Wildlife and Gardens Thread

[Trav Le Bleu]

35 minutes ago, Wolfox said:

Egg boxes/ shells ana coffee grounds

 

ensure you get a reasonable composter, some rotate 

Some cafes will let you have their used coffee grounds for free (it's just their waste, you're doing them a favour) and it's excellent in compost.

 

We have a tiny caddy in the kitchen that our egg shells, tea bags, veg peelings, etc go into and then tip it into the compost bin when it gets full.

[CornwallFox]

On 04/05/2026 at 20:18, Izzy said:

Decided to put new turf down in the end. Cost about £750 but so much quicker and easier than seeding.

 

Been watering it twice a day for the last 2 weeks and today was the first mow (had mower on highest setting so grass is still pretty long)

 

 

 

I'm just near the end of buying and the house in getting currently has really poor looking fake grass which I plan to rip out literally on day 1 and replace with turf. Going to try to How long did it take you to do that from the start? Did you have to remove much soil and replace it could you work with what you had? 

[Trav Le Bleu]

15 minutes ago, CornwallFox said:

I'm just near the end of buying and the house in getting currently has really poor looking fake grass which I plan to rip out literally on day 1 and replace with turf. Going to try to How long did it take you to do that from the start? Did you have to remove much soil and replace it could you work with what you had? 

@Izzy didn't have to do anything.

 

His servants did it for him.

[Izzy]

1 hour ago, CornwallFox said:

I'm just near the end of buying and the house in getting currently has really poor looking fake grass which I plan to rip out literally on day 1 and replace with turf. Going to try to How long did it take you to do that from the start? Did you have to remove much soil and replace it could you work with what you had? 

I completely ripped out the old garden and started again (there's some before/after pictures a few pages back). Removed two skips worth of old shrubs, weeds, brambles, ivy, stumps, roots etc. and then tillered the existing soil before removing even more rocks and stones. Once I'd compacted everything back down i then needed about two tonnes of top soil to flatten it out best I could. Once all the prep was done, I then laid the new turf.

 

Despite @Trav Le Bleu trying to be funny, I did 95% of the renovation myself. Took a good four months from start to finish and still got the borders to do but pleased with how it looks now.

 

The front lawn however is a different issue. It was full of weeds, moss and thatch so I scarified/aerated it and overseeded but it's taking forever to get it back as we've had no rain. In hindsight I should have staretd again and put new turf down at the front too but we ran out of money.

[Grebfromgrebland]

There's far fewer birds in the garden now since the RSPCA has advised against feeding them over the summer 

 

I think a lot of birds will go hungry this summer and struggle to feed their young.

 

Hopefully it's for one year only.

[Trav Le Bleu]

45 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

There's far fewer birds in the garden now since the RSPCA has advised against feeding them over the summer 

 

I think a lot of birds will go hungry this summer and struggle to feed their young.

 

Hopefully it's for one year only.

We've had to stop feeding the birds because it attracts rats from overgrown neighbours' gardens.

 

 

[Wolfox]

It’s immensely satisfying growing lawn from seed (I did my whole lawn)

 

I had a patch in front of my new garden construction and, this morning, some shoots are popping up!

 

keeping Mabel (the dog) off it has been impossible though, so I gave up with my makeshift barriers as that only seemed to make it more fun!

 

 

it was a slice of dirt as a result of creating my garden room…. I did a lot of it myself (a) because I get what I want and (b) I’m a tight arse!  Reclaimed teak bifolds and a left over window, SIPS panels covered in red cedar wood…. I should be in soon after finishing the inside

 

To make the small patio I got some old Staffordshire blues from a bloke chucking them out (I know I was lucky!!) 

 

I found this one amongst them.. 

 

 

Edited 22 May by Wolfox

[DJW1]

12 hours ago, Izzy said:

Does anyone make their own compost? (I swear I'm turning into my old man )

 

The amount of grass cuttings we're producing won't all fit into the garden waste bin thats collected every 2 weks and I cba to take them to the tip.

 

I'm also using a shed load of compost as I'm renevating and overseeding my lawn so figured it might make sense to make my own.

 

Any words of wisdom from seasoned composters on here?

Best to use a mixture of materials as grass cuttings, alone or with other fresh leaves, will quickly rot down into a mush. You can use the other materials that people here have suggested, but it´s best to include some twiggy prunings to keep the mixture aerated. Avoid fatty materials.  I also add a bit of soil to speed up the process. Occasional mixing, every week or so, will keep the compost aerated.

 

I would make separate batches (rather than constantly adding stuff) and leave them for at least 3 months to get decent compost. The mixture should be warm/hot in the middle for a few days. If it reaches 60 C that is ideal because it kills the weed seeds and harmful microbes.

