Topic: Native garden plants

[landimad]

Here is the first plant I put into the garden after a complete re landscaping of it.

I put this in not to be worried about its eventual size or the fact that will shade part of the garden but the fact that natives are not being used in the garden and our wildlife are having to change their habitats to suit the ever growing popularity of imports and modern growing techniques.

I for one would like to know whether people out there would opt for a home grown plant over an import?

I do have imports in the garden but would like to grow all native plants and that's why I am trying to clear out the seed so as to grow these native plants.
The old folks round here are loving the idea of me growing then laying a hedge of native Hornbeam at the front of the house. The other thing is that birds droppings are going to add to this by bringing in other seed to grow like holly.
I can only look forward to the day I use the wood from the hedge and from the bushes in the back to assist in making all sorts of things that have not been made by hand since the advent of power tools.
If I had room here I would even put up a dry stone wall for the others which inhabit these areas too.
A log pile has been formed from the old pine tree that grew where the oak has taken its place and hazels grow where there were pampas grass growing.
All in all the place is coming together and in time I trust that this part of the neighbourhood will be a place that the wildlife will regard as home for however long they want to stay. ;)

[saddad]

Good move...  :)

[GrannieAnnie]

It makes complete sense to go native!  Good job and I hope it catches on with others.
Now how can we get rid of our mono-culture lawns??

[Bjerreby]

Good stuff Annie. My garden is also a wildlife refuge, which is most noticeable by the birds in winter and bees and butterflies in summer.

I like your log pile and stone wall idea. I get the same effect by laying old boughs and big twigs on the ground under the hedges. Frogs, toads and hedgehogs love it.

The neighbours describe my garden as "unusual", which I suppose it is..........................it doesn't look like a place to play golf  :D . They ask why all the birds head for my garden!

I have a problem with trees I must admit. I'd like more, but we have a very heavy clay soil here, and trees near the house an cause subsidence, despite my extra-deep foundations. But I have compensated by planting Buddleia davidii in my butterfly / bee corner, which grow wild in the UK even though they originate from China. I haven't seen wild Buddleia here in Denmark, but then the farmers have pulled up or sprayed everything they could. Maybe you remember from your childhood in Denmark if there were wild Buddleia ?

I also have a nice big patch of lilac coming up, and lilac hedges once grew everywhere here on Taasinge.

I am seriously considering growing hazel. Now there is a truly native Danish plant I can manage, it would provide moths with food, birds with nuts, shelter below for native flowers, and me with useful sticks! Maybe I can make hurdles for windbreaks!

Here is my butterfly / bee  patch this morning. It contains Buddleia; 3 kinds of Michaelmas daisies, borage, hyssop, thyme, red clover, teasels and Irish ivy, all great for wildlife.

[GrannieAnnie]

Bjerreby, I don't remember buddeliea growing in Denmark but do remember surprise at the lack of flocks of birds. Maybe it has changed by now? Your efforts will help in that direction. ( I long to go back and see and am hoping for a Gymnasium reunion someday ; :) )

Here some of us on our street have joined together to reintroduce the milkweed plant which the monarch butterfly eats, its only source of food. Some types of milkweed smell heavenly, too, so now I plant  3 varieties. 

My other aim is to keep reducing the lawn which hubby says I may do as long as I leave grass paths wide enough for the mower. We also think it is more fun to amble around winding paths than to cross a wide expanse of grass.  This year I've carved out an additional raspberry bed.

One suggestion was made by our local environmentalists on how to make these natural spaces more appealing to neighbors who like lawns which was to edge them so they look more planned and cared for.  With that aim I edged a "grove" I planted a few yrs ago planted with a native Mountain Ash which gets berries birds love, roses for the hips, hollies which spring up themselves, and a Viburnum for its berries.  The edging made a big difference in its appearance but won't bother the birds one bit.

[landimad]

Native hedgerows have been in decline for many a year and I think we need to take a stand by putting them back into our local community.

