'Wildlife Gardening' opinions sought

[DebsyD]

Cheers 'guys' , it's really interesting to get your opinions on this, I feel reborn finding some like-minded people who love wildlife and gardening. I'm sorry Paul wasn't impressed with my questions, I know some terminology is open to interpretation but then I could have been more exact and scientific about it all and it been a lot longer without the broad response. It's opinion I'm after rather than facts as I've researched that in other ways.

I too have two kids and a dog,... a cat, rabbit, guinea pigs etc etc.. oh and a husband... and believe gardens are to be lived in, enjoyed and shared by all. We get so much out of the wildlife that visit our garden and particularly our now 9yr old pond. The neglect the garden has had while I've been studying (hubby is a London commuter and not yet a gardener, though I keep trying) has only improved the wildlife population, they're everywhere!! Kids still love a late evening with a bucket and torches collecting frogs to have a closer look at and then let go again. Unfortunately our 2yr old flatcoated retriever Jasper also still enjoys the odd plunge in the pond! My son is particularly keen on birds (including the feathered type!) and my daughter is mad on all creatures, worms, snails, allsorts included, which is great.

(As an aside... In answer to Nick.. I do have to admit to having a 4x4, which has been invaluable as we live in the South Downs and don't do much town and city driving, its also great for the dog, plants and building materials. Surely though it's not just what you drive but how much and how you drive that matters? It does get used but not very much as I'm home based and most things are walkable for us, including school and the train station. College is a cross country trek.)

Keep the thoughts/opinions and ideas coming in.. must get back to college work and a design I'm doing....

Deb :-)

[Nick T]

Originally Posted by DebsyD

....(As an aside... In answer to Nick.. I do have to admit to having a 4x4, which has been invaluable as we live in the South Downs and don't do much town and city driving, its also great for the dog, plants and building materials. Surely though it's not just what you drive but how much and how you drive that matters? It does get used but not very much as I'm home based and most things are walkable for us, including school and the train station. College is a cross country trek.)........

Deb :-)

Don't Worry, I'm trying to convince my wife I need one for all the stuff I hump about ( my poor old escort is about had it !)

Nick

[Varan Komodosky]

The Garden:
1. Yes
2. Personally, yes.
3. Yes, as far as I am concerned.
4. Yes. Water is pleasantly soothing plus has all the benefits to wildlife.
5. I would say so.
6. No.
7. Nothing wrong with a good mixture.
8. That would be a good idea, if you have the space.
9. Meadows are a managable resource. Wilderness isn't.
10. Yes.

Providing Shelter, Food & Water for Wildlife:
11. Indeed.
12. By whatever method pleases the gardener.
13. Perhaps, perhaps not.
14. See above. I supply wild bird food but that is all.
15. Nope.
16. Prefer larger bodies of water.

Wildlife Products being Marketed/Sold:
17. Beetles can pretty much look after themselves. If the habitat is there, they will be ok.
18. If by 'we' you mean 'they' i.e. the general public, yes.
19. Nothing purchased.
20. N/A
21. N/A
22. Yes. I get a book from a major wild bird food supply company. Daft.
23. Ha ha ha, yes.
24. Don't buy, make my own from garden products, found stuff.
25. How the heck do I know? I would like to think not.

Which Wildlife?:
26. Yes, except lily beetles.
27. Yup.
28. Yup.
29. Yeah.

As a Gardener:
30. In general if the plant is surviving without my help I leave well alone.
31. Gross infestations of lily beetle larva or aphids if natural means are not controlling them. After much deliberation.
32. Without regret if I consider it to be of benefit.
33. Yes.
34. Not applicable.
35. My garden is a bizarre haven for slugs. Piles of rotting things all over.

As an Observer/Custodian of Nature:
36. Is the increased popularity in encouraging & observing wildlife because
a) Personally, out of pure interest as an observer.
b) Would be nice, but I am a realist.
(romanticism)?
c) I would suspect that is the case for 'them'.
d) Yes, less work and more play.
e) Little sods can beggar off.
f) Increase enjoyment 70 %, others 30 %
37. I don't but yes, that is probably the case.
38. Allowing grey squirrels existence.

