Monday 27 June 2016

Our Little Wildlife Haven



This weekend's main job apart from all the other little jobs that fill our days was to finally finish off Nut Wood.  It's in the corner of our main paddock and is so called because most of the trees planted in there are nuts.  My nickname for it is Nutbush City Limits ... but Lovely Hubby gave it it's sensible name ;-)

In fact in there we have three Oak trees, three Birch, two Sweet Chestnuts, two Almonds and four Walnuts.  One day, hopefully, we will get a glimpse of what it will become after our lifetime.  It should be a wonderful heavily wooded area, in the meantime we are continuing to make it into a wildlife haven on a much smaller scale.


Yesterday this area was raked and had lots of flower seeds scattered onto it, a mix of flowers and wildflowers that will be allowed to run rampant and set seed.  It should be a haven for all sorts of bees, insects and other types of creepy crawlies.  The bushes that were already here and the nettles along the fence are staying, and I have a few Borage plants that I will transplant into here in the next day or two.


The old plastic paddling pool that we found here when we moved in, has slowly filled with rainwater and is half buried in the soil with grassy edges, inside it there are rocky ledges and a ramp to help creatures that fall in climb out again.


Talking of climbing I climbed onto one of the soil piles to try and get a higher shot to give you an idea of the whole place.


As well as the huge boulders that we excavated when we dug back into the hillside for the garage and workshop, there is a huge chunk of the old oak tree that we had to cut down when we moved in.  These are already proving to be little wildlife havens, each in their own way for small creatures and insects.  The black charred stump behind the oak was found on an old bonfire site when we moved in and was put in here for it's unique ability to attract things.


The chippings had been piled high over the whole circle of flattened grass that you see, Lovely Hubby moved it mostly with the tractor, tipping it over the fence from the front bucket and then raking it all out, but the last loads he filled wheelbarrow and wheelbarrow full of and moved it to where he wanted it.


Including all around the doors of the poly and net tunnels.

Everywhere was looking so much neater until some of the chickens got out again and started rooting around in the chippings for bugs. The last I saw of Lovely Hubby he was chasing two chickens up the hill brandishing a sweeping brush and shouting 'get back to where you should be you little f***ers'.

There's never a dull moment!!

Sue xx

15 comments:

  1. This is going to look really beautiful when it's established - more power to your elbow(s) !

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  2. This did make me laugh Sue - you paint this lovely picture of you and hubby creating a lovely, peaceful wood and garden - and then end on a comic note!

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  3. Ha Ha! Love it.

    Hope it turns into a lovely wildlife feature as ther years go by.

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  4. Ha Ha, He sounds like my hubby! Nutbush is going to be a lovely home to so many things.

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  5. Thanks for the chuckle at the end...

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  6. It's nice that you are thinking ahead so much into the future. Planting trees like that is a long-term proposition.

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  7. Love it !
    And with the last bit I can emphatise only too well. :D

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  8. Can I ask why you have polytunnels rather than a greenhouse and which you'd recommend to a someone just starting out? We are lucky to have a decent sized garden and have been growing veg and fruit in some raised beds and would like to do more but can't decide the most sensible, long term but best value option! Thank you very much! Angela

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    1. I have a polytunnel because I've found it's a much better year round option. There's more space for large raised beds, a better atmosphere for the plants and, well in my opinion just much better.

      I'm sure someone with a greenhouse will disagree but I found the one we had at our rented place to be cold, dank, depressing and the plants did not perform anywhere near as good as my polytunnel raised crops.

      I would highly recommend First Tunnels, there's a link on my sidebar. They sell all sizes and types of tunnel.

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    2. Thank you that's really helpful!

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  9. Will the Almonds and the Walnuts grow and give nuts? Does it need heat? I wonder if I could try that here in Ireland.

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    1. Yes, and the Sweet Chestnuts. They just need the four seasons and a good Summer. We got a few Almonds last year, but the trees are only a few years old so we won't get a really good harvest for a few years.

      I should imagine they would do similarly to ours, Ireland has similar weather to North Wales... or so I've been told 😊

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  10. Looks beautiful, Sue.
    Vicky M

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  11. Wondering if walnuts are self fertile or if you need two? ( ours is all of about two feet high, so not expecting nuts this year😉)

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