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| Go greener |
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| With a growing number of gardeners eschewing chemicals in favour of natural alternatives, we can suggest some effective products from our organic gardening selection |
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| Relax and refresh |
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| Good food freshly prepared daily, aromatic coffee, chilled wine and a grassy play area for the children. What more could you need? |
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| Food heaven |
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| Our Farm Shop is heaven for food lovers! Delicious handmade food, top quality groceries, fresh fruit and vegetables and stylish cookware and gifts. |
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| The Discovery Walk |
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| As thousands of daffodils herald the spring, stroll or stride around our Walk while the youngsters enjoy the Nature Trail |
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Winter wonderland of wildlife!
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| Thursday, 13th December 2007 |
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IN THE GARDEN WITH PETA MARSHALL
We may decide, quite understandably, to stay indoors more during winter, but the outdoor garden is home 365-days a year to animals, birds and all sorts of other creatures. Despite short days, long nights and freezing temperatures, there is plenty of animal life that chirps, swoops, pecks, forages, snuffles and shuffles at this time of year.
You won’t always see them of course, as many are nocturnal, and the chances are that for some of them you’ll only see where they’ve been, not the creatures themselves.
There are two main reasons why such creatures visit our gardens, and these are food and shelter. So, what can we do to attract more wildlife to the winter garden?
Food: If you encourage insects to the garden (which are at the bottom of the food chain), you will be encouraging, insect-eating mammals and birds, which in turn encourages the larger mammals. So start by growing some winter flowers…there is always some insect activity – even in winter with some forms of moth, fly, beetle, even bee, and so on, and these will all make use of flower nectar.
Similarly, invertebrates such as worms and slugs are great food for hedgehogs and many birds. Whereas I don’t think we want to encourage slugs, doing things in the garden to encourage the growth of the worm population will benefit everyone. And this means having good soil. Digging the ground once a year, and applying compost and manure to a garden will improve the soil – and improve life for worms.
You don’t need to put out food for hedgehogs at this time of year as these creatures should be fast asleep. However foxes (if you don’t mind them), badgers and woodmice will appreciate meat bones, poultry leftovers, peanuts, apple cores or tinned dog food put out at dusk.
I suppose I should mention rats at this point. The foods mentioned could also encourage these rodents, so you need to keep an eye out and stop supplying the food if you know that rats are a problem.
It is almost inevitable that rats will turn up in your garden every now and again, and the occasional visit should not be cause to worry.
However, when they decide to stay and breed, this is when problems can occur.
Put out plenty of bird food at this time of year…keep bird tables and other feeders replenished regularly.
If you have plenty of trees around then the chances are you’ve got squirrels. Despite their fun-time frolics and acrobatic nature, these creatures are arguably one the greatest garden nuisances of all time.
Apart from the fact that grey squirrels from America have all but seen off our native red squirrels, they also steel bird food. They also strip trees of berries and nuts (often burying them in the ground with the intention of eating them later, but usually forgetting where they’ve put them, resulting in a crop of oak saplings where you least want them).
And squirrels also get into loft spaces regularly and can chew through insulation material, timbers, electrical wiring and even pipework. If you want to keep squirrels happy, do so by all means, but make sure that your loft is secure, and the ‘tree rats’, as we call them, can’t eat all of the bird food!
So feeding is crucial: just as with human life, if you don’t put out food, you won’t get any visitors!
Shelter: Sanctuary and cover is provided in plenty by gardens with shrubberies and sheds, trees and (increasingly) trampolines. Wildlife frequently prefers the fenced and walled seclusion of domestic gardens rather than the open fields or dangerous woodlands where predators can get at them more easily.
Make sure there is plenty of wildlife shelter available. This includes log piles, thick hedges for birds and dense shrubberies where lots of dry leaves on the ground can provide hibernating and resting places for hedgehogs.
You can buy bird nesting boxes and bat boxes, houses for hedgehogs, toads and frogs, as well as beehives and lacewing logs. Just think about providing shelter and seclusion, and you won’t go far wrong.
Finally, make sure that ponds have escape routes for frogs and toads. These amphibians cannot get out of steep-sided ponds and will perish.
So, if you attend to the food (the board) and the shelter (the lodging), then you’ll have a steady stream of visiting wildlife…and for me this is as much a part of the hobby as growing plants! Happy gardening!
This week in your garden
If you haven’t made up one for yourself, pop down to the garden centre to buy a ready-made container of winter-flowering plants.
Now that the leaves of agapanthus, crinum, eremurus and Amaryllis belladonna have died down, cover the crowns of these plants with a mulch of compost, leafmould or bark to insulate them from frost.
Mark the position of parsnip roots before the foliage dies down, otherwise you may have difficulty locating them later.
Examine stored pears regularly. Enjoy them the moment they soften and reach their peak of flavour and before they develop a mealy taste and texture.
Peta Marshall is the plant centre manager at Priory Farm in Nutfield. Website: www.prioryfarm.co.uk
Next week: Enter our Christmas gardening quiz and win a £50 gift voucher to spend at Priory Farm Garden Centre
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