlife and I give and take.
    SW Scotland
  • FireFire LondonPosts: 7,058
    As I understand it, sterile flowers shouldn't be a problem for pollinators. It just means they don't set seed. Plants like geranium Rozanne are sterile and great for bees.
  • PurplerainPurplerain Posts: 1,052
    They are all over Rozanne. They ignore things like pelargoniums. I can only say what I have observed over the years.
    SW Scotland
  • Mary370Mary370 Limerick, Ireland Posts: 1,843
    Gosh, you are very well up on naming your visiting creatures, myself I don't know the difference between a lot them....... but I do enjoy all the life my garden has drawn, excluding slugs and snails. Can anyone explain the purpose of pollenless flowers eg. sunflowers? 
  • PurplerainPurplerain Posts: 1,052
    They grow big and are great fun 😄
    SW Scotland
  • FireFire LondonPosts: 7,058
    Sunflowers do produce pollen.
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