My garden has, on two sides, a 10ft leylandii hedge as a boundary which affords us great privacy. It is a beast of a thing to keep in check but acts as a great backdrop for my plants and is home and shelter to wildlife.


Small birds use this hedge for shelter – although the sparrowhawk has been spotted going through it in chase of them. A ginger cat has also been spotted 3/4 of the way up inside this hedge attempting acrobatics trying to catch them. I cannot imagine what the birds thought when, like me, they spotted a ginger head emerging out of the hedge closely followed by a wary paw stretching out!

I have sited my bird tables, as you can see above, within and surrounded by plants to offer the visiting birds some protection from stalking cats and sparrowhawks. I love to watch them spring out on the bamboo canes. I also planted up a dying acer tree, which had a lovely shape, in a pot. This acer gives us a great opportunity to see the birds as they arrive. The birds use the acer to drop down to the feed at the tables and also to drop again through the shrubs below and down to the ground. Recently I added plants for berries and winter colour at ground level in this area and look forward to seeing the birds eat from these.

The Cherry tree above, belonging to my neighbour, is on the other side of my hedge and affords the birds a great view of my garden and it’s many feeders. This pic above was taken, Oct 20, to show the Robin in the centre who was singing his little heart out. See close-up below.