Finally:
39. Nope. Gardening by it's definition and nature is a destructive urge.
40. No thank you very much.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Jez

Gardening For Profit, Would you steal mine? When i moved in to where i am now there was an ole tree, stumped into two trunks which has been carved away to make a twin Mushroom Sculpture at around 9ft and around it lie my faery rings of wild thyme. To Create such i made use of an empty 12" plant pot cut in to 2" sections and buried into the lawn in a circular shape around the mushrooms= 7 circles in total then back filled with topsoil. Then 14 plugs of Wild thyme have been planted (2 in each) hopefully over next year they will flurish and spread but wont grow to rampant and a stray because of the cut pot to keep them in (like you do with mint). Being prostrate they'll grow low and outward becoming a pink flowering circle in the ring around the mushrooms. All being well they'll be aestetically pleasing to the eye from a garden design point of view and a top ranking pollunating plant for the Bees and Butterflies fingers crossed. Inspired by all the low flying aircraft over head who like to have a good nose at what it's like down below & I hope they like circling around them as much as i!

That sounds really lovely so much more creative than my pink / purple/ silver and green colour scheme!!

[Gill Catton]

The Garden:
1. Should wildlife be considered when designing/creating/changing/maintaining all gardens?
Yes because gardens nationally cover a significant percentage of the land surface
2. Is an informal garden preferable to a formal one for wildlife?
Not always, a mixture of habitat types is best the wider the variety of habitats the more species will be supported - particulary in large gardens
3. Should there be a lot more plants than hardscaping?
Probably, but hardscaping has its place also, invertebrates and reptiles like this kind of landscaping.
4. Should they contain ponds &/or water features?
yes again because it adds to the variety of habitats
5. Are plant corridors necessary?
I think they are of most value in large gardens
6. Should our grass lawns be mowed short?
Ideally there should be a variety of lengths with wildflowers being occasionally allowed to flower
7. Should we use local 'native plants' or are non-natives just as good for local wildlife?
I think there should always be an element of native species preferably of locale provenance, the more the better, but people should always be allowed to choose. Non-natives botanical species wth proven invasive qualities should be banned from sale
8. Should we recreate natural habitats (for eg.meadows) with the same 'native'/wildflowers?
I'm not sure this is truly possible within the garden environment - only an imitation unless your garden is huge or has never been improved with fertilisers - an imitation is better than nothing though I suppose
9. How would this be a 'garden' as opposed to 'wilderness'?
It would be a garden because it is artificial, the delicate natural ecosystems involves invertebrate populations and fungal communities that are unlikely to ever reach the garden environment unless situated immediately adjacent
10. Are wildlife gardens likely to require less maintenance?
perhaps but maintenance will still be required to prevent natural sucession or to remove nutraints from the system through regular cutting or mowing

Providing Shelter, Food & Water for Wildlife:
11. Should we provide housing for refuge/breeding/hibernating?
These things help
12. How? Wooden boxes? compost heap? woodpiles? uncultivated areas? planting?
as many of these things as possible variety is key
13. Should we provide food?
yes but not so much as wildlife becomes dependant on your supply, a regular supply can become a breeding ground for disease and causes problems if you move. Natural foraging opportunities through the provision of native plants or opportunites for invertebrates are highly more valuable in my opinion
14. How? Purchased wildlife foods? Plants (alive & dead)? Natural prey?
see above a vareity is still preferable
15. Anyone wonder whether generous artificial (fast food) feeding leads to overweight
or 'lazy' wildlife, a dependency on being fed or a loss of natural instinct to forage or hunt?
I haven't seen evidence of this but think natural foraging has to be better for birds so I dpon't feed when natural food is plentiful
16. Providing water - treated tap water in refillable containers or in ponds, streams & water features?
Ponds streams and water features best as they provide the kind of water that is naturally available.

