Life on a Rose – 30 Days Wild (Day 15)

The Rose is a feature of many gardens with it large blooms of flowers with sweet fragrances, green leaves and thorny stems, but look closer and there is an ecosystem of insects that make the rose their home.

Many a gardener will know of the damage that certain of these insects can do to the plant and are not their favourates such as Aphids.

The Aphid comes in many different colours and are winged and wingless. Their lifecycle can be lived out on a rose plant overwintering as eggs and emergining in the spring.

If you have an Ants nest near by, the ants will be visiting the rose not to eat the aphids, but to farm them. Aphids live on the rose by sucking the liquids out of the rose and secrete a liquid called Honeydew. The ants use the Honeydew as food and farm the ants for it. Ants can be seen moving aphids around a rose or even to a different rose in the same way a farmer would move sheep or cattle from one field to another so they can feed on a fresh pasture of grass.

Nature is at hand to help keep the aphids under control with a set of preadators:

Ladybirds
Hoverfly larvae
Lacewing larvae
Midge larvae
Parasitic wasps
Ground and Rove Beetles

Have a look at the plants in your garden. What eco systems are in play?

Frog and Toad Abode – 30 Days Wild (Day 14)

As our pond was only build last september and we now have tadpoles that are growing legs and arms, today was a good day weather wise to build a Frog and Toad Abode for when they grow and start to explore and need shelter.

There is part of the garden that needed some attention and this is where the home was planned to be placed.

Using some small lengths of pipe that where in the garage, I cut them at angles to allow an amphibian to exit the bottom of the pipe in the hole safely.

The hole was dug and pipes placed.

FTA2 — Hole dug out and soil saved to go back

Using some stone, bricks, small twigs and old roofing tiles the bottom and top of the home where formed to give the frogs and toads somewhere to hide amongst.

FTA4 — Using old bricks to hold the pipe in place and provide a gap to exit the pipe at the bottom

FTA5 — Stones and twigs at the bottom of the home and roofing tiles to do their job

The home was then covered with a layer of soil which was compacted down to secure the workings underneath.

So a bit more gardening to do to tidy up the top of the home, however we now have a place for frogs and toads to hide.

Looking at this being the place to build the small dry stone wall at the back and some wild planting at the front on the soil over the home. The wall will also have a hole at the bottom to allow frogs and toads to hide in when its built.

A Garden Hedge – 30 Days Wild (Day 13)

A Garden hedge is a great way of attracting birds into your garden as it provides a source of cover, nesting area and if the hedge is berry producing food.

My garden hedge is mainly Pyracantha otherwise known as Firethorn. A bush that does live up to its name! I have often had some scratches that feel on fire from the thorns of this plant, however I put up with it as its a great hedge. The Pryacantha produces an abudnance of white flowers in the spring that attracts alot of bees and other pollen loving insects.

These in turn provide a food source for birds. In the autumn the varties of Pyracantha in the hedge produce red and orange berries that feeds the birds.

The hedge itself has a few patchy holes that the birds use to hide in while they await their turn at the bird feeder in the garden.

Growing in the hedge are also some nettles and brambles to add a variety of plants to the garden.

Hedges provide a great habitat for other smaller creatures as well as protection through the colder months of the year.

Mini Dry Stone Wall – 30 Days Wild (Day 12)

A Mini Dry Stone Wall is one idea that I am looking at for my garden as an addition along side a Bug House Hotel to add another place for insects and some plants like lichens to grow on.

Dry stone walls have traditionally been used to edge fields as an alternative to hedgerows and where there may have been an abundance of stone to use where a hedgerow may not have grown. Areas such as the peak district are full of them and the help define the landscape as well as provide shelter for animals and smaller creatures.

A dry stone wall is a work of art by the skilled wallers who have created them, slotting together the stone without any fixing agents such as cement to last the pace of time.

A mini version of a wall that doesnt have to be a buug construction could easily be created in a garden, even if its just some stone that has been piled in a stack with gaps in it.

The ideal for me is a small wall with a bug house hotel on the front of it. This would definately provide a wildlife zone in your garden.

The Wildlife Trust have some information on how to build one at:

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/how-build-mini-stone-wall-0

I will be visiting my local reclamation yard that sells the type of stone seen in walls when its open to build a mini wall.

Bug House Hotel – 30 Days Wild (Day 11)

There are lots of insects and other creatures such as bees that live or visit a typical garden. A great way to see and study the insects that are in your garden is to create a Bug House Hotel.

This doesnt have to be a large construction or fancy. It could be as simple as using an old bean tin with sticks and straw in it, placed in a flower bed or other part of your garden.

You should provide a variety of different types space sizes for insects to make their homes in.

You should always try and use natural materials in your Bug House Hotel such as:

Pine Cones
Sticks/Twigs
Bamboo cane
Wood with different sized holes drilled in it
Straw/Hay
Bark (not from a living tree

You could also use other materials to make bug houses such as old pallets or roof tiles.

Giving nature a home in your garden will attract other wildlife such as birds and hedgehogs.

What have you done for 30 Days Wild so far?