Month: May 2012

Three Flowering Currants

In each of our four gardens that we have developed we have grown the commonest of flowering currants, Ribes sanguinium (above) but here in our garden at Plealey we are also growing two other less common ones.

The photo below shows our specimen of the “Fuchsia-flowered Currant”, Ribes speciosum, which we grow in a sheltered spot against the greenhouse as it is supposed to be tender around here. The spiny arching stems grow up tall reaching the top the the greenhouse and peering over. Its new young branches start off a deep rusty red colour and are absolutely covered with bristly spines. Its flowers are like long fuschias in a rich deep red with long red stamens protuding. These flowers seem to be around in varying numbers just about all year. It is a true beauty!

When we bought ours from a tiny nursery hidden away in Herefordshire we didn’t know what it was when we saw it growing on the side of an outbuilding. The nurseryman told us that most people asked if he sold any cuttings of his climbing fuschia. One look at the flowers below and you can immediately see why.

Our third currant is a yellow-flowered shrub called Ribes odorata, or the Buffalo Currant. Its lovely yellow racemes of flowers are gently scented, a much more pleasant scent than that of the more common Red Currant which smells of black currant leaves, although it has to be said that Jude the Undergardener claims it smells like cat pee! The brightness of the yellow flowers is emphasised by the fresh green of the foliage. In the autumn the leaves take on hints of red and purple.

One of the main resaons for growing flowering currants, in addition to their hanging racemes of flowers is their attraction to insects especially bees and hoverflies, early in the year.

Tags flowering currants, foliage, garden photography, gardening, ribes, shrubs

garden wildlife gardening hardy perennials ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs trees Uncategorized

Our Wildlife Garden – gardening for wildlife, gardening with wildlife.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date May 9, 2012
11 Comments on Our Wildlife Garden – gardening for wildlife, gardening with wildlife.

It is easy to create secretive and decorative nesting places for bees.

We always describe our garden as being wildlife friendly. But what makes it good for wildlife? What elements of our garden invite wildlife in? We are proud of the fact that we have gardened with organic principles at the front of our minds for decades. A garden cannot be regarded as wildlife friendly if the gardener is not working with these principles constantly driving what goes on.

We make deliberate decisions to attract wildlife by providing food, shelter and nesting places. Each time a plant is bought, a bed restructured or new beds made, wildlife is a factor. Equally how we manage the garden has to be friendly towards our natural friends.

But let’s be honest, we don’t do all these things just for wildlife, as there is a selfish element to it. We like being surrounded by birds, butterflies, insects et al. We need to hear, see and experience the natural history of our plot. A cup of coffee outside is all the better if accompanied by the song of birds, the movement and colour of butterflies and the constant flittering of insects.

I have recently read a wonderfully informative and thought-provoking book by John Walker entitled “How to Create an Eco Garden”, and in it he proposes the concept of “eco-fitting” your garden. This idea is all about making the garden “more self-sustaining, less wasteful of valuable resources, more reliant on renewable sources of energy and friendlier to wildlife”. This will provide a useful guide when considering the content of my blog, and it will be at the forefront of my mind as we go on a journey around our garden looking at how we make it good for wildlife.

Throughout the garden, the trees and shrubs we have planted were chosen partly for their berries to feed the birds, blossom to attract pollinators and how well they give shelter, homes and nesting places.

The dark berries of mahonias are enjoyed by Blackbirds but only after all the red berries around have been eaten.

Apple blossom provides pollen for bees and hoverflies early in the year and fruit for us later on. Fruit that rots in store or goes too wrinkled is put out for Blackbirds and Thrushes to enjoy.

Look into our front garden and in full view of all windows is one of our three bird feeding centres where we provide mixed seeds, peanuts, suet balls and suet blocks. The front lawn supports White Clover and Dog Violets both loved by bees. Although we cut the grass and keep it quite short these wildflowers react by flowering on shorter stems. We use no weed killers or fertilisers on our grass as we enjoy knowing that Blackbirds can safely feed there. Tawny Lawn Bees make their homes here and in the gravel patch alongside. They make miniature volcano shaped piles of fine soil as they construct their tunnels.

IMG_3493a — The beautifully coloured miner bee, the Tawny Lawn Bee.

A mini-volcano on our gravel made by a bee.

The old Oak stump as ferns and grasses are just beginning to grow in early May.

We have an old Oak stump around which we grow ferns and grasses. The Wrens, Robins, Warblers and Dunnock soon recognised this as a home for the insects they enjoy eating.

All of our outbuildings are clothed with climbers to provide shelter, food and nesting places for wildlife. You can just spot the robin box in amongst the honeysuckle and rose.

