Herald - Issue 396

Page 42 • The HERALD • 8th October 2020 v SAY YOU SAW IT IN THE HERALD v SPADEWORK Family Landscaping & Fencing Team ] Decking & Natural Sandstone Paving ] Patios ] Driveways ] Block Paving ] Turfing ] All Types of Domestic & Commercial Fencing ] Security Fencing Supplied & Fitted Tel: (023) 8089 4909 Mobile: 07703 566814 u F ree E stimates u F ully I nsured Qualified, knowledgeable and friendly husband and wife team with over 15 years experience specialising in one off garden tidy ups. Fully insured. * Garden out of control and need bringing back to a maintainable level? * Require a seasonal cut back for jobs too big for you or your equipment? * Just finished house renovations and the garden needs some TLC? * Recently moved into or are preparing to sell your property? * Have a forthcoming special event planned in your garden? Whatever the reason please use the contact details below to book in your tailored quote. Tel: 07775 528836 Email: bgsgroundcare@gmail.com The Tidy Garden Company Hampshire • Tree Felling • Tree Shaping • Tree Purning & Thinning • Crown Reduction • Crown Lifting • Complete Tree Removal • Site Clearance • Dead Wooding • Hedge Cutting & Shaping • Gardening Evening: 01794 522092 Daytime Mobile: 07946 513633 Email: treefellers@gmx.com All aspects of Gardening carried out by reliable gardener a Grass Cutting a Hedge Cutting a Border Maintenance, Pruning, Weeding a Treating of Fencing/Trellis/Outbuildings a Pressure Washing of Patios/Decking The Potty Gardener Contact Kev on 07585 115569 or 023 8084 8638 | DOWN THE GARDEN PATH | Send your local news to The Editor, The Herald, 2 High Street, Hythe SO45 6AH Wildlife: Helping Through Winter Advice from RHS By putting out additional food, gardeners can make a signi cant contribution to supporting wildlife over winter. It is also a great way to watch wildlife even in the smallest of gardens or balconies, o en at very close quarters. ese tasks will help turn your garden into a wildlife haven, increasing the diversity of creatures that can not only survive but thrive. Garden birds, in particular, bene t from feeding year round, but winter is a time to provide foodstu s with a high fat content to help keep them warm. Feed regularly so that birds will not waste vital energy visiting your garden when there is no food. Aim to carry out these tasks from late autumn (or as soon as hard frosts arrive) until mid-spring. Helping wildlife It is surprisingly easy to do something to help garden wildlife in the lean and cold months of winter. Even if you carry out just a few of the following tasks, it can make a di erence. mesh held just o the ground will entice ground- feeding birds such as robins and dunnocks. • rushes and blackbirds favour fruit. Scatter over-ripe apples, raisins and song-bird mixes on the ground for them. • Consider planting berrying and fruiting trees and shrubs such as Malus, Cotoneaster and Pyracantha t o ll gaps. Looking after other creatures • Check bon res before they are lit for sheltering and hibernating animals, such as hedgehogs, toads and frogs. • Melt a hole in the ice on ponds to allow the wildlife to drink, and enter and exit the water. Fill a sauce pan with hot water and sit it on the ice until a hole has been melted. Do not hit or crack ice as this can send shockwaves through the water that harms wildlife. • Be careful when you turn compost heaps. As these are o en warm, they can be the winter resort of frogs, toads and other animals. • Provide a shallow dish or container of water at ground level. is will bene t other garden wildlife that needs to drink, as well as birds. • Make an insect or bug hotel and put up in a sheltered position. Overwintering ladybirds and lacewings will nd this useful. • In late winter, clean out bird boxes so they are ready for new nests in spring. • Leave healthy herbaceous and hollow-stemmed plants unpruned until early spring. ese can provide homes for overwintering insects. Problems It is di cult to exclude bigger visitors such as pigeons and squirrels from a traditional bird table. Feeders give more control over what you attract and most designs can be tted with squirrel guards. Helping birds • Help birds in winter by placing fat blocks in wire cages. Balls in plastic nets are not recommended as birds such as woodpeckers can get their tongues caught. • Create your own fat blocks by melting suet into moulds such as coconut shells or logs with holes drilled in. • Alternate di erent recipes to entice a range of birds; peanut cakes for starlings, insect cakes for tits and berry cakes for nches. • Put out nely chopped bacon rind and grated cheese for small birds such as wrens. • Although fat is important, do also provide a grain mix or nuts to maintain a balanced diet. • Sparrows, nches and nuthatches will enjoy prising the seeds out of sun ower heads. • No-mess mixes are more expensive but the inclusion of de-husked sunflower hearts means there is less waste. Inferior mixes are o en padded out with lentils. • Use wire mesh feeders for peanuts and seed feeders for other seed. Specially designed feeders are needed for the tiny niger seed, loved by gold nches. • Feed placed on a wire Robin in winter. Image: RHS Advisory