I have a new project. I am donating part of my garden to the local wildlife and over the coming months will be adding creature-friendly features and plants to increase the variety and number of visitors to the area. Of course, one of the best plants for encouraging bees is the poppy, my favourite flower, so I will be sowing plenty of these.
I have so many ideas and plans and of course I want to do them all at once but first I need to collect the materials. For this, thank goodness for “Streetlife” and “Freecycle” both community based on-line groups where items are listed as “offered” or “wanted” for no cost. It is a wonderful idea as people get rid of stuff they no longer need or use whilst others recycle and reuse the very same items.
So far, my pleas have resulted in two lovely bird baths, some large bird feeders and a moulded pond liner. My neighbour has also been bringing me some wooden pallets so I can start to make my bug hotel; 5* of course.
The foundations of my 5* Bug Hotel
The good thing about this project is that being out in the fresh air and (hopefully) sunshine helps lift my mood but if it starts to rain, there are plenty of things that I can make indoors. I will share these as I go along. In the meantime, here are a few pictures at the start of Project Westland Wildlife!
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- Looking down the garden towards the apple tree.
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- My bug hotel will be built between the compost bins and the woodpile. Plenty of food for bugs here.
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- The rhubarb and lovely woodpile in the corner.
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- The bird sanctuary between the holly tree and the fig tree. The two donated bird baths in the strawberry patch and rhubarb leaves
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- Looking past the raspberries and gooseberries to the teasles and foxgloves
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- Yellow irises in a plastic recycling tub
Poppyposts 
I have to ask: Most people want to rid themselves of bugs, not invite them. The only bug hotels I’m familiar with are the ones that boast “Bugs checkin, but they don’t checkout.”
Ha! ha! Bugs can be good for the garden by eating the nasty bugs that eat your plants 🙂 bees pollinate and other bugs are food for wildlife such as birds, frogs, hedgehogs etc;
Wow. I suppose it makes a difference where you live. Around here, most of the bugs are the nasty pest variety, like ants and cockroaches.
Awwww hedgehogs! No chance of one of those here, unless it’s a pocket pet. 🙂
Love this idea of allowing part of your yard space to go au naturale to help attract bees and keep the eco system in harmony. My sister made me a garden space several years ago while she was visiting during my recuperation from surgery – since that time, I’ve had a bit of the gardening bug myself. I’ve since moved to a different home, but again, during one of her visits she helped me lay out a small flower gardening space. Love that I see lots of butterflies now, and of course, also enjoy the seasonal bits of color. Great pictures … love the rhubarb photo … gorgeous!
Thank you! I love rhubarb but don’t tend to pick too much as I like to see the big leaves too! Gardening is good for the soul 🙂 I have just bought 3 Buzz Budlejia bushes which are the small version of the larger bushes which attract so many butterflies but tend to expand quickly. I’m lucky as this part of our garden is separated from the main back garden by a garage so it’s easy to create something different. 🙂 Thanks for visiting xx