IMG_3718-1 — The old trug hides behind climbers to attract blackbirds to nest

In our side garden opposite our main door are bird boxes for Robins, Tits and House Sparrows and an old trug was placed in a dogwood to provide a nest shelf for Blackbirds. On the shed there and the fence we grow Honeysuckles and Climbing Roses to provide shelter for wildlife and nest sites for Wrens and blackbirds. The Apple Trees growing in large terra-cotta pots are favourites of bees early in the spring, and in other large flower pots we have sown mini-meadows of wild flowers.

An assortment of insect shelters and nesting holes on the garden shed, attract droves of solitary bees who nest in the holes.

Wrens nest in the roosting pouch every year even though it is right above the shed door.

Into the back garden and immediately we spot the insect hotel, which sits in amongst our comfrey bed. The leaves of the comfrey provide us with our organic plant food and their flowers are loved by bees and hoverflies.

Luxury accommodation for beneficial insects.

Nest boxes are scattered throughout the garden wherever we can find a suitable space. Most are used by members of the Titmice family or Robins. Our trained fruit trees and climbing roses are favourite nesting places. Last year a pair of Goldfinches nested in a climbing rose called Goldfinch – they must have read the label!

IMG_3713-1 — A favourite with our Robins.

A pair of Collared Doves is nesting on top of one of our Apple Arches. We can see the eggs and sitting adult dove through the twiggy nest as we pass beneath.

Throughout the borders we select plants with simple flowers, rarely doubles, and grow several native plants such as Red Campion, Cowslip, Foxglove and Cow Parsley.

IMG_3714-1 — The beautiful flowers of our native Red Campion.

Towards the bottom of the garden is our wildlife pond all planted up with native plants, whereas the bog garden alongside is a mix of native and more exotic plants. The pool and bog are popular with our resident amphibians, toads, frogs ands newts as well as Dragonflies and Damsel Flies which breed in the pool. Birds use the shallow pebble beach area for bathing. Beneath the water live diving beetles and water boatmen, and on the surface Pond Skaters skim arouns on the surface film.

Our wildlife pool – a favourite place to watch wildlife.

Beyond the pool and chicken run is a strip of wild grass about 6 feet wide which gives us access to the surrounding countryside. We cut this grass to attract Green Woodpeckers who come down to feed here. We grow a pair of Hazel bushes here which gives safe place to approach one of our bird feeding stations in the winter, give nuts for Jays in the autumn and every few years gives us poles to use as bean poles and brash to use as pea sticks.

One of our Hazel bushes just prior to coppicing.

This quick wander around our garden shows some of the wildlife friendly features we enjoy. Our whole garden is a little reserve where we hope wildlife can feel welcomed and safe.

Tags birds, conservation, garden wildlife, gardening, insects, organic gardening, ornamental trees, wildlife

garden photography jewelry Land Art outdoor sculpture photography

Jewelry in our Garden

I have written in the past about creating land art in our garden with our daughter Jo and showed photos of her work. She is using this land art as starting points for making jewelry.

More recently she visited to take photos of some of the jewelry she has already made, using textures in the garden as backgrounds for the pieces. We used pieces of driftwood and other beach combing treasures from beaches in Devon and Anglesey, in our seaside garden as these contrasted so well with the materials used in the jewelry, both colour and texture.

So here is a small selection of the pics we took. The intention is that Jo’s husband Rob will use the photos in the website he is currently designing and creating to showcase her jewelry.

And there are lots more where these came from! A future posting maybe!

Tags beach combing, driftwood, jewelry

garden design garden photography gardening

Looking Down

Looking down on your garden gives you a chance to study the design and exposes any re-shaping of beds that is required. So we occasionally take photos from our upstairs windows. The photos of parts of our front garden in early spring show the design based on circles and flowing lines with grass reduced to a minimum to give a route which is soft underfoot.

We shall take the same views in different seasons to see how effective the design is through the seasons.

Tags garden photography, gardening

garden design garden photography gardening photography

Tulip Time – Extra Time

Let us continue around our garden in search of tulips and look at some very closely ………..

Tags flowering bulbs, garden photography, gardening, spring bulbs, tulips

bird watching birds forests photography Shropshire trees wildlife woodland

Forest Foray

On a cool damp April morning when heavy rain was forecast for the afternoon, we set off to the south of our county, Shropshire, to explore some of the tracks around the Mortimer Forest. We chose to visit the area known as Whitcliffe. When we parked up in the car park alongside the Forestry Commission offices we knew we were in for a treat. The colours of the trees looked fresh and glowed with every shade of green, and the calls and songs of birds mingled to fill the air, Nuthatches, Thrushes, Blackbirds and Robins.

