FuFWiG hits the headlines!

Don't be too quick to put your Council-issue h&f news into your Council-issue Smart Sack this week - for there on p.20 is a very nice half-page report on the wildlife garden.

Thanks Magda - I like the "beetles banish yobs" angle!

Next FuFWiG event - bulb planting!

Here's a good one if you're interested in the whole wildlife garden thing but find the subject a bit daunting, or don't fancy doing loads of hard work, or are worried about doing it all wrong.

Bulb planting is easy (even young children can do it), quick, and you get to admire your handiwork every spring from then on. But although most bulbs bloom in spring (certainly all the ones we'll be planting), the time to plant them is autumn.

We've set a date of Saturday 3rd October from 10 till 11 in the morning for the work. If you can provide your own trowel that would help greatly. Please get in touch beforehand to say you're coming, so I know how many to expect.

Thanks, and see you there.

For wildlife geeks only...

This might seem a bit nerdy, but what follows is an inventory of what's been growing in the garden, intentionally and otherwise, and what animal life has been spotted, since we began work on it in spring.

Why? Well it's easy to imagine one is doing one's bit for biodiversity, but harder to show that nature is indeed benefiting from one's efforts. It would be good to have some record of whether or not that's happening at FuFWiG.

Anyway, first up: shrubs, hedging & climbers that we planted:

• blackthorn (Prunus spinosa)
• burnet rose (Rosa spinossima)
  
• dog rose (Rosa canina)
• dogwood (Cornus sanguinea)
• elder (Sambucus nigra)
• field maple (Acer campestre)
• field rose (Rosa arvensis)
• goat willow (Salix capraea)
• guelder rose (Viburnum opulus)
• hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
• honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)
• hop (Humulus lupulus)
• spindle (Euonymus europaeus)
• traveller's joy (Clematis vitalba; old man's beard)
• tutsan (Hypericum androsaemum)
• wayfaring tree (Viburnum lantana)

Then a couple of climbing/scrambling plants that were already there:

• bramble (Rubus fruticosus)
• ivy (Hedera helix)

Next, herbaceous plants, mostly annuals, that we sowed from seed:

• corncockle (Agrostemma githago),
• cornflower (Centaurea cyanus)
• corn marigold (Chrysanthemum segatum)
• feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium)
• foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
• mayweed (Matricaria maritima)
• oxeye daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum)
• poppy (Papaver rhoeas)
• wild strawberry (Fragaria vesca)

And herbaceous plants that self-sowed (to the untutored eye, "weeds"):

• black medick (Medicago lupulina)
• broad-leaved dock (Rumex obtusifolius)
• chickweed (Stellaria media)
• common mallow (Malva sylvestris)
• dovesfoot cranesbill (Geranium molle)
• fat hen (Chenopodium album)
• groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)
• nipplewort (Lapsana communis)
• prickly lettuce (Lactuca serriola)
• red dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum)
• shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)
• Solomon's seal (Polygonatum multiflorum)
• sow thistle (Sonchus arvensis)

Lastly, animals (in the wider sense) - harder to record as we're not there much except to work; contributions welcome here:

• blackbird (Turdus merula; nested)
• ?buff-tailed bumble-bee (Bombus terrestris)
• grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
• red admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
• seven-spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata)
• wood pigeon (Columba palumbus)

Not a bad collection in all. Would be nice to see more non-flowering plants (working on that) and spring bulbs (that too), and also to get more animal sightings. Watch this space.