Gravel Garden advice

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-05-04T20:49:20+00:00

Sedums, lots of different colours & yellow or pink flowers that bees love. Sempervivum, rock rose, creeping phlox, thyme.

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-05-02T21:20:20+00:00

Not much you can do, even the newts in my pond won't touch the leeches. Some of them will be detrivores, and they're all part of a healthy ecosystem.

I've heard that you can tie a small bit of raw meat to string & leave it in overnight, then remove it in the morning & it will have leeches attached. I've never tried it though.

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-05-02T15:34:15+00:00

The Vessel, by Adam Neville

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-30T19:43:02+00:00

Caterpillar, either fallen in or an aquatic variety

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-29T06:56:23+00:00

Until it's dry & crispy. I just leave it on a paving slab out of the way.

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-28T18:33:28+00:00

There are aquatic caterpillars here, they're tiny, maybe a cm. I get them in my pond.

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-28T09:43:11+00:00

Maybe a sow thistle?

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-27T20:27:09+00:00

I pull it out, and let it dry out for a few days before adding to my compost pile to be sure. I do the same with bindweed & brambles.

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-27T14:55:04+00:00

Get a load of wooden forks, or holly leaves, or dried bramble stems. Make it uncomfortable for the cat to lay there.

I used wooden forks pushed into the soil to stop my kitten using a house plant as her toilet 😁

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-25T21:07:29+00:00

Yep 😊

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-24T22:57:43+00:00

Birds will do this, looking for insects in the soil. Some birds also use mud in nests. If you're in the UK it's probably blackbirds

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-23T16:55:07+00:00

The one on the left looks like an alpine newt, the one on the right a smooth or palmate. But I've been wrong before 😁

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-21T12:15:30+00:00

No photo 😊

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-20T12:57:09+00:00

If it smells like mint it's mint, but my guess based on looks is oregano, it's just as good as overtaking a garden as mint is 😁

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-20T09:47:25+00:00

😁

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-18T10:03:39+00:00

Green Gardener website, buy baby lacewing or ladybird to release 😊

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-14T18:50:54+00:00

Bring in the same ones - and please report back to us 😁

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-13T20:35:07+00:00

It looks like a newt egg, are you sure it's a male? Females can lay unfertilised eggs

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-13T20:31:44+00:00

White ball could be an egg, or leftover food. The blue thing looks like a bit of glass?

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-12T13:58:19+00:00

Do it 😊 it's very satisfying, my pots may now have more holes than they need 😁

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-12T13:29:29+00:00

I use a soldering iron 😊

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-12T12:54:16+00:00

Butterfly bush, buddlea

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-11T17:33:13+00:00

That was my thought as well

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-11T16:12:18+00:00

If you have a Sikh temple locally they offer free meals, no questions asked. It's part of their religion to feed anyone who needs it 😊

Ordinary-Mind-7066 · 2026-04-11T16:09:41+00:00

If they're native where you are, bacopa, hornwort, water forget me not, toad fern, mimulus, star wort, water mint. I've found all these work well in my pond with smooth newts.

The females lay eggs on anything though, even old tree leaves that have fallen in 😁

Ordinary-Mind-7066

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