A Small Smeuse or Two...

It is a known fact that our impenetrable garden fences are attributing to the decline of hedgehogs by limiting the amount of habitat available to hedgehogs to roam. This quick 20min project is a start to putting things right - get yer wellies on.

In response to the Hedgehog Street campaign by The British Hedgehog Conservation Society and the Peoples' Trust for Endangered Species We dug a hole (it only needs to be 13cm x 13cm, 5"x5", under each of the fences bounding our garden to link our garden with the neighbouring gardens*.

This hole has become a smeuse for the resident squirrels and blackbirds

We gardeners are implicated in safeguarding our native biodiversity. We cannot urge other nations to safeguard tigers, elephants, gorillas, orangutans, panda bears et al if we are not prepared to go the extra mile needed to save our own threatened species. We need to change our view of our gardens as dominion for our own designs and acknowledge that we are only short-term caretakers of habitats which should be shared with the species we are displacing.

The London Wildlife Trust's 2011 report, From green to grey; observed changes in garden vegetation structure in London,1998-2008, assessed among other aims the amount of garden in the boroughs of London available for supporting biodiversity (p5). Counting front and back gardens as separate plots it tallied 3.8 million individual private garden plots. It estimated the total land area of garden available is approximately 37,900 ha (p.10), or 24% of Greater London. 22,000 ha of this is covered in some form of vegetation which is equal to 75% of the total area of all designated Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation in London (p19). Imagine the wildlife wonderland we'd create if we gardened to create a continuous corridor of micro habitats to support insects, amphibians, reptiles and small mammals to move about as they need.

*We would LOVE to hear from any peeps in Walthamstow who have hedgehogs visiting their gardens. We did a hands-up survey of our gardening club members and we're sad to report that not 1 out of 30 has a hedgehog visiting their garden and or allotment.

References:
Smith, C., Dawson, D., Archer, J., Davies, M., Frith, M., Hughes, E. and Massini, P., 2011. From green to grey; observed changes in garden vegetation structure in London, 1998-2008 , London Wildlife Trust, Greenspace Information for Greater London, and Greater London Authority. Published 2011, London Wildlife Trust.
© London Wildlife Trust, Greenspace Information for Greater London, and Greater London Authority, available online 20 September 2015,

Paved Paths

We recycled a stack of bricks from a crumbling garden wall which we've earmarked for several garden projects. Around the end of March, we laid out 10 or so bricks to try out a perpendicular herringbone paving pattern on a path alongside the raised beds. Pottering about, we've become aware how immediately the resident critters make any and every nook and cranny their home so we have an all-out policy of never stepping on any logs or loose bricks in the garden. The paving project was stalled by other commitments and we had taken to leaping over the bricks whenever we've needed to access the far ends of the beds (as you do, right?). This weekend we started the paving project over.

First we trans-located the beasties to the permanent brick pile.

We lifted the bricks gently without dragging them. One by one, we exposed the critters and then placed a cocked, dark, damp muddy flowerpot immediately next to them. We busied ourselves levelling another path. We returned after a couple of minutes to find the critter had taken refuge in the pot. We used this method to carry them (making sure they couldn't leap out of the pot in transit) to the permanent brick pile we built as a wildlife habitat under the medlar tree.

Do make an effort not to touch amphibians as the acid, salts and chemical residues on our skin can damage their permeable skin. Picking up a fleeing amphibian can cause fatal stress and injuries.

We worked on the two inner paths - we levelled the ground and spread a 3cm layer of sand to help level the bricks, some of which were chipped or had lumps of concrete adhering to the backs of them. We'd not planned to pave the paths when we positioned the beds so we had to space the bricks to cover the area evenly.

We used a lump mallet and a bolster masonry chisel to remove old concrete and to halve bricks.

We infilled the gaps by sweeping in and compacting a mixture of clay soil and sand and then sowed creeping thyme and lawn camomile.

We didn't use an underlay of weed barrier fabric as we feel this is a "contaminant" even though inert. We're hoping the creeping thyme and lawn camomile will create an effective weed deterring blanket and that the mass of fine roots will bind the paving together. Fingers crossed.

We've got the outside two paths to pave yet.

Build It and They Will Come...

We've been torn between adopting battery hens, keeping bees or creating a wildlife friendly urban patch. We've weighed the pros and the cons, attended talks and borrowed how-to books from the library. However the aged toads, the nervous newts, the bumbling bees, the curious insects, the chattering birds that claim our garden as their rightful own rendered our deliberation moot.

We decided to install a larger, deeper pond since our first pond (puddle) was full to brimming with toad tadpoles and newt larvae last spring.

The digging of the hole for the pond was redolent of childhood sandpit excavations; those earnest attempts to tunnel to the other side of the planet. Disappointingly no crystals, fossils, neolithic remains or roman or medieval debris were unearthed in the diggings.

We stopped and started and stopped to allow the blue tits time to feed their brood...

... and to rest our aching biceps - sparrow's kneecaps.

We made sure the top of the pond would be level as the garden slopes.

We lined the base of the hole with a 5cm layer of builder's sand.

We laid in the liner and checked the levels again.

Meanwhile, a quiet but overt show of protest was held in a sunny spot of the raised beds throughout the digging activities. Demands were made for a replacement sunning platform - tout de suite!.

The liner was secured in place by progressively filling the pond in stages and then back filling the hole. We patted & tamped the earth around the fiberglass shell by hand, whilst we reminisced about our mud-cake tea parties of yore.

Some plants surrounding the old pond were carefully transplanted to the new site, however the old pond will not be emptied for a couple of months to give the newts time to do their thing and to allow the new pond water to settle.

Toad Spawn

The pond is festooned with ribbons of toad spawn.

We've spotted a lone newt lurking too.