We decided, as we only expected to have the morning to walk before the heavy rain arrived, to take the track, called the Whitcliffe Loop, that would afford us a two-mile walk through deciduous and coniferous plantings. We were soon to find that the trail was poorly marked so we were frequently unsure if we were on the right track or not. But who cares, we had a great morning’s forest wanderings.

The beauty of the Mortimer Forest is the sheer variety of habitats created by the areas of different trees, some conifers planted in straight lines for wood production, some wind break tree planting and large areas of native deciduous trees. The odd tree out amongst these if the native larch, Larix decidua, which is a conifer but it sheds its needles in autumn. In April its new needles are the brightest green to be seen in a conifer and its bark is beautifully patterned, textured and coloured.

Almost as bright are the new leaves of the Silver Birches.

Beneath the trees, wildflowers are infrequent but when we find them they are worth the wait. Wood Anemone, Stitchwort and Bluebell bloom demurely between clumps of Woodrush and the leaf growth of foxgloves.

We were delighted to find this anemone with much longer and narrower petals than all the others.

A plant we were surprised to find was a small clump of a native euphorbia with dark stems which emphasised the Chartreuse bracts, tiny yellow flowers within them and the glaucous foliage.

Just over half way around our planned ramble, we entered an area of Cupressus trees planted as a wind break planted to protect newly planted young trees years ago. these heavy-looking trees cast such a deep shade that nothing grew beneath them and peering beneath their hanging branches was like looking into a cave.

All the bird song that had accompanied us up until then stopped. No wildlife seemed to favour this dense, dark area and I can’t blame them. Not my favourite sort of tree – simply too static. The only signs of wildlife as we passed along the narrowed pathway was the occasional high-pitched calls of Goldcrest, Marsh Tit and Willow Tit. Having deduced that we were amongst wind break planting we knew we were nearing the edge of the forest so we looked forward to openness and wide views.

Not only did we find that but also a well-positioned bench inviting us to sit a while and appreciate the views with a coffee and some fruit. As we approached the open area a flash of green passed rapidly overhead, low to the tree tops and at great speed. it was a Green Woodpecker. We were soon to discover why he was in such a hurry for this area was littered with anthills. Anthills mean ants, their favourite food.

The wooden bench was so popular that the ground in front had been worn away so much that when we sat on it our feet didn’t reach the ground. We could swing our feet beneath like little kids on big benches. The views, the coffee and the fruit were enjoyed in equal measure especially when we were entertained by a Buzzard, which rose from the valley floor a few hundred below riding a thermal that took him past us and way up until he was little more than a black dot.

The valley side here dropped steeply away from the edge of the forest where we sat. The ground around us was covered in rough tufts of grass through which tumbled Honeysuckle and Brambles dotted with Bluebells and Stitchwort. Small trees, Spruce, Birch and Whitebeam, none reaching over a couple of metres tall gave a few perches for finches.

As we took the path back into the forest we noticed butterflies sunning themselves on tufts of dried vegetation, Tortoiseshells and Painted Ladies. Before we reached the dappled shade on the edge of the trees there were more clumps of wildflowers now including Oxalis, with its shamrock like leaves.

Towards the end of our walk we took a turn into an old trackway where the rays of the sun peered through coppiced trees along the sunken track. Here we were sheltered from the cooling wind and the bird life changed. Blackcaps, Whitethroats and warblers entertained with their song. Courting pairs of Speckled Wood butterflies ignored us and carried on their erratic chasing flight. The Small Tortoiseshells were much more subdued perhaps waiting for the sun to warm them up a little.

While walking along the stone-paved bottom of the trackway we discussed a Stinging Nettle with unusual foliage, much darker than the norm and with hints of purple particularly deep along the edges and at the tips. The stalks were a pure, deep purple.

We were later to discover that this trackway was an ancient sunken cart track with the wonderfully apt name, Holloways.

Two miles of slow ramblings along footpaths often muddy and soft underfoot and so much to see and listen to. the true highlight of the day was a short few moments when two Long Haired Fallow Deer crossed the path in front of us. We watched silently as these rare creatures trod carefully through the trees not making a sound. These deer are unique to this forest. I couldn’t get a photo of them but I did get a photo of this little friendly fellow.

It wasn’t easy though because he was elusive but he was just too friendly crawling over my hand and even the camera before he finally decided to move to this bramble and pose for his shot.

As we neared the end of our walk after enjoying the presence of such wonderful trees, wild flowers, birds, insects and the occasional mammal, I was subjected to the sight of two of trees that were far from favourites. I really do not appreciate trees that are rigid and never-changing such as these tow we met at Whitcliffe.