Fired with enthusiasm during 2000 I spent a small fortune turning my small
concrete London wilderness into something like a garden. Improving
appalling soil full of compacted ash and fireplace debris (and just why does
every old terraced house have broken china buried in the back garden -
didn't they have dustbins in the old days?). I composted everything I could
lay my hands on, nurtured my carefully selected plants, watered, fed and did
everything short of tucking them up into bed.

And what does 2003 bring? Drought (at least it kept the slugs and snails
down), mildew, aphids, mice (well - a mouse), blackfly, a fox tunnelling
under the shed , vine weevils and NOW what I'm 90% sure is the second New
Zealand flatworm of the year. I snipped it in half yesterday and it still
curls up in a most revolting manner - yuk.

So why has all my hard work resulted in what seems to be a haven for the
peskiest pests? Despite encouraging the birds with a fat ball and daily
topped up bird table I have negligible bird life - a pair of blue tits,
resident magpies, a single sad robin (sometimes), the occasional wren and
blackbird; and couple of fat wood pigeons breeding like the clappers who
are the only daily visitors. During the Summer there were endless
hoverflies and lacewings. I have lots of wood lice but rarely see a beetle.
Should I just wait for a balance to be reached or can I be more proactive?

In article , hedgehog hedgehog@hedge
hog.homechoice.co.uk writes

Should I just wait for a balance to be reached or can I be more proactive?

Yep )))))))))
Except, I suppose, you could hunt the flatworms - there was a thread
about it a couple of years ago - something about providing them a nice
somethingOrOther to hide under, lifting it every couple of days and
doing for them.
Our garden reached a balance a few years ago but we have still had lots
of mildew this year
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason, put ransoms
at jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see

why does
every old terraced house have broken china buried in the back garden -
didn't they have dustbins in the old days?).

They had middens.

But I still turn up potsherds (usually blue and white) in our garden which
has been cultivated since 1937 when the house (a semi) was built.

I've tried and tried saving them to make whole items but never have ...

Mary

The message
from "hedgehog" contains these words:

and NOW what I'm 90% sure is the second New
Zealand flatworm of the year. I snipped it in half yesterday and it still
curls up in a most revolting manner - yuk.

You need to do more than that, to destroy their quite-large eggs
inside. I grind them underfoot on concrete until it's just a smear :-(.
Next, you need to hunt down its friends and family, under pots, plastic
sacks, stacked turves etc..anywhere cool and dark on the soil surface.

I discovered NZF here last spring and during The Purge killed dozens
more. I haven't seen any at all for several months and the earthworm
population is booming.

Don't worry about a few setbacks, all gardening is full of them, and
has taught me to be the patient calm and equable person I am

(ducks and runs)

Janet

Don't worry about a few setbacks, all gardening is full of them, and
has taught me to be the patient calm and equable person I am

Oh, don't spoil my image of you ... I rely on you to keep me from being
unique ...

Mary

(ducks and runs)

Janet

"hedgehog" wrote in message
...

I live in the south of France now, but I still look back on my little back
garden in London with great nostalgia. I think it amazing how all those
things manage to survive and thrive in such a polluted and dirty place as
London!

"Ric" wrote in message
...
:
: "hedgehog" wrote in message
: ...
:
: I live in the south of France now, but I still look back on my little back
: garden in London with great nostalgia. I think it amazing how all those
: things manage to survive and thrive in such a polluted and dirty place as
: London!
:
If that's the case, it must be amazing that all the inhabitants, including
me, have survived. The wonders of nature.

K

The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

Don't worry about a few setbacks, all gardening is full of them, and
has taught me to be the patient calm and equable person I am

Oh, don't spoil my image of you ... I rely on you to keep me from being
unique ...

Wumpus! Where are you when we need a demo?

--
Rusty Hinge
horrid·squeak&zetnet·co·uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

Thanks for the support - I was just having a bit of a bad garden day.
Despite the weevils and flatworms there seems no obvious damage (yet).
Thanks also for the tip about the eggs - I chucked the remains in the bin
today. It was obviously a very stupid flatworm because I only noticed it
when moving an outside plastic doormat on the patio. It had trapped itself
in one of the small holes. I have very dry soil so maybe it was alone.

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "hedgehog" contains these words:

and NOW what I'm 90% sure is the second New
Zealand flatworm of the year. I snipped it in half yesterday and it
still
curls up in a most revolting manner - yuk.

You need to do more than that, to destroy their quite-large eggs
inside. I grind them underfoot on concrete until it's just a smear :-(.
Next, you need to hunt down its friends and family, under pots, plastic
sacks, stacked turves etc..anywhere cool and dark on the soil surface.

I discovered NZF here last spring and during The Purge killed dozens
more. I haven't seen any at all for several months and the earthworm
population is booming.

Don't worry about a few setbacks, all gardening is full of them, and
has taught me to be the patient calm and equable person I am

(ducks and runs)

Janet

"Janet Baraclough" wrote
Don't worry about a few setbacks, all gardening is full of them,
and
has taught me to be the patient calm and equable person I am

(ducks and runs)
Janet

Its amazing isn't it what you can learn later in life........ "~)

Jenny

"Jaques d'Altrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these
words:

Don't worry about a few setbacks, all gardening is full of
them, and
has taught me to be the patient calm and equable person I am

Oh, don't spoil my image of you ... I rely on you to keep me from
being
unique ...

Wumpus! Where are you when we need a demo?
Rusty Hinge

Wumpus doesn't 'do' URG (at least I don't think she does....)
Jenny

In article , hedgehog hedgehog@hedge
hog.homechoice.co.uk writes
Thanks for the support - I was just having a bit of a bad garden day.
Despite the weevils and flatworms there seems no obvious damage (yet).
Thanks also for the tip about the eggs - I chucked the remains in the bin
today.


Er . . I think that is illegal, isn't it?
You are supposed to notify the authorities aren't you?
Anyway, chucking it in the bin without following Janet's advice will do
nothing but spread the things elsewhere ((((((((((
--
Jane Ransom in Lancaster.
I won't respond to private emails that are on topic for urg
but if you need to email me for any other reason, put ransoms
at jandg dot demon dot co dot uk where you see

The message
from "JennyC" contains these words:

Its amazing isn't it what you can learn later in life........ "~)

Keep trying and pray for a miracle, Jenny

8-}

Janet.

The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these
words:

Oh, don't spoil my image of you ... I rely on you to keep me from
being
unique ...

Get some delusions of your own, woman, then you won't be unique and I
won't have anything to worry about.

There. Feel better now?

Janet.

"Jaques d'Altrades" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:

Don't worry about a few setbacks, all gardening is full of them, and
has taught me to be the patient calm and equable person I am

Oh, don't spoil my image of you ... I rely on you to keep me from being
unique ...

Wumpus! Where are you when we need a demo?

Erm ... I'm all over the place. Leeds based (Yorkshire). On telly next
month.

Mary

--
Rusty Hinge
horrid·squeak&zetnet·co·uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm