Huge Problem!

[LizardLover]

Hello everyone im new here, I decided that I wanted a wildlife garden to attract as much wildlife to our garden as possible,however I do own a cat and a dog,because my dog is too nosey my boyfriend built an 18 inch raised wooden flower bed to go along the whole of the back garden against the shed,not only have we realised through this that its going to cost far too much money to fill it up with multi purpose compost,(which is why we are looking into topsoil delivery!)but also that this monstrosity is too high for any frogs,slow worms,toads,newts well anything that crawls really to get too!.
Im so upset as we found 3 frogs in our garden, hiding under leaves and cardboard,but we had to move them as we needed that space where the back garden fence door is to bring the compost to the garden!.I moved them to an inbetween space at back of the raised flower bed so they are near under the shed with a wooden hide,damp leaves mud and worms.
I have been researching like mad on what different plants for bees,butterflies,moths,hoverflies,even slugs!,and what pond plants for frogs,toads,newts,even dragonflies.My plan is a pyrimid like rockery with heather round it at sunny side,in hope of attracting common lizards and slow worms,a barbaris darwinii shrub as protection from any predators a pond in sunny part shade side,lots of long grasses and hostas(to attract slugs!)and a log pile pyrimid style again for frogs newts toads and whoever else wishes!
My question is if we built a ramp at the back side of the 18 inch raised bed,would frogs hop on it to get to my wildlife area with pond once its all ready???, could slow worms get there?, can slow worms climb???.
Oh yeah another thing my boyfriend thinks you can use multi purpose compost for anything,but Im not sure I can use it on heathers!can I???
Thank you all for any help you can give***

[Tursiops2]

Hallo Lizardlover, welcome to the forum

I can't think of any reason why frogs, slow worms or anything else, wouldn't use a ramp. It sounds like a good plan to me, but make sure it has plenty of plant cover for them.

As for heathers, unless you have naturally acid soil, I think you will need what's called an "ericaceous" compost, specially formulated for acid-loving plants like heathers. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, ericaceous composts are based on peat extracted from lowland peat bogs. As these are an endangered habitat, use of peat-based composts is generally considered environmentally undesirable.

Unless you've got your heart set on heathers, consider using alternatives. Thrift, Thyme, Wild strawberry etc. should do well on a sunny, free-draining bank, they're good wildlife plants and they look good too.

Hope this helps
T2

[Ping]

If you're having topsoil brought in to fill the raised bed it will probably be possible to ask for acid soil if you want Heathers. Not all Heather require an acid soil though. The winter flowering types Erica x darleyensis are more tolerant of soils that are less acid, but I guess winter flowering plants might not be of much use?! I think Tursiops2's idea of Thyme etc was great. Another good plant is Woody Germander, Teucrium chamaedrys, you can usually buy it cheaply in the herb section of your local garden centre, the plant's evergreen and makes a nice neat mound and the flowers are really attractive to bees in the day and moths at night as well as offering good cover for little creatures to hide in.
Definitely don't use multi-purpose compost though, it'll break down quickly as it's only designed for short-term use and it'll just sink. You could bulk out the topsoil with well rotted farmyard manure compost though, no need for peat. Incidentally all multi-purpose composts contain peat unless the bag says otherwise.

[Kayleigh]

If you grow a variegated ivy over the wall/raised bed the wildlife will climb up it as they do in my garden.
You can see form this picture the ivy growing over the wall acts like a ladder and looks good.