 

If you can´t use all the grass cuttings for compost, you could apply them as a mulch on the soil surface around your plants (but not touching the stems), where they´ll stop weeds from growing

[DJW1]

1 minute ago, DJW1 said:

Best to use a mixture of materials as grass cuttings, alone or with other fresh leaves, will quickly rot down into a mush. You can use the other materials that people here have suggested, but it´s best to include some twiggy prunings to keep the mixture aerated. Avoid fatty materials.  I also add a bit of soil to speed up the process. Occasional mixing, every week or so, will keep the compost aerated.

 

I would make separate batches (rather than constantly adding stuff) and leave them for at least 3 months to get decent compost. The mixture should be warm/hot in the middle for a few days. If it reaches 60 C that is ideal because it kills the weed seeds and harmful microbes.

 

If you can´t use all the grass cuttings for compost, you could apply them as a mulch on the soil surface around your plants (but not touching the stems), where they´ll stop weeds from growing

And keep the mixture damp but not too wet!

[Izzy]

1 hour ago, DJW1 said:

Best to use a mixture of materials as grass cuttings, alone or with other fresh leaves, will quickly rot down into a mush. You can use the other materials that people here have suggested, but it´s best to include some twiggy prunings to keep the mixture aerated. Avoid fatty materials.  I also add a bit of soil to speed up the process. Occasional mixing, every week or so, will keep the compost aerated.

 

I would make separate batches (rather than constantly adding stuff) and leave them for at least 3 months to get decent compost. The mixture should be warm/hot in the middle for a few days. If it reaches 60 C that is ideal because it kills the weed seeds and harmful microbes.

 

If you can´t use all the grass cuttings for compost, you could apply them as a mulch on the soil surface around your plants (but not touching the stems), where they´ll stop weeds from growing

Thanks for this.

 

Have you heard of a compost 'hot bin'?

 

Saw this on YT last night and it seems a good way of speeding up the process....

 

 

[DJW1]

51 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Thanks for this.

 

Have you heard of a compost 'hot bin'?

 

Saw this on YT last night and it seems a good way of speeding up the process....

 

 

I´ve just watched the video. Looks good but at, say, 250 quid then you have to consider if it´s worth investing in. Over the years you´d be saving money on fertiliser and organics.

As the chap says, you could build your own. I used to have a compost bin that was wire mesh on all 4 sides, with a metal lid to keep the rain out. It worked fine.

The bigger the bin the better, as the temperature in the middle will get higher

[Samilktray]

Is there a quicker and easier way to weed other than going round ripping them out every so often. Do my head in they do.

[Izzy]

17 minutes ago, Samilktray said:

Is there a quicker and easier way to weed other than going round ripping them out every so often. Do my head in they do.

Watching this might be worth 8 minutes of your life...

 

 

The main things I'm learning to control weeds are:

 

Regular mowing

Regular feeding/fertilizer

Twice a year, scarify, aerate, and overseed the lawn

 

And spraying something like this on your lawn every month really helps:

 

 

[DJW1]

56 minutes ago, Samilktray said:

Is there a quicker and easier way to weed other than going round ripping them out every so often. Do my head in they do.

You can sprinkle table salt on them (easier for dandelions). But you should only do that where there are no other plants e.g. If they are growing between paving slabs

[Samilktray]

10 minutes ago, DJW1 said:

You can sprinkle table salt on them (easier for dandelions). But you should only do that where there are no other plants e.g. If they are growing between paving slabs

This is interesting to know, just sprinkle a load of salt on paving slabs? Will be giving this a go 

[DJW1]

11 minutes ago, Samilktray said:

This is interesting to know, just sprinkle a load of salt on paving slabs? Will be giving this a go 

The best thing is to apply it on the leaves, right in the centre of the plant. That´s why it´s easier with plants like dandelions that have big leaves and grow close to the ground.

Don´t apply too much as the excess would get into the soil. Best to do it when it´s not going to rain for a couple of days.

You should see the effects within a week

[Trav Le Bleu]

4 hours ago, Wolfox said:

It’s immensely satisfying growing lawn from seed (I did my whole lawn)

 

I had a patch in front of my new garden construction and, this morning, some shoots are popping up!

 

keeping Mabel (the dog) off it has been impossible though, so I gave up with my makeshift barriers as that only seemed to make it more fun!

 

 

it was a slice of dirt as a result of creating my garden room…. I did a lot of it myself (a) because I get what I want and (b) I’m a tight arse!  Reclaimed teak bifolds and a left over window, SIPS panels covered in red cedar wood…. I should be in soon after finishing the inside

 

To make the small patio I got some old Staffordshire blues from a bloke chucking them out (I know I was lucky!!) 

 

I found this one amongst them.. 

