Wild plants on the allotment

[weekendwellies]

I am new to lotties. The site I have used to be an unused area at the back of some garages that the council decided to turn over to allotments. I have on my patch a nice, fairly small (thigh high) broom or gorse bush, not sure which. I would like to keep this as I am keen to keep a natural balance as possible. And I think this probably would encourage the insects to the area. What is everyones opinion on this sort of thing. I wont let it grow too big in the future, and it does provide some nice colour in the early months of the year when not much else is flowering. I would just have to adapt the regimented oblong beds and paths that I am planning to fit around it.

Also what do you think about a wildlife pond on a plot. Not too deep or wide as my plot is a half plot. I thought a full one would be too much to take on considering all the digging and weeding that I will need to do this year.

[Flummery]

When the gorse is in flower, kissing's in season!

A pond is great for wildlife but check it is safe for children too.

[Snadger]

If it's gorse it will have prickles........if it's broom it will have 'peapod' seed heads!

[greendean]

i have a small pond to attract wildlife on my allotment and plenty of flowering shrubs and climbers to keep the birds and bees happy. The pond is well protected from the kids though so there's not accidents. Still waiting for some frogs or toads to set up home

[Fluorescent green]

Could not agree more. I have a pond, covered by an old gate so no-one can fall in.

FG

[Two_Sheds]

Gorse has yellow flowers that smell like coconut (and prickles, like Snadger said)

I have a Broom on my plot, and I keep it pruned to about 3 ft high and wide.

[Eyren]

When the gorse is in flower, kissing's in season!

It was courting rather than kissing in the version I learnt when I were a lass (in Notts) - but the idea's the same (gorse blooms pretty much all year round)

[Victoria26]

I've just got my first allotment too. I am at the planning stage and have incorporated two long wildflower trenches running the full length up either side of my plot.

I like rigidity and uniformed beds but will be incorporating a wildlife pond and different wild features in there too. Best of both worlds.

[Rossa]

Me too, first time with a lottie. We've no room for a pond and near a canal and river anyway, so swans, geese, ducks, frogs etc already. And pigeons and rabbits to deal with.

Which wildflowers are best ones to grow to encourage bees and other beneficial species? Think I read that bees prefer blue flowers. Do they need to be scented to attract them?

[marigold007]

I have two huge patches of purple flowering comfrey on my allotment which I am going to keep and turn the areas around it into a wildlife haven. One of the comfreys have an impressive patch of lords and ladies growing near them. I plan to add pot marigolds, tagetes, cornflowers, buddleia, poppy, sweet allysum, lavender and a huge herb garden in another section. Insects also love fruit flowers, which I plan on growing a lot of. I plan on adding a small section of sand and rocks for insects to sun on and maybe a shallow dish of water. I'm sure I'll think of more as I go on.

Oh! I'm also going to build a minibeast mansion out of pallets, which I saw on Wild About Your Garden's episode on Minibeasts in Redbridge.

[Rossa]

Umm, what are lords and ladies?

The rest sounds amazing. I'm going to put my thinking cap on and work out what I can do with the "spare" space around the veggie beds.

[Creemteez]

A wildlife pond does not have to be very big or deep to attract visitors. I have heard of frogs spawning in an upturned dustbin lid that was left to fill wilth rain water!!! Judging by the frogspawn in the PUDDLES(!) on my regular walks with the dog in a local wood, frogs will leave it just about anywhere! This dry spell has left me wondering whether to go on my walks armed with a bucket and move some of the deposits to less precarious homes!

[weekendwellies]

When my kids were small I used to walk the dog in a country park near where I live. There was a pond which would dry out every summer and I used to collect some spawn each spring and put it in an old fish tank. The kids loved to watch the eggs develop and the tadpoles hatch and grow into froglets. But you do have to release them as soon as they turn into frogs as they drown otherwise.
I used to feed them on some fish food that came in little tablet form. It crumbled really easily and the tadpoles could eat the tiny grains.

[weekendwellies]

Thanks for all your replies. I think I will make a small pond, and keep the broom or gorse. I will check out if it is prickly, smells of coconut or has pods on it on Saturday when I go again.

[marigold007]

Lords and Ladies, whose Latin name is Arum maculatum, is a common woodland plant, and is also called Cuckoo Pint. Its root is edible and can be roasted or ground to make a hot drink. I think it has lovely leaves and a pretty flower that is followed by poisonous red berries.

More info on wikipedia:
Arum maculatum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia