Wildlife gold!!!

Day 290 #365DaysWild

Golden dandelions. Much maligned.
Deep-rooted lawn perennials.
Pre-digital timepieces!
And a diuretic.
You’ll wet the bed if you pick them!’


Previous generations of gardeners  (and many current ones too!) see (or saw) dandelions as the enemy. Out came the garden tools or

more perniciously the pesticides. Dr Hessayon, the doyen of lawn monoculture and author of ‘Be your own lawn expert’ led the war. I hope we’re reaching a turning point.

Dandelions are sooo important for our invertebrates. They can supply food to a number of different pollinators including bumblebees, butterflies, hover

flies, day flying moths and solitary bees.

They’re a fascinating species - or number of species and micro species. Look out for the different leaves to help identify.

If our aim as gardeners is to boost the population of invertebrates in order to boost those that depend on invertebrate food, dandelions are useful allies.

Wildlife gold!!
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Grovelling in gravel

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Orchard pond