Wildlife Products being Marketed/Sold:
17. Are products perhaps concentrated on a handful of 'attractive'/cute garden visitors eg. birds, butterflies, bees, hedgehogs, ladybirds? A small percentage of visitors? Anything for beetles - a vast, often forgotten group of garden visitors?
yes but I don't think artifically provided foods are the best thing for supporting these species groups
18. Are we too reliant on attractively packaged, ready-made wildlife solutions rather than using what we already have, recycling things, home-made solutions?
don't think that really matters but there should be more attention given to where products come from and how are they grown or manufactured
19. What items do you have x how many?
fat balls and British produced seed enough to keep up with demand
20. Any products had little or no uptake so far?
no, all popular
21. Did you look into how/where was best to site the items in 20?
no my garden is tiny!
22. do you feel there is too much hype/marketing of these products?
only into lack of publicity about how they are produced or where they come from
23. Do you feel attractively packaged (often celebrity endorsed) wildlife foods and products are over priced for what they are? Eg. peanuts, suet/fat balls, bird boxes, drilled pieces of silver birch for ladybirds?
no if the celebrity endorsement or attractive packaging makes more people buy them (and they are from sustainabe sources)
24. Are the wildlife foods/products you buy sourced/made locally with a low 'carbon footprint'? Do they come from sustainable sources?
as far as I can tell.....
25. Is wildlife being destroyed or evicted elsewhere for the wood needed for the wildlife products we buy to help wildlife in our gardens?
yes very much so and for the food we provide for our garden visitors too
Which Wildlife?:
26. Do you consider/encourage all lifecycle stages of creatures and differing needs? Eg. Do you encourage the caterpillar as well as the butterfly?
yes
27. Do you consider needs through autumn & winter months or do most in spring & summer?
yes
28. Have you also made provision for the needs of nocturnal visitors eg. moths?
yes
29. Do you consider the extent of natural food webs? Most of which is in healthy 'living' soil invisible to most of us and sadly affected by chemical feed & weed treatments, eg for lawns?
Yes I do no more pesticides or fertilisers in my garden!
As a Gardener:
30. Friend or foe? How do you decide which is what?
Only a foe if it eats something I wish to eat to the point where the plant is significantly damaged and even then I prefer exclusion to elimination
31. What don't you tolerate and why? Is it one stage of a life cycle or part of a food chain (prey providing food &/or predator to control population of others)
I tolerate everything though I take slugs and aphids off the plants I want to grow things on I prefer exclusion if possible - I wouldn't want to lose these animals completely even in my small garden - they're too important for other animals to eat!
32. Do you kill any 'pests'? By chemical, biological (introduced pests) &/or mechanical (removal by hand) means?
Removal by hand, soapy spray indoors for aphid control.
33. Do you discourage/distact 'pests' with barriers, companion planting &/or plant choice?
Companion planting (thought the slugs ate my marigolds!!) and copper is fairly sucessful thought the tape needs to be double the width at least
34. Do you have pets that pose a threat to the wildlife you encourage? Do you site wildlife things out of danger? Does your cat wear a bell to give birds etc. a chance?
Three pesky cats one white and three legged and no threat, one fat and lazy no theat and one bouncy naughty one very much a threat and belled up to the hilt...
35. Is your garden too tidy? Do you leave spent plants to provide food & shelter through winter & to decompose for wildlife in the soil such as earthworms.
nope have created a messy hibernaculum with turf and rubble, a soil pile / bank structure and pond under construction

As an Observer/Custodian of Nature:
36. Is the increased popularity in encouraging & observing wildlife because
a) we want to do our bit to help save/increase biodiversity (ecological)?
b) we yearn to move back to more natural open spaces and an escape from modern life
(romanticism)?
c) it is the thing to be seen to do (a green 'trend)?
d) we've realised the benefits to the garden (horticultural)?
e) we want our children and their's to know/appreciate/enjoy nature (educational)?
f) wildlife can increase our enjoyment of the garden (feel good factor)
or a mix of two or more of these? Rank in order of importance?

All of the above but definately different for different people

37. Do you think, as humans, we tend to try to order/control what can visit our patch of earth? Do we try to harness some wildlife as garden pets?
yes as indicated by the 'Save Our Songbirds' type mis-informed people who wish to control natural predatory species - thought weirdly not domestic ones....
38. Are there any well meaning actions you can think of/know of that are deterimental to the creatures we are trying to help?
tidying up, poorly sourced feed stuff that destroys natural habitats, creation of bog gardens or other features using peat that has then destroyed natural habitats, weeding, ragwort pulling, poorly sourced plants taken from natural environments resulting in damaged natural habitats or scarce species becoming scarcer, movement of frogs, fish and spawn along with water that transfers and spreads diseases, intoduction of diseases and pests in soil with newly bought plants the list goes on I think

Finally:
39. Can there be such a thing as 'Wildlife Gardening' as one is natural and wild and the other is harnessing and changng the natural environment?
gardening with improvements for wildlife is possible
40. Anything further/different you wish to add?
No

[elleme]

sorry, double post. See answer below.

[elleme]

The Garden:
1. Should wildlife be considered when designing/creating/changing/maintaining all gardens?
Yes.

2. Is an informal garden preferable to a formal one for wildlife?
It would be more of a challenge to be wildlife friendly in a formal garden style. Probably less variety, regular clipping may take away at least some future berries, tidying-up and cutting the lawn aren't going to help.

3. Should there be a lot more plants than hardscaping?
Most definitely! I see so many modern garden designs with loads of decking/paving and very few plants used.

