My Fledgling Garden

Over the past couple of months I have wanted to build a bug house in the garden. I have the perfect site for it, at the bottom of the garden in a rather neglected area between the bamboo and the californian lilac. There are two houses being built over the road from me, and today I finally plucked up the courage to ask if I could take a pallet and some plastic pipe off-cuts, as raw material for the project (and it would be free). I took Olly with me for moral support. They were happy for us to take what we wanted, which was very kind.

And so Olly and I came home begin work on a house for bugs.

I sawed the wooden pallet in half (my arm is still aching) and stacked one on top of the other. We then set about filling the plastic pipe off-cuts, cracked plastic flower pots and bricks with an assortment of dried leaves, straw, bark, bamboo canes cut into lengths, wood and broken pieces of terracotta pot. Everything came from the garden in one way or another. We even had a topping out ceremony, as Olly adorned the top of the bug house with a spinning windmill!

It took us a couple of hours to make, and apart from the sawing of the pallet, Olly was able to assist with the whole construction and assembly. We were both really pleased with the end result. We are going to make a sign. We thought 'Bug Hall' was a good name. And if you know me at all by now, you will have gathered that I am rather taken by the fact that our building is blue. I had my choice of pallets, but there really was no contest when I saw this beauty. Stylish and aesthetically pleasing, I think you will agree. Let's hope that the bugs do too.

Leanne xx