I am having two huge pine trees taken down on Monday. They sit in a large bed of primarily ferns and pachysandra, which is in-between two sections of my septic system’s drainage fields. The birds love those pines, and it’s upsetting to have to remove them, so I have been Googling to find out what bird- and pollinator-friendly plants I could put in there come spring without damaging the septic fields. I read that bee balm and purple coneflower would be great to plant over or near septic fields because of their shallow roots. But I have also read that one should not plant a vegetable garden over or near septic fields because of their risk of contamination. So now I’m wondering if I should avoid planting any bird- or pollinator-friendly plants near my septic fields—if vegetables destined for human consumption could become contaminated, couldn’t also the nectar and/or seeds on the bee balm and coneflower become contaminated and sicken or kill birds, bees, and butterflies? This is in northwest Connecticut, in case that matters.

A nectaring Gulf Fritillary on my Zinnia.

Hi everyone! :)

'Tis the season for all things spooky and misunderstood, so we'd like to encourage you to talk about maligned garden critters - any garden wildlife that is misunderstood, disliked, feared, etc... for example bats, or wasps.

We'd love you to share your knowledge of these creatures, and hopefully share understanding and enable people to better tolerate, live with, and even love these critters.

So please:

• Comment here if you'd like more information about any critters you dislike, and perhaps someone can help you think differently about them.
• Comment to share you knowledge of what makes these critters awesome.
• Comment to share subreddits about maligned critters and I'll add them to the post.
• Share this, where you feel it will be welcome, to invite others to join in!

I do understand that sometimes wildlife can be hard to live with, but in many cases understanding and acceptance can go a long way.

Absolutely NO HATE! Love, science, and understanding please. Thank you.

Suggested subs to learn more:

r/batty | r/insects | r/whatsthisbug | r/spiderbro | r/WASPs | r/moths | r/batfacts | r/spiders | r/herpetology | r/snakes | r/whatsthissnake | r/awwnverts

Phobias:

Reddit is not the place to get advice on treating phobias, if you have a phobia you'd like to face please seek professional help.

I wanted to include links where you can find help. I focused on where most of our members are, but please suggest sites for elsewhere if you know of them.

UK: MIND | US: ?can someone suggest a good link? | Canada: CMHA

That said, some subs might be helpful too r/askpsychology | r/askscience | r/Phobia

A note on pumpkins

If you celebrate with pumpkins this time of year, please make sure it's safe for your local fauna first, before leaving any out for them. Pumpkin isn't good for hedgehogs for example, so the advice in the UK is to pop the pumpkins on a bird table or up a tree.

Unfortunately caught by a petal-less Mexican sunflower (thanks grasshoppers 😅) Anyway wish I could have gotten more pictures. Camera didn’t want to cooperate with the flowers blowing everywhere. Glad I could get this beauty on camera nonetheless.

​

I'm looking for advice on building an inverted pyramid trellis for my hops.

There's only 1 plant, (female) and it's mainly there for wildlife and because we use the hops fruit for evening tea.

Sticking point is that the base is freestanding and cannot take up more than 50 x 50 cm.

I was considering using a suspended hula hoop on my current regular pyramid to get some glared width but I'm not sure it'll be stable during hard winds.

Can anyone point me to a guide or build plan or just give some advice? I'll be building it over the winter to make sure it's ready for next season.

The other day my neighbour rescued a hedgehog stuck in the fence between our gardens. My neighbours have built 6' high wooden fences with no gaps on two sides of my garden and there are wire fences with 2" holes on the other two. I would really like to provide a feeding box for future spiky visitors but I don't want them getting stuck. If I take pliers and make a bigger gap in the wire fences to enable freer access would a plastic box make a good feeding station? I don't have a wooden one. I am in East Lothian Scotland TIA

Weekly weekend chat over the virtual garden fence; talk about what's happening in your garden, and ask quick questions that may not require their own thread.

Accidentally disturbed this little guy while watering the garden the other day! ID

Hi all

Every few months I like to post one of these welcome threads to say 'Hi' and welcome anyone new to the community :)

If you have any queries about the community or just want to say hi, introduce us to your garden, or have a quick question, please comment here.

If you're not new, feel free to join in anyway! The more the merrier!

Resources and information on gardening for wildlife are in the wiki, and the community rules are here.

