Finally!

Been a bit of a concern for some time that my stickies won't have anything to eat once we move house. Right now, we have a huge amount of ivy, completely covering the front wall of our house, as well as the garden fences. That'll be gone at some time later this week, so I've been worried that I wouldn't be able to find any food for Sticky Bun and Twiglet.

Took some cuttings a couple of months ago and checked them again today. They've started to take root! So have the rosemary cuttings I took!

Planted some more cuttings today, as well, so that I can keep the girls fed until I can get a few decent potted ivies from the Garden Centre and get rid of all of the pesticides on them.

Don't forget you can also sneak privet leaves from neighbours' hedges!

On the off-chance that neighbours have privet hedges, I'd still have to worry about pesticides

Still, should be able to figure something out!

Privet hedges aren't as popular as they were once it is true, but I'll bet you can find some! I wouldn't worry about pesticides - I don't think that privets suffer from any infestation or that anyone would bother spraying them either, they are tough as old boots. Worst thing would be road dust, which you could wash off

Or, how about growing a few in tubs or even open ground in your new abode? They have a bonus in early summer in that they have white flowers which whilst not particularly beautiful do have a lovely smell (well I think so anyway!)

I'm not sure I'd really feel right about snipping away at people's hedges!

Ivy is a very quick grower and very hardy, so I'll probably just stick to growing that! Guilt free

Our garden front and back are covered with Ivy so if your desperate come steal mine

Might be a bit far to travel there! Maybe if I got a bike...

OK - privet in tubs or in your new garden then - it grows like billy-o and doesn't drag your walls and fences to pieces!

Just looked up stick insects on the net. Are yours Ramulus artemis (Vietnamese?)

"This species eats leaves of blackberry, raspberry, oak, rose and hazel. They do not eat ivy!"

http://www.keepinginsects.com/stick-insect/species/vietnamese-stick-insect/

Well, I'd say that they're not that type bebecause they've been fed almost exclusively on ivy & they're about 8 months old - and quite big!

That's great it's taking root, it should grow pretty fast

Sorry - I actually replied to this yesterday on my phone, but the comment didn't post!

They're Indian stickies and their favourite food is ivy Ivy's also a lot cheaper, easier to get and quick-growing. The people around here manicure their hedges to perfection, so I'd feel terrible about taking cuttings from them

Yeah, I'm stopping by the garden centre tomorrow to get some rooting powder and miracle grow, just to speed things along.