4. Should they contain ponds &/or water features?
Where possible.

5. Are plant corridors necessary?
I don't really live in one but I know some changes I've made have led to an increase in some garden wildlife. So I would say they are highly desirable, but that's not reason to give up on wildlife gardening if you don't live in one.

7. Should we use local 'native plants' or are non-natives just as good for local wildlife?
I think we should use a proportion of native plants but non-natives should be considered which are known to be good nectar plants etc. With the latter it's probably better if they have been around for long enough to be known not to be wildly invasive.

8. Should we recreate natural habitats (for eg.meadows) with the same 'native'/wildflowers?
If you want a specific type of habitat like that, I don't see why not.

9. How would this be a 'garden' as opposed to 'wilderness'?
A modern wilderness would probably be covered in introduced buddleia, judging from what I've seen of brownfield sites in cities.

10. Are wildlife gardens likely to require less maintenance?
Possibly, but that depends entirely on the style of the alternative to a wildlife garden. The alternative might be all mowed lawns, topiaried shrubs and bedding plants at the extreme high maintenance end or a small selection of low maintance plants with lots of hardscaping at the other extreme.


Providing Shelter, Food & Water for Wildlife:
11. Should we provide housing for refuge/breeding/hibernating?
Yes.
12. How? Wooden boxes? compost heap? woodpiles? uncultivated areas? planting?
Whatever is feasible in your space - I think all of those could be considered.

13. Should we provide food?
At least in the form of plants and not poisoning part of their food chain, yes.

14. How? Purchased wildlife foods? Plants (alive & dead)? Natural prey?
Again, all are feasible, starting with the natural options of typical food plants and not using insectides. Although I feed birds on purchased seed, I do think there's a possible risk attached to buying in food for some species - feeding wild foxes may not be wise if you don't want them to start domesticating.

15. Anyone wonder whether generous artificial (fast food) feeding leads to overweight
or 'lazy' wildlife, a dependency on being fed or a loss of natural instinct to forage or hunt?
Yes, I wonder about that, as with the above comment on foxes.

16. Providing water - treated tap water in refillable containers or in ponds, streams & water features?
I think this is a good idea, generally, I'm unaware of any harmful aspect.

Wildlife Products being Marketed/Sold:
17. Are products perhaps concentrated on a handful of 'attractive'/cute garden visitors eg. birds, butterflies, bees, hedgehogs, ladybirds? A small percentage of visitors? Anything for beetles - a vast, often forgotten group of garden visitors?
Yes, if it's cute and fluffy (excepting grey squirrels) some kind of feeder/nesting box will be marketed to us. But I don't know that people all consider bees cute and some people are quite phobic, so they are something of an exception to the rule.

18. Are we too reliant on attractively packaged, ready-made wildlife solutions rather than using what we already have, recycling things, home-made solutions?
I don't think we can generalise too much but I think it's better for time-poor people to do something, rather than do nothing at all (as long as they are not so busy they are letting the contents of the birdfeeder turn mildewy). But home made solutions are good.

19. What items do you have x how many
2 birdfeeders (bought), bog-standard plant saucers providing rainwater, home made solitary bee nest. To my guilt I bought a birds nesting box in spring and never got around to putting it up (couldn't find the drill at the time!)

20. Any products had little or no uptake so far?
Bee nest - I think one cell has been filled but it's early days and I think some of them nest in the garden wall masonry anyway. Nesting box (for obvious reasons!)

21. Did you look into how/where was best to site the items in 20?
Yes.

22. do you feel there is too much hype/marketing of these products?
Not sure. It is starting point in raising awareness even if it would be desirable for people to look at the bigger picture. Perhaps once they start getting birds in the bird-feeder they'll look into more aspects of wildlife gardening.

23. Do you feel attractively packaged (often celebrity endorsed) wildlife foods and products are over priced for what they are? Eg. peanuts, suet/fat balls, bird boxes, drilled pieces of silver birch for ladybirds?
Are celebrities endorsing them? I never knew. I don't know if they're overpriced as I'll buy what's cheapest as long as it appears to do the job - I know I saw cheap nesting boxes in Woolies which were useless as you couldn't open them to clean them out.

24. Are the wildlife foods/products you buy sourced/made locally with a low 'carbon footprint'? Do they come from sustainable sources?
I don't know about the bird seed. Nest box was FSC wood.

25. Is wildlife being destroyed or evicted elsewhere for the wood needed for the wildlife products we buy to help wildlife in our gardens?
Don't know. But it's worth bearing in mind.

