Category: trees

Our First Woodland Walk of the Autumn – Part Three

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 20, 2014
3 Comments on Our First Woodland Walk of the Autumn – Part Three

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We begin part three just as we draw close to the lake itself. The trees dripped with more moss and the fungi seemed to get more colourful.

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We reached the lakeside where we found the calm surface created the clearest of reflections.

Our return journey along the woodland path afforded us glimpses of the hills that surround the lake and its wooded fringes.

So our memories of this lovely woodland walk have helped us escape the wild, wet and windy days of January. Now we can look forward to a warmer and brighter spring leading to an even warmer and even brighter summer!

Tags fungi, Lakes, mosses, reflections, reservoirs, Wales, wildlife, woodland, woodlands

autumn autumn colours countryside landscapes light light quality nature reserves photography Powis Powys reflections reservoirs trees wildlife woodland

Our First Woodland Walk of Autumn – Part Two

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 17, 2014
4 Comments on Our First Woodland Walk of Autumn – Part Two

Back to Vyrnwy the woodland nature reserve of the RSPB based around a huge reservoir, where we continue our walk enjoying the sights, scents and sounds of an autumn wood.

We moved on to where the path turns a corner and we cross a tiny stream over a wooden bridge. Today the bridge looked very different. Each side was covered in a growth of ginger brown fungi. We were literally stopped in our tracks in amazement! We had never before seen such a sight and probably never will again.

In the close vicinity the atmosphere was so humid that you could feel the dampness in the air. Moss enjoyed the sauna-like conditions and grew on tree trunks. The trunks dripped with the moss, making them look like little green figures beneath the trees. We continued to find a variety of fungi some of which grew high off the ground. One in particular looked as if a frisbee had been thrown so fiercely that it had dug deep into the tree trunk.

The humidity here, partnered with the bright light creeping through the branches, made the shades of greens and brown glow richly.

The air got damper and the shafts of sunlight lower as we passed this old moss-covered stone wall and reached the lake. We shall find the lake in the third and final part of my First Woodland Walk of Autumn – Part Three.

Tags fungi, Lake Vryny, Lakes, mosses, nature reserves, reflections, reservoirs, woodland, woodlands, woods

countryside landscapes light light quality photography Powis Powys trees Wales woodland

Over the hills to the sea.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date January 5, 2014
5 Comments on Over the hills to the sea.

To see in the new year we intended to go to the sea simply to walk along the beach and enjoy the fresh sea air. But it was not to be, for 1st January 2014 was a day of storms and strong winds so we delayed for a day.

We woke on the 2nd to a far finer dawn. So we set off out of Shropshire and over the Welsh hills to the coast at the little old seaside town of Barmouth. A favourite place to visit, Barmouth is where we have spent so many days as our children grew up and indeed many on our own after they left home. When with the kids we collected pebbles and shells and built sand castles with occasional trips across the sands to paddle in the sea. These days we still collect pebbles and shells and Jude is still tempted to paddle a little.

The journey involved following just two main “A” roads once we left the Shrewsbury bypass behind, the A458 and the A470. After leaving our home county of Shropshire behind we crossed into Wales and traveled east to west right across the counties of Powys and Gwynedd. Along the way we regularly stopped to take shots of the landscape. It is amazing how varied the landscape can be in such a short journey.

The A458 main road from Shrewsbury to Welshpool cuts through rich lowland dairy cattle farmland before reaching the hills called the Breiddens.

We passed through the market town of Welshpool and followed the road down a valley which the road shared with a narrow guage steam railway, a favourite of tourists. Farms appeared to snuggle into the valley bottoms where water lay in many fields after so much winter rain. High bare rounded mountains began to rear up each side of the valley. The mountains were dotted with clumps of woodland some of natural broadleaf trees while others were of the coniferous commercial forest plantings. The winter time leaves the broadleaf trees bare showing their skeletons. White branches like bones of many trees were broken up by the colourful branches of birches, which looked like soft hanging purple mist. In places along ancient hedgerows black skeletons of oak broke up the horizon. The conifer plantations just looked like unfriendly, unnatural solid black blocks, scars on the landscape.

Clouds moved quickly and rain came and went with them lit up on odd special occasions by a rainbow.

As we progressed further into the mountains of mid-Wales the sky turned a deep grey-blue but shafts of sunlight still penetrated to light up green fields and the occasional grey stone farmhouses.

After crossing mid-Wales westward we neared the coast and our journey took us more in a northerly direction for the final section. See “Over the hills to the sea. Part Two” for the next stage of the journey.

