Plants to attract bugs on drystone wall

[Pagurus]

Hello,

I'd be most grateful for some suggestions for some wildlife-friendly plants to put on top of a broad drystone wall in my front garden.

With a mild climate and no hard frosts (some spring flowers already blooming at the base) I'd like to know of something I could plant out at this time of year. There's some Lampranthus roseus all over the top which appears to do nothing for the wildlife and I want to get rid of it. The sides of the walls have some very nice pennywort and local ferns in residence, and I'll be adding to those later.

The wall is in semi-shade, only getting full sun for around two hours a day.

I don't mind much what the plants look like as long as they look good to the guests I want to attract all kinds of bugs, and not just the obviously pretty ones.

All suggestions would be very much appreciated and acted on immediately as I hope to go to a nursery tomorrow

Pagurus

[Hedera]

Stonecrop would be good, it has yellow flowers that insects like and makes a mat which things can hide under. Thymes also, bees love them and they keep tidy.

[Dorts]

Welcome to WAB Pagurus.
Plenty of Stonecrops to choose from. You could also try the smaller houseleeks, (sempervivum). There are a number of Speedwell's that do well on walls including of course, Wall Speedwell, also some of the smaller wild Geraniums and Ivy-leaved Toadflax is always a good one, also Wall Germander.
You can't go wrong with any plant that has the specific name 'muralis', as long as it's native it will almost certainly attract bugs.
Dorts.

[Pagurus]

Thank you so much, Hedera and Dorts. I already love most of the plants you mention in the wild so will happily give them a home in my garden too.

I've made a list of the species you've mentioned to take to the nursery later this morning and will make sure I get local varieties, and with that in mind, will also look out for anything with 'muralis' in the name too (quite a big clue to its preferred habitat, when I come to think about it ).

Come next spring I'll send photos to show the effects of your excellent suggestions

Thanks once again, and I'll be leaving the list open for any further suggestions until around midday when a friend and I will enjoy the adventure of mooching around some of the smaller nurseries for the rest of the day.

Pagurus

[Paul mabbott]

What are your walls made of - limestone v sandstone, are they mortared or dry? Could make a lot of difference to which plants you could grow.
Another thing is to look at neighbours, or fairly nearby, walls. Good luck, sounds like fun!
PS: you'd already said it was dry-stone - sorry - that should make life easier.....

Originally Posted by Pagurus

Hello,

I'd be most grateful for some suggestions for some wildlife-friendly plants to put on top of a broad drystone wall in my front garden.

With a mild climate and no hard frosts (some spring flowers already blooming at the base) I'd like to know of something I could plant out at this time of year. There's some Lampranthus roseus all over the top which appears to do nothing for the wildlife and I want to get rid of it. The sides of the walls have some very nice pennywort and local ferns in residence, and I'll be adding to those later.

The wall is in semi-shade, only getting full sun for around two hours a day.

I don't mind much what the plants look like as long as they look good to the guests I want to attract all kinds of bugs, and not just the obviously pretty ones.

All suggestions would be very much appreciated and acted on immediately as I hope to go to a nursery tomorrow

Pagurus

[Pagurus]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

What are your walls made of - limestone v sandstone, are they mortared or dry? Could make a lot of difference to which plants you could grow.
Another thing is to look at neighbours, or fairly nearby, walls. Good luck, sounds like fun!
PS: you'd already said it was dry-stone - sorry - that should make life easier.....

Thanks Paul, and you're right, I'm having enormous fun planning all this. The wall also runs down a wide shady side alley and I also have a mostly sunny back garden to turn into a bug paradise too. It will take me a year or two all told as I have to do most of the work myself, but the process is as much fun as the results

The walls are made of big rough-hewn chunks of 'granite' but I know that's not the correct term for it. I've taken a photo of it which will give you a better idea. I like it very much in this rather rambling state and hope that some of the holes will give shelter to something or other sooner or later.

My neighbours are lovely but are not wildlife gardening fans, and their walls sport the same Lampranthus roseus as mine currently does, so no clues there. But I did do the rounds of three plant nurseries yesterday and took lists of all the plants Hedera and Dorts kindly gave me so that I could make my final choice very soon.

If you have any further suggestions I'm sure I could make room for them. Some shade-lovers for the side alley would also be very welcome

Pagurus

P.S. The unwillingly inherited cabbage palms and concrete gateposts in the second picture give a big clue to my next question about wildlife gardening

[artdemole]

How about some yogurt on the wall for some lichen to grow on it.

[Dorts]

For the Shady areas, there are some great little Ferns that you could use; (may be able to get them from a specialist nursery), such as Rusty-Back, Wall Rue and some of the many different kinds of Spleenworts, just push them in a crack between the stones, (will need watering for the first 6 months or so, as with all plantings).
Dorts.

[Jez]

I know of one specialist who sell spleenwort. Please PM me for more info!

Cheers

Jez

[Pagurus]

Originally Posted by artdemole

How about some yogurt on the wall for some lichen to grow on it.

That’s a good idea. I’ll definitely do that. It also made me think I might be able to grow some lichen on those cement gatepost eyesores so I did a bit of research and came up with this interesting article, so thanks for that

The British Lichen Society - Lichens on Man Made Surfaces