 

 

I have loads of bits I've picked up for the garden that people were throwing away. I have two old wooden half barrels that someone was chucking out, the kind that cost £60-70 in most garden centres.

 

In my job I get to see a lot of gardens and the number I see with really nice pots that have nothing but weeds growing in them or nothing at all. I so want to ask them if they'd let me repurpose them.

[Likely Fox]

House Martins 

[Guesty]

I've got a family of foxes living in my garden. Was a bit worried at first as there are 7 cubs. Thought there was going to be s**t everywhere and they'd dig up the garden. But they haven't. It's been nice watching them grow - it's only been a few weeks but they've got much bigger already. Every night they come out and play fight in the garden around 8pm. 

[brookfox]

1 hour ago, Likely Fox said:

House Martins 

What a good place to be.

[CornwallFox]

9 hours ago, Izzy said:

I completely ripped out the old garden and started again (there's some before/after pictures a few pages back). Removed two skips worth of old shrubs, weeds, brambles, ivy, stumps, roots etc. and then tillered the existing soil before removing even more rocks and stones. Once I'd compacted everything back down i then needed about two tonnes of top soil to flatten it out best I could. Once all the prep was done, I then laid the new turf.

 

Despite @Trav Le Bleu trying to be funny, I did 95% of the renovation myself. Took a good four months from start to finish and still got the borders to do but pleased with how it looks now.

 

The front lawn however is a different issue. It was full of weeds, moss and thatch so I scarified/aerated it and overseeded but it's taking forever to get it back as we've had no rain. In hindsight I should have staretd again and put new turf down at the front too but we ran out of money.

The garden is a fair bit smaller than yours, maybe that one standalone lawn you've got, but then I'll be 3 minutes from the seaside so it seems rather less important than up in Leicester! 

 

The current owners bought the house from new and I suspect probably immediately covered it in the worst fake grass I've ever seen. So it'll be a case of pulling up the fake stuff and any membranes etc and then try to rotavate whatever is underneath and hope there's not too much builder's rubble 😬

 

As there's currently no plants etc hard to know what will need to come out to think about a skip bag or something. I expect to be putting down a layer of top soil maybe with some sand but not sure if I'll be able to get away with just adding it into/onto the existing surface until I see it. 

 

We've got a small dog so want to get it done super quickly so it's got somewhere to lie around a poop beyond what is basically an outdoor carpet currently!

Edited 22 May by CornwallFox

[JonnyBoy]

20 hours ago, Izzy said:

Does anyone make their own compost? (I swear I'm turning into my old man )

 

The amount of grass cuttings we're producing won't all fit into the garden waste bin thats collected every 2 weks and I cba to take them to the tip.

 

I'm also using a shed load of compost as I'm renevating and overseeding my lawn so figured it might make sense to make my own.

 

Any words of wisdom from seasoned composters on here?

I would also be interested in this, always throwing away coffee grounds, grass and vegetables. 
 

I have seen those barrel things that you rotate every few weeks. Sounds like satisfaction to me 

 

I’m close to re-mortgaging the house after a few bags of John inns no.3 

Edited 22 May by JonnyBoy

[JonnyBoy]

1 hour ago, Guesty said:

I've got a family of foxes living in my garden. Was a bit worried at first as there are 7 cubs. Thought there was going to be s**t everywhere and they'd dig up the garden. But they haven't. It's been nice watching them grow - it's only been a few weeks but they've got much bigger already. Every night they come out and play fight in the garden around 8pm. 

I’m sure we would love to see some pictures in the dog thread or this thread! Very envious 

[Wolfox]

6 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

I have loads of bits I've picked up for the garden that people were throwing away. I have two old wooden half barrels that someone was chucking out, the kind that cost £60-70 in most garden centres.

 

In my job I get to see a lot of gardens and the number I see with really nice pots that have nothing but weeds growing in them or nothing at all. I so want to ask them if they'd let me repurpose them.

I have spent a lot of time and effort on my garden recently, but I’m so ignorant when it comes to how to manage anything.   Mowing the lawn with my 20 year old Honda is like meditation 

 

I’ve got a really good gardener who pops in once a month to sort the borders 

 

I feel like a fraud and I want to do look after things myself, but I’m terrified of screwing it up !

 

and next time Trev, just ask the question!

Edited 22 May by Wolfox

[Wolfox]

15 hours ago, Guesty said:

I've got a family of foxes living in my garden. Was a bit worried at first as there are 7 cubs. Thought there was going to be s**t everywhere and they'd dig up the garden. But they haven't. It's been nice watching them grow - it's only been a few weeks but they've got much bigger already. Every night they come out and play fight in the garden around 8pm. 

They’re brave buggers aren’t they?

 

Mabel deals with them currently 

 

Im sure they were living in earth next door to us

 

Edited 23 May by Wolfox