Crafty Dannii's World

Helping our visitor Hedgehogs It is that time of year again, we are all looking to neaten up our gardens if we haven’t already, remove any debris, de-weed and mow our lawns. We may even be fixing up some of our fence panels and filling in holes. I’d like to ask you to please take extra care when removing any debris; you may have a little prickly friend visiting and nesting down under the wood, bricks or leaves. Please lift your items up gently and have a peak before potentially disturbing them. They may also have some little hoglets, also referred to as pups, urchins, kits or piglets, that shouldn’t be disturbed, otherwise their mother may abandon them or eat them. Mother hedgehogs will feed their babies until they are around 8 weeks old, before they venture out on their own. Sadly the hedgehog population is in a huge decline, we need to help look out for our late night garden visitors. It is estimated that the hedgehog population has fallen by 30% - 50%, since 2000. They do usually pr...

Spring is on its way and you can now start preparing your garden. First thing you can do is check your soil in various spaces of your garden, this can help you decide what plants should thrive in those areas. Take into consideration the soil, where the sun goes, at what time of day and what animals have access through your garden. You can pick up soil pH testing kits for around £10-£20, just scrape some soil into the pot, add some solution and you should get a colour either red, orange, yellow or green. Green means you have more alkaline soil (8-14) and red would be more acidic (0-7)  Alkaline soil plants: Lily of the valley - popular plant that loves alkaline soil. Polemoniums - pretty flower to bring colour to your garden, loves thick alkaline soil, add mulch to bulk out the soil before planting. Lavender - adding some depth to your garden, loves to be in the full sun, will add scent and help keep the flies away. Rosemary and Thyme - both love to be grown in well drained soil in ...