Tags conifer plantations, hill farming, landscapes, light, Powis, Powys, rainbows, Wales, Welshpool, woodland

autumn autumn colours colours garden design garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public grasses ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs outdoor sculpture Powis Powys trees Winter Gardening winter gardens woodland

Another visit to The Dingle

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 18, 2013
6 Comments on Another visit to The Dingle

Just half an hour drive from our home is the Welsh town of Welshpool and close to it the wonderful gardens and family owned and run nursery at The Dingle. It is a garden on a slope with paths taking you on a gentle downhill journey to the bottom of the valley where a lake awaits with its colourful reflections. The Dingle is a woodland garden situated in a Welsh valley and boasts its own nursery which specialises in trees but stocks equally varied quality herbaceous plants, grasses and shrubs.

Whatever season you visit this gem of a garden there is so much to appreciate, especially shrubs and small trees. Around every corner the visiting gardener can find inspiration that stimulate fresh ideas to use.

Contrasts in foliage colour and texture are evident in the carefully chosen groupings of shrubs and small trees.

Of equal importance are the specimen trees and shrubs, the ones that need to be appreciated for their individual beauty. The beauty in autumn is in the leaf colour and in the colour, texture and patterns of the bark.

The trouble with gardens so full of special trees and shrubs is that you can forget to look down or to look at the detail right in front of your nose, flowers at ground level such as the Liriope, bright berries dangling at branches’ end and grasses that wave their flower heads at you in the gentlest breeze.

But there is so much to see around every corner, at your feet, just in front of you and way up high. Come with us now as we wander slowly down the gently sloping gravel paths through beautifully varied plantings of trees and shrubs with occasional flowering plants at our feet. Just click on the first photo and then use the right arrow to navigate. Enjoy the Dingle! Look out for my brother-in-law Tony lurking in the bushes with camera in hand! He is hard to spot even though he is in a brightly coloured yellow jacket.

autumn autumn colours birds climbing plants colours garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens grasses hardy perennials migration ornamental trees and shrubs poppies roses trees wildlife Winter Gardening

A Garden Bouquet for December

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 14, 2013
1 Comment on A Garden Bouquet for December

Already we are almost at the end of the year so here is my December bouquet from our garden,the final chapter in 2013.

It is only mid-December and while in the garden we are treated to the beautiful repetitive piping call of a Song Thrush, already making his territorial proclamation. He must have found a mighty fine territory which he is making sure no-one else can take possession of.

The skies seem full of passing flocks of Redwing and their larger noisier cousins the Fieldfare on migration, escaping their cold food-less summer homes in central Europe. Below them exploring the trees and shrubs of our garden mixed foraging flocks of finches seek out the last of the seeds and berries while amongst them groups of Titmice, Great, Blue, Long-tailed and Coal arrive in hurried flight to explore every nook and cranny of dried stems, tree bark and shrub branches for insects especially spiders.

A few delicate looking soft coloured flowers still hang on determined to be the final blooms of the year. It seems amazing but the odd big bumbling Queen Bumble Bee appears to feed on them.

Berries on shrubs and small trees add extra sparkles of colour but the resident Mistle Thrushes guard them from the migrant thrushes. They are the larder for the colder days to come. The red fruit of the Cotoneasters, Hollies and Rowans will be eaten first and most will have been devoured by the thrushes and Blackbirds before the month is out. The creamy-yellow berries of the Cotoneaster rothschildiana will stay longer being mere second choices. The last to go without fail will be the white berries of the Sorbus, so we can get to enjoy them against dark winter storm clouds before the birds eat them.

At this time of year we can enjoy the dessicated seed heads and old flower heads that have managed to survive the wet times that autumn invariably brings. This year has been so wet that we seem to have fewer still standing than ever before. But a few are putting on a display for us and when covered in a frosty layer or when donning a hat made of snow will look even better. Within them are the remnant autumn leaves as yet to be blown from their branches by blasts of wind.

Signs of next year’s growth are already in evidence like this adventurous bud found on a clematis snuggled between stem and petioles.

Patterns become important in winter as they emerge from seasons hidden away behind plants. So that is the end of my year of garden bouquets for 2013. Perhaps they will return for 2014.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, birds, clematis, dogwoods, fieldfare, foliage plants, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, ornamental trees, redwing, seasons, song thrush, thrushes, trees, wildlife, winter, winter gardens

arboreta autumn memorials poppies remembrance trees woodland

The National Memorial Arboretum Part Two

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 10, 2013

We return in this second post about the National Memorial Arboretum where we left off.

This was a quiet place, full of bird song and the quiet voices of the visitors deeply affected by the sense of the place.

Seats to sit upon

to sit and think

to sit and to remember

lost ones.

Share now a few images of the place to show its variety, its beauty and its sadness.

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We walked slowly up a gentle sloping path giving us a spiral route to the “Armed Services Memorial” with a solemn “wall of names”. The sculptural pieces here were astonishing, powerful and thought provoking.

