Topic: Wildlife gardening

[beckbeck]

Hi i am hopefully going to be getting an allotment of my own soon,and i would like to make it very wildlife friendly,and also grow a bit of fruit and veg,being as organic and enviromentally friendly as possible,iwas wondering if anybody could tell me if you are allowed to plant a hedge round your allotment,i am in the process of moving to a house(fingers crossed)that backs onto allotments and the current owner has the allotment directly behind the house,which i am able to take on as there isn't a waiting list,so i will be able to walk straight out my own garden into the allotment,also are you allowed to keep chickens and ducks as this has also always been a dream of ours,at the moment as nothing is signed i feel a bit wary about even talking about it,as i know it could all fall through until we get the keys.Becky .

[jammyd]

Hiya, I'd double check with the local council you'll be renting from - they usually have such info on their website. My council doesn't allow trees other than fruit trees, and then they have to be in the middle of your plot so they don't sap water from your neighbours plot - they may have the same feeling about hedges; although a 'herb hedge' would be fun and would smell great - Rosemary grows pretty big in a couple of years and can be cut like a hedge (kind of). 

Same goes for the Chooks - check your council's guidelines.

I must say it sounds fab to have a garden backing onto the allotment :) Hope it goes through okay!

[Debs]

Wow is that not heaven?!  A new house with its own walk-on allotment.

Debs

[Robert_Brenchley]

The best thing for wildlife is weeds, which might not be the best for good realtionships with your neighbours. The first year I had my plot, it was a mass of ground elder and nettles. Hoverflies were everywhere, and there wasn't an aphid to be seen. The second year, many of the weeds were gone, so were the hoverflies, and I did have a few aphids, at least until the blue tits spotted them. The other thing is cover for small birds, which won't fly far from trees or bushes. It's a question of finding an acceptable compromise, and having native species when possible, since there are plenty of things which eat them.