BBC<\/a> location department, but nature has definitely been given a seat at our top table. While neighbours liberally douse early-nectar yielding dandelions with toxic chemicals, ours are encouraged, heads nipped off before seeds appear. OK, so \u2018dandelion soup\u2019 hasn\u2019t made it to the menu, but rogue leaves are hurled into buckets, soaked and used as natural fertiliser.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_GettyImages-2194583910.jpg\")
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Blue tits in the lift might sound pleasant but when they hatch it’s a different story<\/p>\n
Remember those ghastly council-planted flower beds, pollen-sparse annuals bristling in gaudy rows (serving zero natural purpose) slashing across our sight-lines like some crazy Jackson Pollock production? Not on our watch. Pollinator plants – the lavendars, buddlejas, foxgloves and salvias of this world – are planted and nurtured. Hardy perennials taking a bit more time and effort, but isn\u2019t that the point of gardening? The wait and see, the anticipation, failure as well success? Life in a nutshell really.<\/p>\n
But encouraging wildlife has its drawbacks. While the Beeb\u2019s \u2018Secret Gardens\u2019 host families leisurely sprayed thirsty herbaceous borders or crafted watercolour landscapes in their conservatory, life \u2018au deux\u2019 nature comes at a price.<\/p>\n
From early April, I spend hours rescuing winged wildlife, manically headbutting sunroom windows, the buzz and swoosh of airborne invaders a constant backdrop. Hairy arachnids, encouraged by a cosy log pile, roam the house with gay abandon, scuttling into trickle vents when the duster appears, reappearing in the evening when you\u2019re, frankly, too knackered to wield a glass and card.<\/p>\n
Now we\u2019ve got blue tits. Aw, bless. Nesting in the utility room air vent! Silent and cute for now, but, come hatchling time, that\u2019s a lot of cheeping above the stove!<\/p>\n
My lack of chemicals and deep bedding approach has produced a family of hedgehogs, lodging under the summerhouse. Hoorah. Little piles of pooey \u2018presents\u2019 left on the patio. But much snuffling of the undergrowth flings piles of bark mulch onto the lawn, confusing the hell out of the robotic mower and guaranteeing a daily dander around the edges with a rake.<\/p>\n
Crows too, another contentious visitor. I\u2019m a big fan of Corvid\u2019s: handsome, fiercely intelligent, very loyal.<\/p>\n
They love me, flutter around with their \u2018pocket watch\u2019 precision timing awaiting breakfast. Neighbours? Not so much. Loud rapping on windows, wiper blades attacked, general terrorising of garden dwellers. Oops, more than one apology has been extended.<\/p>\n
An exotic axolot was discovered this week. Well done that young naturalist. An unwanted \u2018pet\u2019 quietly released? I suspect so. But we have our own salamander species: home-grown, native newts, powering through our very small pond. Slugs and snails take a hammering, of course, even if they\u2019ve avoided the hedgehogs. One less thing to worry about for me though and wasn\u2019t that a wilder beast over in the hedgerow..?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The BBC’s new nature show featuring the iconic presenter has Mairi Fraser oohing and aahing but blue tits…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[264,1578,246,61,60,2096,82,263],"class_list":["post-424242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-bbc","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-people","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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