u/RebelWithACardigan

I’m planning my first wildlife pond. I’d love to learn from your experiences please. Any pearls of wisdom for a newbie starting from scratch?

Hello. I’m planning our first wildlife pond which we’re hoping to start work on in September. I have an old koi pond which will need to be drained before the new pond work starts. There are a few newts and a couple of frogs in there. What’s the best way to provide for them during the build? It will take weeks as it’s part of larger garden projects.
I have an old doggy paddling pool that could be used. Any advice? Thanks in advance.

First year veg grower. I’ve had terrible germination rates. I want to do some more sowing this weekend and looking for your tips please.
What ‘potting mix’ do you use? I’ve tried mixing in vermiculite, perlite, or straight from the bag (two different brands of seed starting mix). No clear winners. I even sieved the first few batches but it made no difference, not bothering with this anymore I don’t think.
Also I can’t seem to get watering right. I think I drowned my earlier sowings, but now the weather is warmer than when I started back in March…does that mean a germinating seed needs more water like a plant might? Or is overwatering still a possibility?
If you’re in the UK now and sowing into trays, where are you keeping them? Is the greenhouse too hot (I feel like my last sowings, a few days before the heatwave, were too hot in the greenhouse).
Thanks in advance

Hi there,
I have some very noisy owls where I live…I’m so curious to know what they are, and if they are going to call like this year round as I might need to invest in some decent earplugs 😂 Every night they seem to circle our garden for a good while, using the either the apex of the roof (above my room) or the balcony rail for a rest spot. They are so loud…and here I am awake again at the witching hour.
They squeak, rather than ‘hoot’
I’m in the Uk on the Welsh border.
I tried to post a video of the sound a few weeks ago but it got stuck in moderation.
Can anyone ID by sound that might be able to help? I’ve watched lots of YouTube but couldn’t ID them even though the sound is very distinctive.
Thank you!

Hello all,
This is my first summer in a new house and the garden is beautiful. We’re in a very rural area and there are loads of rabbits around.
There’s a dry border at the back of the garden with a slight slope. Not much growing there and there’s a very wild patch of ground behind (hawthorn/elder/nettles etc). I was thinking of trying a wild flower border for next year, mostly because it’s a big area and I don’t have much budget, a seed start will be a winner.
Any ideas about how that might mix with rabbits. Much of the planting that is in and established (elsewhere in the garden) is fine, anything young, lush or low growing is being munched. I planted some echinacea at the weekend thinking ok…tough leaves, slightly hairy…they should be ok, but they’ve eaten the lot.
Would a wildflower border stand a chance?! 😁 Thanks in advance!