The view from your side of the fence
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Going hog wild
With the help of our BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine subscription we started turning our very standard garden into a wildlife garden. We put in a pond, a huge bug hotel, hedgehog houses and bat houses, and picked flowers and plants that would attract bees. We also got rid of our lawn and now have paths, beds and more spaces for insects and nature to hide within.
We were very excited when the hedgehogs started appearing, and felt excitement beyond measure when our hedgehog had hoglets in our garden. Here is a photo! In the words of Kevin Costner, “If you build it, they will come”!
Jo Sheppard, by email
I was interested to hear GW Editor Kevin Smith lamenting the lack of hedgehogs in his garden (Welcome, February issue). I have lived in the same property for 42 years and never seen a hedgehog. We have a very large garden with everything that they could require. Passage between the properties is mainly through native hedging. There are fields across the road and behind the gardens. I know there are none about because we have never seen a squashed one on the road outside.
So I wonder if Kevin’s lack of spiny friends is because of another animal? He describes a suburban environment but mentions a copse nearby. Does he have badgers?
Diane Cooper, Buckinghamshire
OUR WILDLIFE EDITOR SAYS: Badgers are predators of hedgehogs but the two have coexisted for millennia without problems.
Hedgehog declines are a result of human activity, although studies suggest they fare better in urban areas, due to the network of different gardens and habitats.
Golden memories
Your article on the golden rain tree (Grow something different, January issue) brought back memories of my old job, where I looked onto one of these trees from my window.
There was always something to look at – the yellow flowers and then the unusual seed pods, not to mention the birds that used the tree. During my time at work, someone who had germinated a few seeds promised me one for my garden but then I left work and lost his details. I was therefore delighted to see this article. I have ordered one and not only will I have some great memories when I look at it, it will give great value to my garden. I look forward to seeing what is suggested next!
Sue Davies, by email
Grow your own way
After reading the article regarding the House of Lords report into boosting horticulture in the UK (Digging deeper, January issue), I think it would be amazing to
