The Wild Garden

Hello one and all,

The year is quickening, and very soon, the darker months of winter will be upon us once again. Out here in the garden, all is still looking quite colourful despite the changing of the seasons. It is a time where those of you who have a wild garden, or have the desire to build one, should be working on it now in preparation for next year. It needs tidying and you'll need to plant new things for next year. As a frog, I know a whole lot about wild gardening and what you need to attract all manner of wild creatures onto your own little patch, including the frogs that up to now, are living close by and unseen.

My friend Bob tells me, that when many of you are in the process of moving into new homes, you frequently chop down the trees you find there, irrationally seeing them as some kind of a blight on the landscape. I ask you, what possible harm have these trees ever done, or likely to do to you? Believe it or not, they are your friends. For a start, the leaves of these trees take in all that filthy carbon dioxide you humans have the nasty habit of chucking everywhere, then as a reward, they release oxygen, which as all of you know, keeps you in the land of the living. So, leave those trees rightly where they are, unless of course, they represent a danger to your house or your family. But never cut them down just for the miserable sake of it.

Not only are the trees important to the overall structure of a wild garden, you must include the shrubs and flowers too. Plants like marigold, geranium, lobelia, heathers, lupin, spiraea, aubrieta, campanulas, buddleia, violas, fleabane, chrysanthemums and many more should form a part of the overall effect. The greater the variety of shrubs and flowers that you grow, the more varied the insect life, usually beneficial, you will encourage into your garden. Frogs, just like me, rely on many of these insects to keep us alive and thriving. At the same time, some creatures that will come into you garden will seem like a veritable curse, such as (cats in particular!) slugs and snails and the like. Yet, we frogs enjoy these latter slimy pests and will help you to dispose of them as fast as we can eat them. Others benefits that derive from having insects like hoverflies, especially if you grow your own vegetables, is that they attack the little monsters that see your produce as their own source of food.

If you haven't got a pond, then it's time to build one. This is quite easy, just dig a large hole around three metres by four, making sure that it's at least two thirds of a metre deep and leave a shelf on the outer edge deep enough to take marginal plants, flag iris, brooklime, monkey flower and the like. Don't forget to make sure that the sides of the pond are level. Now, making sure that your pond liner is bigger than the pond itself, first line it with sand or old carpet. This will stop the liner being punctured by stones and make the liner last a whole lot longer too. If your pond is out in the open sun, the light will encourage the growth of duck weed, and believe me, this is something you don't want in the garden. Try and set up your pond in the shade, although not too close to a tree. conceal the edges of your pond with grasses and sedges, slabs of rock, gravel and soil for that truly natural look. You'll be surprised just how quick it will look as though your pond had been there for years.

If you have a large enough area around your pond, and you find yourself with some liner left over, you could think about digging a shallow depression, lay the liner in it, pierce it with a garden fork and then cover it with soil. This will provide you with a moist area for plants that enjoy boggy conditions, hosta, purple loosestrife, grass of parnassus, water avens and many more besides.

For some weeks after you have put water into your pond, it may resemble snail soup. Have a little patience and with time it will become crystal clear. Of course, don't forget to put some pond weed in, but remove any nasty strips of lead weight that may come wrapped around the base of it, otherwise, this will poison the water. It will be better to tie your weed to a flattish stone with a piece of garden string. Pond weed can include hornwort and canadian pondweed. Don't forget things like water lilies, frogbit, water hyacinth and others. Also, place some old logs near your pond, so that frogs and other creatures have somewhere to hide during the winter months.

I'll be going into hibernation soon, but as luck would have it, Bob has agreed to talk to you until I return next spring. Remember, although the garden you have may be yours, you actually share it with hundreds of other creatures, including the birds. It's nice to share...

Take care,

Froggy