Chelsea ,Best In Show…What do YOU think.

Not many gardeners welcome rabbits, badgers, deer etc.

I feed foxes but they are a pest in digging holes all the time, I have one squirrel which I tolerate nicking all the bird food, but if I get more then something will have to change.

 

Yeah you're right, edited it to "most wildlife"!

Nick

 

I like the natural look of the garden, it makes a change to seeing something that's perfectly laid out without a leaf or pebble out of place.

Replace the rabbits with hares and add foxes - that's my garden. I've only ever seen one squirrel.

 

I don't mind the wildlife and living in an area surrounded by farmland and woods we see plenty. The only unwelcomed visitors last winter were the squirrels as they seemed to have developed a taste for our caravan covering and chewed through it making it completely useless.

I don't watch Chelsea, as someone said ( pete I think) it's just a collection of film sets.

 

So how come I've been 'visited' by deer, wild boar, martens, hares and rabbits? As for wasps and hornets, don't get me started

 

I agree with Monty Don. It's not a garden, it's a landscape.

 

I think it is brilliant. And as equally difficult to produce as the usual show gardens.

 

Yeah but you don't go out of your way to attract them, they just know you don't like them and do their best to piss you off.
Or maybe you look like a weedy field
I retract that remark.

I just get fed up when environmentalists condemn farmers in Africa for killing lions or Elephants when the likes of DEFRA are doing their best to wipe out badgers etc.

A total bunch of hypocrites the lot of them.

 

Actually, you're not far off the mark. When we arrived here the surrounding fields were beautifully clean and cultivated. Now, thanks to the greenies, they're quickly giving way to all the pernicious weeds like horsetail fern, bindweed and field thistle that the farmers used to keep under control but now have no means of combatting. The ecolo fanatics in Brussels don't have a clue about the need for judicious use of systemic weedkillers in certain situations. They won't be the ones to feel the effects on their land, either, or the effects on their shopping budget when the yields become less and less.

 

Well, after watching Ep9 which was supposedly about wildlife gardening, I'm both annoyed and pleased by some bits. WTF was that large segment about Jasper Conran even doing in there? He just seemed to let stuff self-seed occasionally and that was it! Of course, he has a gardener to keep it all in check if need be, which many people don't and simply can't afford, certainly working on that scale. Then Monty asks him if he thinks being knowledgeable is necessary to be a good gardener. Well, how the bloody hell would Jasper know if it is, since he apparently isn't?

I was however absolutely chuffed to see the bit on stumperies despite shamefully still not having one, but from what I've read simply half-burying deadwood hugely increases its wildlife potential. It's such a simple step most of us can take since so many of us have deadwood lying around, and it (refreshingly) costs nothing! And nice to see the role and importance of fungi mentioned in another segment, which is of course a related topic!

Good to also see presenters making it clear that wildlife-friendly gardening doesn't have to be messy, it's a myth that frustratingly seems to persist and prevent many from embracing such a rewarding aspect of gardening!

What I'd like to see in future years (if they're serious about wildlife gardening) is things like looking at how this sort of gardening can benefit us and not just wildlife, in terms of things like mental health. And what about growing more plants that provide seed for birds? Yes, there isn't much there and not for a particularly long period in smaller gardens, but if we all did it, what sort of impact would it have? And for the love of God, please give us a break from celebrities gardening and get someone who seriously knows their stuff on for a change for an interview or Q&A, like Adrian Thomas of the RSPB or Dave Goulson!

Finally, and I've said this recently on another gardening forum, there seems to be a lot of emphasis on what we can "do", which I think intertwines wildlife-friendliness with effort in the layman's perception. But so much that has brought great results for me is simply about what I've allowed to happen in the garden, like ceasing the use of chemical sprays or letting the Hedera helix do its own thing in an area of my garden.

Right, I'll get off my soapbox and mercifully pipe down now!

Nick

 

@Nikolaos ,why don't you send that off in an e mail to the bbc marked FAO Monty Donn.

 

I think far more intelligent and knowledgeable people will probably be contacting the BBC about this after watching the show than me, @pete! And despite a couple of things in it seriously irking me, I'm still really pleased overall that Chelsea and the BBC are tackling the subject of wildlife gardening to such an extent in the first place!

Nick

 

Brilliant! Yes, it's often just little adaptations we can make to gardening we already do that can make quite a significant difference, so I'm loving your way of thinking! I think I came across a really good article a few months ago showing alternative plants used in bedding that were still fairly impressive-looking and also very pollinator-friendly, so I'll try to locate it!

Nick

 

@JWK I don't watch the Chelsea tv coverage because of the amount of time given over to the worship of inane celebrities who I've never heard of.

I watch the programme because I like gardening
The Woke BBC will have influence on who and what they show
This year we saw some nauseating garden wrecks which got upvotes galore
Never a mention of Hollyhock plants. It must be the year for Delphiniums