This one is not ready for laying yet but when it is I shall use old methods of laying it.
Hazel whips from the back garden and posts from copices down the road.
After a few years more of growth then it will be ready and boy the folks wont know what to say.
The trouble is that it looks a mess until the whole of the hedge knits itself together.
Wait and see eh! ;)

[GrannieAnnie]

What do you mean by "laying a hedge"- not familiar with that term.

[Bjerreby]

Native hedgerows have been in decline for many a year and I think we need to take a stand by putting them back into our local community.

This one is not ready for laying yet but when it is I shall use old methods of laying it.
Hazel whips from the back garden and posts from copices down the road.

Now THAT is what I call a hedge landimad.

Can you describe please how you propagate hazel? I shall definitely give it a go, because I want one of those!

[saddad]

Hedgelaying... cutting almost through the trunks of the plants and pinning them in at a low diagonal... makes more side shoots emerge and gives a much denser hedge at ground level... done with a billhook or nowadays with a chain saw..  ;D

[tonybloke]

[attachment=1]
like this one laid by my mate Mark

[landimad]

Bjerreby,
I take lengths of twigs about 3 feet long/ 1 meter in September or October.
Dig a long slit trench V shaped and put some sand at the bottom of it.
Prepare the cuttings by cutting just below a node, then stand them in a line about 5 inches apart.
Then back fill the trench and leave them for about six months.
This way you can be sure that the cuttings have taken and they should be showing leaf.
Then lift and space to what you want, I do two rows about eighteen inches apart in a staggered row.
If in any doubt as to what else to do, have a look at the links provided.
I am sure that they will be able to better explain than I can. :D

http://www.hedgelaying.org.uk/
http://www.wonderhedge.co.uk/?q=how-plant-your-fast-growing-wonder-hedge-plant
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=474

[Bjerreby]

That sounds like giant cuttings!

Well, I couldn't wait to experiment, so I took some small pieces of hazel from a hedgerow yesterday, and made cuttings, complete with root powder treatment! We'll see how they do first, and in the meantime, I shall hunt around for some hazel from where I can get the stuff you described.

I don't suppose we can have complete success, and get cobs or filberts into the bargain? My local garden centre is selling filbert bushes for £20 each, but they are big and in small pots, so I don't think they are in good condition any more. Anyway, I've already given up buying shrubs from that lot  (they don't thrive with strangled roots), and I'm not paying £20 each when I can make my own.

[landimad]

The reason they are that long is that you have to put at least a third into the ground and the rest is so as you have good leaf and branch growing points.
I starve mine as they seem to grow quicker too.

[Digeroo]

I would like to grow some hazel cuttings to make old fashioned bean sticks.  The beans are supposed to produce better with hazel.  How long to you think it would take from the cuttings to be big enough for the beans. 

[small]

I planted out 2 seedling hazels I found about 6 years ago (I'm very keen on native planting too). They are about 7 foot tall now and next year I am going to raid them for pea sticks - nothing strong enough for beans yet though.

[landimad]

If you want bean sticks then you might have to wait a fair old few years.
I have had mine in the ground for four years now and they are only five feet tall.
I grow them on me heavy clay and no feed for them.
I do not cut them back either.

[Digeroo]

Too long, I will have to find another supply.  Many thanks for info.

[landimad]

You could always try one of these suppliers to see if they will get you some larger plants.
http://www.grow.co.uk/gardening/nurseries.htm
I got a few from a company near me and they were only three foot canes.
They did have some plants there that I think were fully grown specimens pricey though.

[landimad]

I am not a happy bunny today, there was a person who tapped at the door today and said that I had to cut my hedge back from the path.
I asked who he was and he stated that he was from the council. When I asked him to produce ID he said that if I didnt cut it back that he would get a gang to cut it back and charge me for the privilge. I asked again for his ID and he just ushered himself away.
I then contacted Northants council to ask whether there has been any report of persons going round to get people to cut back their hedges from the path near the kerbage. They had not sent anyone out nor agreed to have works done of this nature.
I contacted the police with regard to the above matter, and they have filed and logged a reference number.
They say it sounds like a new scam so beware >:(

[tonybloke]

it's not a new scam, it happens every bl**dy year. later on it will be 'your gutters are overflowing, missus'  etc etc ..... ;)