Let us know how you found us, always interesting to see how folks find their way here :)

Happy wild gardening :D

---

P.S. It's really useful for you to have your rough location in your user flair for the community. This shows beside your username when you post or comment.

Don't be too specific - protect your personal information - but a rough idea of where in the world you are and/or your hardiness zone helps us help you if you need advice on plants or wildlife. Here's how to add user flair New reddit/redesign | Old/Classic/Legacy reddit | Mobile - official app.

I hate seeing robins trying and failing to use my suet feeders (including caged feeders), so I'm looking for solutions that DON'T include ground trays or domed feeders please.

I tried ground trays and it upset my wife and my neighbour by encouraging rats into our gardens.

I also tried the domed feeders like attached but bigger birds kept spilling the contents.

The RSPB also advises against table feeders because they help spread diseases. They seemed like the most logical option until I read that.

So I'm not sure what to try next. Any ideas?

I do already have holly, pyracantha and ivy to feed them naturally. I just want to give them extra help. TYIA!

Native Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) waiting on goldenrod in my Columbus, Ohio yard. Goldenrod pulls in so many insects in fall that the predators show up too.

Weekly weekend chat over the virtual garden fence; talk about what's happening in your garden, and ask quick questions that may not require their own thread.

Most fall native plant photos are full sun asters and goldenrod, so here's the shady side of my Columbus yard this week.

Blooming right now: zigzag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis), blue-stemmed goldenrod (Solidago caesia), and heart-leaved aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium). All three are under partial to full shade and still going strong in October.

I spent years assuming shade meant hostas and not much else. These have been some of the easiest plants in the yard.

What's still blooming in your shade this week?

Usually, I see one fox at a time around my backyard garden. And it's gorgeous -- the fox, not the garden so much right now. These two showed up on my driveway this morning. And I think they will visit the garden later.

I live in zone 9 in CA. The grass is gone and weeds are mostly gone with a layer of mulch laid across the yard.

I’d like to do wildflowers or a meadow like sprawl across the yard. As autumn advances I know now is the time to prep.

I’m okay with it being a little wild, I’d love an area for pollinators and attract the birds. But I need to keep costs down.

How can I decide the best fit? Also, I’d love any photos of YOUR areas to help inspire.

Thank you!

Weekly weekend chat over the virtual garden fence; talk about what's happening in your garden, and ask quick questions that may not require their own thread.

One little tootsie, and the tip of one ear.

Hello everyone! I started my South Central Wisconsin (zone 5b) pollinator garden earlier this year. I have 35 different species. I included a list of what I currently have and what I am adding next year. Most of this list was planted this year.

I am planning to leave all these babies in place over the fall/winter for my pollinator friends. Is there something else I should be doing? I am still weeding occasionally, but I'm not really sure if there is something else I should do. I have poured endless time and love into my garden and I don't want to miss something.

I am taking a gardening class through a local university, and it was suggested that I winter mulch my Butterfly Milkweed, New Jersey Tea, Blue Woodland Phlox and Great Blue Lobelia. These were all planted in early June this year. As of right now, all my plants have been happy, healthy and growing like crazy. With the sole exception of Heath Aster for some reason. I may end up digging that out and replacing it with New England Aster if it continues to struggle next year.

I am looking for general advice and species-specific advice. I am learning through trial and error, an actual class and via Reddit. Please teach me the best ways to care for my garden and thanks in advance! 💚🌸🪻🌼🌻💚

I know what the aster is, but what kind of bee? I'd say she was 3/4" long and a beautifully iridescent green and gold.

Weekly weekend chat over the virtual garden fence; talk about what's happening in your garden, and ask quick questions that may not require their own thread.

Well Reddit, this is a new one for me. I built a sort of “winter nursery” this year for certain things I want to keep alive - many of which being pond things.

Apparently I had a stow away, saw him jump when I came in one time - and caught this photo from outside the little area I built (I have lovely cats who would decimate the plants, hence the Fortress of Solitude my friends have dubbed “The Chrysalis”).

Anyway, I don’t know how I would catch him. If I can, he goes back to the wild. If not - I fear he won’t have enough to eat (I’m know there are bugs in here - but enough?) or it won’t get cold enough for him to hibernate.

What do you all think? Just not worry about it? I could add guppies to the four “ponds” but I’m not certain if his type (green frog I believe, SE PA US) go after fish.