[Sandra]

ORIGINAL: Pross1
Being in Ireland, if you leave the hole for a few hours & it'll soon fill up!![;)]

You can sing that! [:D]

I've been sourcing good liners and underlay and native plants will be the order of the day.

I'm not very good on plants so I'll have to read up on those.

[green pea]

Hi Sandra

also another point about ponds, is the use of solar power fountains, and solar power oxygenators, these help to maintain a healthy pond for all the insects and animals, whilst also making the garden more attractive to humans.. I have a [url=http://www.powerbee.co.uk/Solar-Water-Features/c-1-96/]solar power sunspray[/url], these units are nothing like the solar stuff you get at large DIY stores, and not only is it green energy, it's safer and far far cheaper than mains..

hope this helps

[Hawk_Eye]

Green pea how do they differ?

[stacey2010]

[:(] Our garden is too small, i only have a small patch of grass and some paving slabs. We have no trees or bushes, nothing. We cannot do anything to attract wildlife to our garden.
I want a big garden not only to attract wildlife but to be able to sit outside and relax.
However we do have some pretty big spiders, they have made their webs from the gutter to the wall. But i hate spiders, they're creepy.

[cabbage]

[:(] Our garden is too small, i only have a small patch of grass and some paving slabs. We have no trees or bushes, nothing. We cannot do anything to attract wildlife to our garden.

I want a big garden not only to attract wildlife but to be able to sit outside and relax.

However we do have some pretty big spiders, they have made their webs from the gutter to the wall. But i hate spiders, they're creepy.

Don't give up! You don't need a lot of space to attract wildlife. My girlfriend lives in a city flat and has no garden at all but has a couple of nutfeeders which attach to her back window with sticky pad things. She gets huge numbers of Greenfinches and Blue Tits and is regularly visited by a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a bird I wouldn't have believed would even be in the area unless I'd seen it myself.

You say you have slabs out the back so how about putting a couple of pots on them? Doesn't have to be expensive, a couple of pounds will buy you a largish plastic or unglazed ceramic pot (protect it from frost in the winter), add a drop of compost and you're good to go with your very own wildlife friendly planting.

Keeping things cheap (and fun) a wee packet of seed can be had for much cheapness from your local supermarket, garden centre or even pound shop.
I did Cosmos, Marigolds and Mesenbryanthemum from seed this year and all are very popular with the local bees and hoverflies.
I also grew teasels from seed last year to flower this year but they're maybe not such a good idea if you're tight on space (as I am); they're currently about 7 feet tall and look alarmingly Triffid-like. I'm a little scared to be honest I'm assured the Goldfinches will love them, but they're getting pulled out next year!

If you don't fancy growing from seed then check out your local supermarket or garden centre for plants in the early summer. I got 20 small lobelia for £3 from my local supermarket put them in some pots and they're now a riot of colour and absolutely covered with both bees and butterflies. The geraniums (£3 for 12) are also popular.

Just some suggestions but there's loads of other plants you could try most of them worthwhile for at least some wildlife and theres usually something to suit just about every budget.

[stacey2010]

[:(] Our garden is too small, i only have a small patch of grass and some paving slabs. We have no trees or bushes, nothing. We cannot do anything to attract wildlife to our garden.

I want a big garden not only to attract wildlife but to be able to sit outside and relax.

However we do have some pretty big spiders, they have made their webs from the gutter to the wall. But i hate spiders, they're creepy.

Don't give up! You don't need a lot of space to attract wildlife. My girlfriend lives in a city flat and has no garden at all but has a couple of nutfeeders which attach to her back window with sticky pad things. She gets huge numbers of Greenfinches and Blue Tits and is regularly visited by a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a bird I wouldn't have believed would even be in the area unless I'd seen it myself.

You say you have slabs out the back so how about putting a couple of pots on them? Doesn't have to be expensive, a couple of pounds will buy you a largish plastic or unglazed ceramic pot (protect it from frost in the winter), add a drop of compost and you're good to go with your very own wildlife friendly planting.

Keeping things cheap (and fun) a wee packet of seed can be had for much cheapness from your local supermarket, garden centre or even pound shop.
I did Cosmos, Marigolds and Mesenbryanthemum from seed this year and all are very popular with the local bees and hoverflies.
I also grew teasels from seed last year to flower this year but they're maybe not such a good idea if you're tight on space (as I am); they're currently about 7 feet tall and look alarmingly Triffid-like. I'm a little scared to be honest I'm assured the Goldfinches will love them, but they're getting pulled out next year!

If you don't fancy growing from seed then check out your local supermarket or garden centre for plants in the early summer. I got 20 small lobelia for £3 from my local supermarket put them in some pots and they're now a riot of colour and absolutely covered with both bees and butterflies. The geraniums (£3 for 12) are also popular.

Just some suggestions but there's loads of other plants you could try most of them worthwhile for at least some wildlife and theres usually something to suit just about every budget.

Thanks for the suggestions we already have lots of plant pots outside but it never seem to attract birds and i haven't seen any bees around either.
However yesturday we saw a ants nest in the grass (just a a pile of mud), their are loads of ants all over the grass now, which is a bit of a nightmare because i have a little sister who loves to play on the grass and we are a bit wary as the ants may bite her, so now we take her to the local park. The ants nest is intersting though, there are black ants on the top of the nest and red ants underneath the nest.
I might buy a bird feeder and hopefully we should get some birds. We have a cat though.

[Sandra]

We have a cat though.

So we we but the birds are well able for him.

I hang the feeders in the hawthorn tree. The cat then climbed into the tree and waited patiently by the feeders. The birds then perched in the branches above him but just out of reach. He started climbing up after them and they fluttered ever upward and enticed him to the topmost branches. Then, that done (and knowing that him coming down a tree is akin to Mrs Doyle getting off the window sill in "Father Ted" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72UDyAUnit4 ), they flitted down to the feeders and left him up there.

[stacey2010]

Aww bless.

[Ritchie Michael]

If you want to make a garden beautiful is a choice of plants and colors that you want running through the garden. Work out what plants flower at particular times of the year and what colors will go best together. You should also consider how big the different types of plants will grow as you don't want one area of you garden to be overcrowded while another area has just a couple of smaller plants. To make a garden beautiful is to find the perfect mix of everything contained within it. Research the different types of plant that you think you would like and then narrow the list down until you have found the right mix and blend between them all. There are plenty of resources online that you can look at to determine what you feel is right for your garden.

Another element you need to consider if you want to make a garden look beautiful is any man made features such as a rockery or a waterfall, or a raised garden bed. Features such as these can really transform a garden and bring it to life. It can really enhance the whole area so it is well worth putting in the extra work to create one or two prominent features.

[Hawk_Eye]

A small pond is also worth considering. When we had one, we made it out of an old water-butt. Just cut it in half. Had a frog in their for a few years until it went AWOL.