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A South East garden

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chubsta View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chubsta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2018 at 4:28pm
Driving home today I saw that a house in the village that recently sold has had all of its lovely old hedge ripped up, and replaced with the usual concrete based fence panels. Apart from looking awful I can only imagine the wildlife that was killed or displaced just so someone didn't have the hassle of getting someone in once or twice a year to cut the hedges back.

And then I come to this website and people have trays of tadpoles all over the houses - you really can't get a clearer picture to the gulf between those who love our native wildlife and those who don't...
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Suzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2018 at 5:19pm
Sadly I think that many people feel wildlife is only for the countryside. Either that's where it should be or best not to encourage it in gardens. As you say Chubsta folk on this website doing their best...and the other side of the coin. Gemma and I have both discovered GCNs in our gardens - others probably have too. Many of us find herps in our gardens so it is a shame that more emphasis is not put on encouraging people with gardens to do their bit for nature. Sure bee houses, bird and bat boxes are good, but again it seems hard for much enthusiasm for herps. 
Suz
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Mar 2018 at 7:43pm
I've heard people remark that frogs are 'dirty'. Both neighbours generally mention frogs in their gardens as an 'inconvenience' and we have to go through the whole thing of them passing frogs over the fence, even though they only spend a few weeks in our  pond every year and were probably quite happy under a plant pot or wherever they found them. Then there is the 'tidyness' obsession. Out clipping hedges once a week, mowing twice a week. Comments  that we should tidy up our 'weeds' (native wild flowers). When I look back to growing up in the 70's it seemed like people did not have time to be so fussy about everything and did not have every mechanised garden tool imaginable. I'm sure it benefited wildlife in gardens. Village councilor came round today with a note saying the council are no longer mowing the verges outside peoples houses. It doesn't actually affect us at all, but my first thought was 'good' maybe some residents will just let the grass grow instead of mowing it death all summer. Once again this year local farmer has hit many of the roadside hedgerows really hard. Been published advice for years that it would benefit them to cut them only every other year (cost) and so many species like Hawthorn produces flowers and berries on second year growth. Really rare to see a hawthorn flower here as it is either cut by the householders or the farmers over and over throughout the year.

Edited by GemmaJF - 20 Mar 2018 at 7:46pm
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chubsta View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chubsta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Mar 2018 at 11:57pm
Plenty of frog action now it has warmed up a little, although for some reason they are only in one end of the pond even though the other is just as shallow.

A few more clumps of spawn today, and looking at them on the camera I guess a few more tomorrow morning too...




Still only one hog, who manages to eat a whole tin of dog food on her own each night, but who unfortunately is still acting as a tick magnet. Im a bit of a softy so put a hot water bottle in the feeder for her the other night so she could warm up a little...


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GemmaJF View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Mar 2018 at 12:33am
Love it, a Hog water bottle Smile (Just thought I would get that one in before Will did)
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chubsta View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chubsta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Mar 2018 at 8:17am
I can't believe I didn't think of that one!

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Suzy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Suzy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Mar 2018 at 10:21am
What a lucky spoilt hedgehog! It saddens me that so many end up squashed on the roads. Still you do your best for them and hope for same.
Going back to 'tidiness'...my elderly neighbours almost kill themselves mowing and weeding. She (80) said to me last year that they never used to be so fussy about weeds. They are afraid it reflects badly on them if it isn't all pristine. They do now have some paid help, but still fuss about themselves. The hilarious thing is they watch TV progs and say to me things like, 'Rough areas like you have are good for hedgehogs.' They would never dream of creating the same themselves! Many years ago all the gardens had rough patches near the boundary stream as the land was almost too much to manage so it kind of petered out into rough grass and brambles. Apparently there were grass snakes seen regularly. Most neighbours consider slow worms as snakes and will watch a cat kill one quite unconcerned. 
Strimmers are used by some here and are bad news for slow worms. Like Gemma says mechanised tools are so prevalent. Would there be so much hedge cutting and suchlike if it all had to be done laboriously by hand tools? OK I have an electric mower as I have so much lawn but I never mow into long grass just the already short stuff. 
Good news spawn wise Chubsta.
Suz
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GemmaJF View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Mar 2018 at 2:52pm
Was same for me growing up Suz. We had about 150ft long garden, twice what we have here now. Dad really just couldn't manage all of it so the top end was left kind of rough. We had frogs and hedgehogs and even skylarks nesting in there. It struck me after posting that what we had then was a garden with wildlife, rather than what I do now where I actively have a wildlife garden. All I'm really doing is just recreating what happened naturally without all the hedge cutters, strimmers, leaf blowers, council compost collection and stuff that is the norm now. It seems many people treat their gardens as extensions of the house, all has to be neat a pristine. Glad some of us care enough about wildlife to leave at least some to go a bit wilder. It doesn't take much and it doesn't have to be the whole garden, just a bit of it. Will put up with the negative comments from neighbours for that.

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chubsta View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote chubsta Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Mar 2018 at 8:27pm
i love having a nice neat lawn and find mowing it very relaxing, but i also love my pond and the fact i have mainly hedges instead of fencing. i have allowed two quite large strips to go wild and now have loads of wood mice, and last year had slow worms too, so hopefully it will only improve as the years go on. the best thing is it involves me doing less work on the garden!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote GemmaJF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Mar 2018 at 10:07pm
Totally agree, less time on garden maintenance, more time watching the wildlife! We keep the front of the house pretty neat and tidy. Only top third of the garden is messy by design and effort. Must admit though I've started to let things like dead nettles grow round the edges more now in the rest of the garden instead of strimming. I almost hit a frog with the strimmer last year and has put me right off using the thing in the garden.



Edited by GemmaJF - 23 Mar 2018 at 10:08pm
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