Helping nature survive - post your tips here

Fishermen, you ALL know the golden rule NEVER to leave line behind!

Two Shredded Wheat make an excellent thatched roof for a birds' nesting box.

plant british plants to support british wildlife

Let your back garden go to pot. More wildlife friendly and less work for us.

Turn a beatle over when they get stuck on their backs.

Pick up snails which are crossing a path and place them on the edge of grass where they were going to.....build so karma points !

*some

leave a wild area in a corner or end of garden.
plant bee friendly plants.
eat the bee friendly plants instead of meat.

honey suckle?

I'm loving you guys

Don't use anything based on natural ingredients and save the nature for future generations.

You can check the RSPB website, put in your postcode and get a personalised plan to help wildlife in your area.

"Two Shredded Wheat make an excellent thatched roof for a birds' nesting box. "
Someone here is familiar with the Gentlemans journal of note's personal development section: "Viz Top Tips" :)

"Pick up snails which are crossing a path and place them on the edge of grass"
I do that, I thought it was just me and probably two hippies in Devon! See them all the time when it's damp. Slugs are more of a challenge and I make sure I wash my hands later etc. But I hate to see them crushed and splatted.

For flowers yes I think some are bred to be purely ornamental and are useless for insects so if you care some are far better than others and still look nice.

You can make bumble bee nests in a garden, apparently a good way is burying an old teapot with the spout sticking out!

That is great idea for the Bumble Bees . We have let a pyracanthus go wild . It is enormous and untidy but the birds love it . The Wrens nest quite happily in it .

Likewise J.C. I always pick up snails that have wandered off the beaten track and put them somewhere in a hedge nearby.

I wonder what the snails think....

"Majorie, I was definitely abducted....one minute I was scooting across the hard-land (path) then whooosh........ a thunder-brother-crusher snatched me and placed me at the forest edge......what a rush !!!!!

"Give over Frank !.....you're scaring me .....they didn't ...you know.....do anything....did they " ?

Don't have children.

Foxgloves are magnets for bumble bees yet these magnificent flowers don't seem to be in vogue these days.

I think they are a problem for dog owners Foinavon .

BTW if you are drinking six packs of wine held together with plastic then you should be having a hard talk to yourself about your drinking habits :)

Plant things bees and butterflies love. Honey bees will flock to Sedum in August/September and Coteanaster in June-July. Doesn't matter where you are, they WILL find you.

Verbena Bonariensis will flower from June till Oct/Nov.. Loves poor soil and drought. The butterflies WILL come.

And Ice Plants are easy to grow and maintain .

I saw on springwatch I think it was these really cool solitary bee laying things you put on a wall, that slide in and out with glass sides so you can see what's inside.

MAybe I should get some.  That reminds me ...  If you find a spring bee in your garden that's looking knackered as there arent enough flowers yet, make up a little sugar water, obviously let it cool, then put a LITTLE beside the bee, like just a little in a bottle cap beside its head. Don't get any on the bee or anything it as making it sticky is BAD. With a bit of luck it'll suck some up and fly off.

Coneflowers are great as well . Black Eyed Susan , flowers for months and spreads . Just the job for the lazy gardener .

I sowed wildflowers in my back garden, all of it.
Actually they look like weeds, but you get all sorts of flying things.
And I throw basins of sunflower hearts on the concrete a few times a day for the pigeons.
Down among the weeds I have a birdcage , about a metre cube size, on a base table, with two sunflower hearts feeders and a fatball feeder.
On the concrete is a seedtray about 18" square that I scrub clean and refill with fresh water every day, about 2"to 3" inches deep.
Pigeons like to have a splash in the water.   I saw a magpie dipping his head in a few times, and four blue tits strolling around in it (mum and chicks).

