My Edwardian Townhouse Garden:
Links on this page:
Beneficial Insects |
Help for Butterflies |
Garden Diary
Introducing the Courtyard Garden:
The courtyard is a paved north facing small brick-walled garden located at the rear of our Edwardian mid-terraced home. This means that the garden spends several months in shade. On a bright sunny day during the first week of March, the first rays of sunshine touch the end wall. Gradually, the amount of sunshine increases as spring turns to summer, but then diminishes until late October when the garden sits the winter out in shade.
Introducing the Front Garden:
The front garden is the complete opposite. It is a south facing rose and geranium garden and receives sunlight (weather permitting! ) all year.
Beneficial garden insects and animals include:
Top of PageI do not use slug/snail pellets and instead opt for plants that withstand slugs, snails and other weird and wonderful creatures. The benefit of this is an increase in wildlife.
Beneficial creatures in my garden: Hedgehogs, shrews, frogs, toads, spiders, centipedes (not millipedes), ladybird beetles and their larvae, ground beetles, assassin bugs, honey bees, hover flies, slow-worms. Birds do an excellent job feeding on the variety of bugs and aphids.
I have found from experience that if I leave the pests alone and encourage the more beneficial insects, then the garden looks after itself. The only issue I have is black spot on the roses; all the aphids get ate especially by the spiders and ladybirds. Ladybird larvae are voracious eaters of aphids.
The most detested bug in my garden is the vine weevil. Do not confuse with the larger Ground Beetle, which is a good beastie that feeds on slug eggs. Evidence of active vine weevils are irregular shaped notches cut around leaves. Vine weevils walk everywhere and are really good climbers. Unfortunately, by the time you have found the white grubs with orange-brown heads (like a 'C' shaped maggot) it is usually because the apparent healthy plant has suddenly wilted. I've found that the grubs tend to be in pots, so I check the roots of pot plants to remove the problem before it becomes one! The best time to catch the grubs is in winter and early spring. A natural predator of these pests is the centipede.
What can you do to help our Butterflies?
2008 is not proving to be a good year for our Butterflies. There are many theories as to why the poor turnout. Perhaps there is more than one reason: climate change; wet summer; unfavourable and damaging farming practices; lack of garden plants that provide food for butterflies, their caterpillars and other insect wildlife.
I have decided to consider the food value of the plants in my garden for our native insect wildlife. My next aquisition of plants will include some of the older varieties such as 'Honesty', an old-fashioned dual-purpose plant producing scented flowers in spring and early summer followed by silver penny shaped seed heads. Most varieties are biennial, but there is a perennial called Honesty Lunaria rediviva that sounds perfect, so I'll try this in the front garden.
If you are fortunate to have a larger garden you can allow some areas to 'go wild'. You will discover a wealth of meadow flowers appearing. There are several plants that need to be given space to grow for our british wildlife. If you are like me and only have very limited garden, then choose your plants carefully. Plants need to be able to survive the conditions specific to your garden, but next time you visit the garden centre, pay some attention to those flowers that attract butterflies and bees. Help to make your garden a useful garden for our british wildlife.
Visit this website Butterfly Conservation , for excellent advise on what plants to put in your garden.
An excellent general wildlife website to bookmark is Wild About Britain . There are good forums discussing a variety of wildlife issues.
Garden Diary:
Top of PageJanuary
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Notes: The seed heads on the Clematis tangutica are looking marvellous.
Top of PageFebruary
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Notes: I'm totally amazed to discover during the last week of February that I have geraniums with flowers. One of my hanging baskets was planted with Arabis (common name Rock Cress), which has small white flowers and a ground hugging or tumbling nature. This plant has survived the winter, although the top has been wind scorched.
Top of PageMarch
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Notes: Early March sees the last of the Winter Jasmin flowers. Both the Periwinkle and the Bergenia are looking particularly spendid, although they usually start flowering in April.
Top of PageApril
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Notes: A cold snap early in the month has scorched one of my fuschia's, hopefully it will pull through. The Berberis Darwinii is just starting to flower and it will not be long before the Lily of the Valley will fill the air with scent. The first campanula bell flowers have opened.
Top of PageMay
Notes: This is the month to do the hanging baskets ready for the summer. Watch out for vine weavils, as soon they will be wandering about. They are excellent climbers and start to emerge from the ground, soon they will be trying to lay their eggs.
Top of PageJune
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Notes: An abundance of summer flowering plants have started flowering. The roses look splendid and the scent produced is wonderful.
Top of PageJuly
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Notes: The Ligularia Przewalskii produces tall spires of small yellow flowers, which last for about a month. The added bonus are the large deeply divided leaves sculpural in green shot with purple-red veins and tips. This plant lives in the courtyard garden in a cool spot where the spires receive sunlight, but the lower plant lives in shade and the pot sits in a shallow water container all year.
Top of PageAugust
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Notes: I am pleased with the hanging basket plant combinations. See Courtyard Garden.
Top of PageSeptember
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Top of Page
October
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Notes: The yellow nodding heads of the Clematis Tangutica (see Courtyard Garden) are flowering like their is no tomorrow. They are looking truly magnificent. This clematis has been flowering for weeks and at this time of year, it is a splendid show that lights up the garden
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