[LizardLover]

Hello T2 & Ping*
Thank you for your replies
I am delighted to hear it is possible for the animals to use a ramp,however when you said they would need cover well I was thinking long grasses???, I did see a shrub in some pictures on here beside someones conservatory that had slow worms climbing it, it looked like, I could not believe my eyes and thought this is good sign slow worms can climb,I would like to know what the shrub was as maybe it would be handy? does anyone know the pic on here im talking about?
Im sad to hear that Heathers are a problem, I was only talking a few on the rocks,as the thing is common lizards like heath and heather sort of land!it was a small bag of acid compost Im sure said peat free we bought so that shouldnt be problem,should it?,I am getting Thyme for the bees anyway,but I also read heather is an essential to them, I have only seen the heather with the bright pink bits,(sorry im a first time gardener,but I do know my animals*)
I appreciate all the other plants I have been told to look into, so I shall go and research them, I know bees love Cardoon and Vipers bugloss which I want to get for them,I also above the rockery was going to put a trellis of climbing honeysuckle as I know moths love it,and I read spiders like it too.
But we are on a tight budget with this garden,I think I will have a lot of sedge grass,as I really like sedge*I read here someones frogs where happy under Japanese rush grass, I saw pic, and thought its a must on my list!
Im sure its not easy to imagine the layout of my garden plan, so I shall try and draw a plan and get back to you*
Thank you kindly for the compost info, we had no idea!,thank God we did realise we would need top soil, as just compost would have been a disaster, as you guys were saying!.
Would any of you happen to know the Hosta Species that Most attracts Slugs???,as I keep reading of more slug prove made Hostas, but I want one that drives slugs crazy for miles!!!
Thank you so much for shedding light on my problem*

[Ping]

Hi

Most Hostas will be eaten by slugs and snails but their least favourite ones are those with the largest and most ribbed leaves, I guess because they're the toughest to eat. Providing somewhere for the slugs and snails to spend the day will encourage them too, things like overturned pots and roof slates or such like.

[LizardLover]

Hi Kayleigh*
and ***Happy Birthday***by the way!***I know im new but I happened to notice here its your Birthday, hope your having a lovely time
Thank you for showing me the picture of your Ivy, it looks beautiful*,I must admit, our neighbour has the stuff growing through our fence and I have a love/hate relationship with Ivy, you see when my dog was a puppy if he ate some it made him ill, its bad for dogs!, and I could never get rid of the stuff at our side, so it worried me, however my dog is growing up now, and it seems he has stopped eating ivy,must say it would look lovely round the ramp and platform,it would look like a nature play area,lol, i reckon a frog may even have a go on the swings of ivy!!!lol
Only one concern, it might eat the shed....the ivy not the frog!,so any ideas how i could prevent this????
thanks again*

[Kayleigh]

Thank you for the birthday greeting..I went for a walk and saw a lovely sparrowhawk quite close up..

The ivy I have was in a small hanging basket the type florists and garden centres use for decoration..It doesn't seem to grow out of hand and I pull it up if it grows where I don't want it..It has taken about 10 years to grow this much..I suppose there are rampant ones too...They are very good for wildlife, I have wood mice living in mine and newts,toads and frogs climb up it.

[LizardLover]

Hi Ping*
thanks for the slug advice*,i happen to like the Hosta called
Plantain Lily
Hosta Devon Green

you can see it here if it works!

Buy Plantain Lily 'Hosta Devon Green' : Delivery by Crocus.co.uk

I dont know though if its one slugs would ignore,as i really need Hosta species names known to attract slugs!?

Some people are growing Hostas that are slug proof i heard,is this not true?
Thanks again for your help*

[Ping]

Hi LizardLover

Without doubt there are Hosta varieties which are more resistant to slug damage, it's probably going a bit far to say they are slug proof. As I said before, avoiding the larger, more ridged leaved varieties is a good starting point. When you are looking for Hostas if the details don't say they are slug proof/resistant then they're not. It's in the sellers interest to promote the good points of a particular plant but you're not likely to find one listed as being particularly good for attracting slugs! So, if you like a particular plant and it's not stated to be slug proof - buy it. There are specialist books out there by Hosta growers which will list those varieties that are particularly susceptible to slug damage but I don't think they're worth buying for that info alone. Your local garden centre might be able to tell you which Hostas get attacked that they have to give special attention to. Further to Kayleigh's post I'm going to plant some more Ivy I think!