Jun 22, 2018 -- 7:42PM, Just Checking wrote:

I saw on springwatch I think it was these really cool solitary bee laying things you put on a wall, that slide in and out with glass sides so you can see what's inside. MAybe I should get some.  That reminds me ...  If you find a spring bee in your garden that's looking knackered as there arent enough flowers yet, make up a little sugar water, obviously let it cool, then put a LITTLE beside the bee, like just a little in a bottle cap beside its head. Don't get any on the bee or anything it as making it sticky is BAD. With a bit of luck it'll suck some up and fly off.

This is exactly what I did this morning!

I found a huge bee, looking very poorly, on my kitchen windowsill. It's abdomen was pulsating, this means it's exhausted and trying to get some air, usually after a long flight.

I did the sugar water thing and covered it with a glass to keep it safe while it recovered. It took some of the sugar water and within seconds it was buzzing about in the glass. I carefully put a card under the glass and took it outside and placed it on the flowers of a bush which the bees like. It looked as right as rain.

One happy bee

Great stuff , I've done it myself :) As I say a key thing you don't want to do though is make it worse by sloshing sticky water around and getting it on its wings and so on. It just needs a little in a sensible careful way, it's wanting a little drink not taking a bath :)

Great work MD. Don't see any wildlife around here apart from the Chukar Partridge.

Don't eat products with palm oil in (apart from sustainable)

Help save the rain-forests.

Yesterday morning at about 5 am I opened the back door to check to see if there was any sunflower hearts remaining on the ground for the previous day.
There was a fox walking along the back wall of the garden, probably doing his rounds checking out the food situation.  He did a runner.
I went back into the house, got a fatball I feed to the birds, brought it outside, crumbled it with a kitchen shears.
When I looked out a few hours later it was gone.  The fox would have smelled that it was there and snaffled it.

cunning fox.

This was me just yesterday.....

I have two empty planters and ther was a tiny little chick in one
then, incredibly there was a chick in the other one!
put them in a tupperware box but one managed to fkutter out and don't know where it's gone...
I put the other one in a cauldren and  put a little dish in with some water....
Lara says there was a nest in the ivy....
I checked on the net and the advice was to leave them unless they were in danger, so I went to release it and mummy was sitting on the edge,
looking down, and didn't know what to do.
set it free and mummy came to the rescue
THURS 23:06

Awww that’s really sweet dad x
10:14
Just to confirm that I didn't put them in a "cauldron" as that is a cooking pot....
it was actually a "colander"

Damn well played.

Loving this thread

FLEDGLINGS!!!

Armageddon.

Grass on people who kill spiders.

Two Cabbage Whites in my garden at lunchtime today, first ones I've seen this year.

Yes JC....I now know what they were, but they looked so vulnerable, and how they managed to get into the planters,
but seemingly couldn't get out, I don't know!

Nice 1 Diva. Love Bumble Bees.

Don't buy food from subsidised EU producers, as some of your purchase money goes to replace scrubland and mixed woodland with intense agriculture.
Do buy GMO food, and stuff grown under glass as this is more efficient and allows land to be taken out of agriculture. Little bit of politics there.

If they stopped spraying sh1t everyday I think that might help somewhat, we stayed in an Inn close to Rye over the weekend and used their beer garden a couple of times and not once did I see a Bee and trust me I was looking.
And I think to myself what a wonderful world

before and while  mowing your overgrown lawn keep a look out for frogs and toads these little fellas hide in damp grass !

if you hve any left over flower seeds scatter them on scrubland ,a sea of colour in a few months with luck and good for wildlife !

Put out water for the birds in a wide flat tray, a few inches deep.
In the hot sun the water warms, so change the water during the day.
A watering can is a quick way to replace the water.
Tip out the old water, leave the tray on the ground, and use the watering can for a quick refill.

Can we give the birds water-wings ....please !

I'm constantly refilling my water trays at the moment.

I refreshed them last night and rather strangely they were hardly touched this morning.

The badgers usually visit for a drink at night. Maybe they went to the pub

Don't mow the clover! Bees loving it.