Which Wildlife?:
26. Do you consider/encourage all lifecycle stages of creatures and differing needs? Eg. Do you encourage the caterpillar as well as the butterfly?
Unless they are on salad veg, I'll leave them be, (and with veg I'll remove, not spray) but I don't specifically grow food plants that I consider unattractive in a small garden setting such as nettles or garlic mustard.

27. Do you consider needs through autumn & winter months or do most in spring & summer?
I feel I still have a lot to learn, so I'm unsure I do enough in any season. In autumn winter I don't overtidy and when I do cut down some hollow-stemmed plants I will leave the stalks lying around somewhere unobtrusive.

28. Have you also made provision for the needs of nocturnal visitors eg. moths?
I have some moth nectar plants.

29. Do you consider the extent of natural food webs? Most of which is in healthy 'living' soil invisible to most of us and sadly affected by chemical feed & weed treatments, eg for lawns?
I don't think about it very much but I don't weed and feed the lawn either. I mulch with homemade compost and seem to have plenty of worms etc.

As a Gardener:
30. Friend or foe? How do you decide which is what?
I don't think of most things as foes usually, but very large numbers of any one thing which is causing widespread destruction rather than a bit of nibbling and has no predators in the area.

31. What don't you tolerate and why? Is it one stage of a life cycle or part of a food chain (prey providing food &/or predator to control population of others)
There's nothing apart from rosemary beetles that I have a complete no-tolerance policy to. Not even snails.

32. Do you kill any 'pests'? By chemical, biological (introduced pests) &/or mechanical (removal by hand) means?
I will kill some snails which are in large numbers due to a lack of predators/plenty of shelter, also rosemary beetles which are relatively new in UK, appear to have no predators at all and decimated one of my plants to extinction a couple of years ago. Mechanical means (pick off, stamp on).

33. Do you discourage/distact 'pests' with barriers, companion planting &/or plant choice?
Most things planted in my garden are either of no interest to snails or get nibbled by them a bit but not destroyed. I'm skeptical about at least some companion planting. If I want to grow snail-attracting food plants I'll do it in the greenhouse in containers where possible and if I grow runner beans I'll grow them in there until they're a bit bigger and transplant, then put down grit or try out copper rings as deterrent.

34. Do you have pets that pose a threat to the wildlife you encourage? Do you site wildlife things out of danger? Does your cat wear a bell to give birds etc. a chance?
I don't have any pets.

35. Is your garden too tidy? Do you leave spent plants to provide food & shelter through winter & to decompose for wildlife in the soil such as earthworms.
I tidy a little bit but not that much. I also have an alleyway down the side of my house and a couple of other secluded corners where I chuck woody prunings to rot down and I compost softer things.

As an Observer/Custodian of Nature:
36. Is the increased popularity in encouraging & observing wildlife because
a) we want to do our bit to help save/increase biodiversity (ecological)?
b) we yearn to move back to more natural open spaces and an escape from modern life
(romanticism)?
c) it is the thing to be seen to do (a green 'trend)?
d) we've realised the benefits to the garden (horticultural)?
e) we want our children and their's to know/appreciate/enjoy nature (educational)?
f) wildlife can increase our enjoyment of the garden (feel good factor)
or a mix of two or more of these? Rank in order of importance?
I think it's a mix of most but c) I would not be cynical enough to say it's trendiness, I think generally people who do anything at all generally care to some extent. I can't rank the others in order of importance.

37. Do you think, as humans, we tend to try to order/control what can visit our patch of earth? Do we try to harness some wildlife as garden pets?
Yes, although the second point to a lesser extent.

38. Are there any well meaning actions you can think of/know of that are deterimental to the creatures we are trying to help?
Any supplementary feeding that may lead to dependence among young animals which will end when the person moves house.

Finally:
39. Can there be such a thing as 'Wildlife Gardening' as one is natural and wild and the other is harnessing and changng the natural environment?
In the UK most of our landscape has been intensively worked on in some ways for centuries anyway, so I'm unsure to what extent we can say we have any wilderness. As far as I know some 'natural' landscapes such as bogs, wildflower meadows, heaths etc have come about due to man's changing the landscape in the first place. Some conservation efforts include coppicing woodlands to let in more light for wildflowers etc - definitely changing the natural environment, but in ways which have been shown to be beneficial to certain species.

40. Anything further/different you wish to add?

I'm probably relatively new to wildlife gardening compared to some on this forum, so my answers might be very different in another five years.

[DebsyD]

Thanks to Varan Komodosky, Gill Catton & Elleme for your feed back yesterday. It's great reading everyone's different thoughts, ideas and experiences. Some really good points