Uk gardens

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Gardens have to be practical living spaces for their occupants and when it gets down to the average small garden every inch has to count. Simply letting it go merely leads to overgrowths of dominant invasive species, just how much thistle, dock, ragwort, bindweed, ground elder, stinging nettle and bramble do you need? This is where genuine professional help comes into it, not from trendy television and flower show celebrities but from people with mud on their boots and dirt under their fingernails and a track record of getting it right. I can also understand the convenience of turning a front garden into an off street parking space too, but I'm no great fan of excessive areas of paving either.
isleofwightgardendesign.wordpress.com

Case Studies 6: A Wildlife Garden

Well before wildlife friendly gardens became fashionable I was in the forefront of their design and installation on the Isle of Wight. Here a grateful client recounts her experience:- She had bough…
isleofwightgardendesign.wordpress.com isleofwightgardendesign.wordpress.com
 
That's the first year she's forgotten to mow the grass, there's just grass and dandelions. As Tim says above the real weeds haven't started.
 
timbrayford said:
Gardens have to be practical living spaces for their occupants and when it gets down to the average small garden every inch has to count. Simply letting it go merely leads to overgrowths of dominant invasive species, just how much thistle, dock, ragwort, bindweed, ground elder, stinging nettle and bramble do you need? This is where genuine professional help comes into it, not from trendy television and flower show celebrities but from people with mud on their boots and dirt under their fingernails and a track record of getting it right. I can also understand the convenience of turning a front garden into an off street parking space too, but I'm no great fan of excessive areas of paving either.
isleofwightgardendesign.wordpress.com

Case Studies 6: A Wildlife Garden

Well before wildlife friendly gardens became fashionable I was in the forefront of their design and installation on the Isle of Wight. Here a grateful client recounts her experience:- She had bough…
isleofwightgardendesign.wordpress.com isleofwightgardendesign.wordpress.com
Click to expand...
Nicely put! My garden is kept clear of invasive weeds as best I can, definitely the flower beds but absolutely the vegetable garden.
Too many armchair guru's everywhere these days!
 
I got out of my armchair two years ago and changed our garden to he more 'wild'. Not just left to it, but not being meticulous.
timbrayford said:
just how much thistle, dock, ragwort, bindweed, ground elder, stinging nettle and bramble do you need?
Click to expand...
Thing is, they are the species that insects (chick food) prefer.
 
My type of gardening relies on two principles. If it moves, shoot it, if it doesn't, spray it.
Doesn't work on Brambles though.
 
Sadly, despite what the "experts" on TV say, wildlife (excluding some insects) and gardens just don't mix.
I have a large garden where I grow my veg and flowers for sale. It takes a lot of effort and time, and it's a constant battle against rabbits, moles, slugs, blackfly, greenfly, and the rest. To say nothing about the weather.
Bees visit the flowers, so I think I'm doing my bit, but the rest better look out!
 
I've been gradually seeding our lawn with wildflowers, much to my wife's disgust. I tend to do no mow May then leave part unmowed for longer. Plus have a compost heap, old sticks pile and 'moist' bits round the edges. Oxeye daisies are getting there, need to seed more clovers and trefoil (stays green longer in summer). Borage in the margins is a nightmare.

The one hedge has brambles, get kilos of blackberries every year.

I think modern houses with postage stamp gardens should be banned. The only people they benefit are the developers.
 
I suspect most of those garden gurus live in a flat in the centre of a city and maybe have the odd low maintenance house plant.
 
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BenBhoy said:
I got out of my armchair two years ago and changed our garden to he more 'wild'. Not just left to it, but not being meticulous.
Thing is, they are the species that insects (chick food) prefer.
Click to expand...
There are other options that represent a win/win solution for both gardeners and wildlife, the key difference between this and the "Guardian" option is this is a managed environment rather than relying on " just leaving it to nature"!
wildflower meadow May.webp
 
I think it depends on what you have and what you use it for. There's plenty of people who have a decent sized garden they don't use much so room to allow a bit of wildlife in.

I remember a friend who always liked spraying everything moaning he didn't see any bees on his runner beans. We've never sprayed and have a relaxed view of weeds and have loads of bees, plenty of other wild life and being honest don't get over run with pests such as blackfly.
 
I like tidy and organised, but its a constant battle.. my posh neighbour finds it easy... he just pays people... yesterday he had "Lawn Care" spray his two acres with a knapsack & boom with feed & weed... I've just fixed my knapsack with a new nozzle, ill try and suppress the weeds and feed the grass/kill the moss this weekend 🙄
 
I like jungly gardens, with as much unmanaged and unmown area as possible.
However, I am fortunate in having, for the most part of my life, lived in properties where gardens are measured in acres rather than square feet, so there's plenty of space for all interests.
Meticulously tidy gardens I find singularly unattractive, but that's not to say that some parts of the garden - such as where the vegetables are grown - shouldn't be well cared for.
I like a garden that merges seamlessly with the surrounding countryside, but again I have been fortunate to have spent almost my entire life living in very rural areas, where such a thing is possible.

I do think that urban gardens, particularly in new-build developments, are a real problem. They cover a large proportion of our country, and could be such havens for wildlife, but on the whole they're pretty barren, having been mown and weeded to within an inch of their lives.
Rural gardens are already pretty good - even the fairly tidy ones - but anything that encourages urban dwellers to create a bit of space for wildlife in their gardens has got to be a good thing, and gets my full support.
 
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My Mrs would like our garden tidier but I refuse. Tidy gardens are too sterile imo. We are lucky to have a large garden so its divided into areas - including a lawn area i do mow so kids can play. Then we have wildflower area, the pond (currently full of tadpoles) and water plants, a truly wild area with established trees & then my unkempt jungle grass. Love it.
 
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