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Below, the sculpted hand indicates the place where a shaft of sunlight pierces two slits in two walls. They line up on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month each year the time when the First World War ended. It is the time the nation remembers each year the members of the armed forces lost serving their country.

A massive curving wall has carved into it the names of all armed service personel who have died in service since the end of the Second Wall War. To see all these names together illustrates the futility of war so clearly. Worst of all was the huge area left blank as space for those yet to die. The United Nations should hold their meetings here and every Member of Parliament from every nation should spend some time here at the beginning of every session of their parliament. I wonder if it would make any difference?

We found smaller memorials which were more specific and sometimes outside the realms of armed conflicts.

The essential work of the Bevin Boys, the miners who kept the mines open during WW2 was celebrated in these wonderful relief carvings. Powerful just like the Bevin boys themselves.

Men who lost their lives building the railways in the Far East as prisoners of war were commemorated by a garden of many varieties of Sorbus growing around reconstructed sections of railway lines.

A few of the gardens help us remember the loss of lives of those serving the nation but not in the armed services. Here we celebrate the bravery of the men of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. A sturdy figure carved from stone reflects the strength of character of these people as he looks over a seaside landscape.

One of the most incredible memorials was a tribute to the men of the railways.

We even found a memorial to the soldiers from our home county of Shropshire.

The Jewish Memorial was a truly beautiful piece of art as well as a moving memorial piece.

As the light faded over the memorial arboretum the trees tops began to fill with the sounds of starlings settling down to roost. To the birds this garden is a home giving them shelter, food and a place to nest.

I will leave you with a few deeply moving pictures.

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And finally a picture of the Bazra Wall to illustrate that we never learn. With all the waste of lives over the centuries it still goes on.

Tags arboretum, memorials, ornamental trees, outdoor sculpture, remembrance

arboreta autumn autumn colours gardens open to the public memorials ornamental trees and shrubs shrubs trees woodland

Trees to remember by – The National Memorial Arboretum – Part One

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 8, 2013
1 Comment on Trees to remember by – The National Memorial Arboretum – Part One

Wendy, one of our allotment friends, told us all about her visit to the National Memorial Arboretum near Lichfield and she thought we would like to visit too.

I arrived with expectations. I envisioned a collection of trees with large areas given over to formal memorials. These areas I thought would have a cold atmosphere like an empty church and I felt the whole place would possess the deep silence of a “Poppy Day” remembrance ceremony around a village war memorial.

I was so wrong.

It was an amazing place. But not a place to enjoy as such but a place with an atmosphere that you feel deeply. It was such an emotive and wonderful experience that emotions engulf you. It has a its own special atmosphere, an atmosphere that is hard to describe as the right words are impossible to find.

Close to the chapel near the entrance is a small garden with a beautiful armillary sundial at its centre, while the pillars holding up the covered entrance display a sense of homour in the carvings.

We explored the site following avenues of acers and cherries leading to small wooded areas and copses mostly of native deciduous trees. A simple arrangement of closely trimmed berberis spheres form the Garden of Innocents.

As we wander around please join us, as we appreciate the beauty of the trees and the calm of the spaces. There were signs of the recent Remembrance Day Ceremonies throughout the site, some at the base of memorials others blown into hedges and trees.

Amongst the memorials dedicated to various sections of the armed forces were other memorials or areas of celebration. The photos below are of a golden garden dedicated to couples who had celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversaries. Trees had yellow fruit such as varieties of Malus or golden stems such as the Yellow Ash.

The next memorial was for Polish servicemen who had lost their lives fighting alongside British armed forces.

We moved on through woodlands showing autumn colouring interspersed with memorials until we came across a most disturbing area, called “Shot at Dawn”.

This area was to help us remember the men shot at dawn by their own comrades under orders from commanding officers. We were deeply moved here as the cruelty of man at war and the needless waste of young lives were clearly displayed. How could officers in the First World War believe they had the right to order soldiers to kill their fellow men? The “crime” that these young soldiers were found guilty of was “cowardice” – surely they could be forgiven for fear and for not being willing to kill. The true cowardice here lies with the officers who used their rank and “superiority” to make others kill colleagues. Each post represents a real person and each post holds a small sign. Each post a brother, a son, a father, a best friend ……………..

This was a sad place!

We left in silence and deep anger to find a way marker close by on a pathway crossing through the arboretum which acted as a reminder that we were in the National Forest.

This unusual garden was dedicated to members of the Fairground Entertainers hence the horse from a “Gallopers” fairground ride.

As we turned a corner I stopped in my tracks. We were facing a memorial with the badge I knew so well. As a child I remember seeing it on the front of my father’s army cap. My stomach felt empty and my heart skipped beats. Suddenly it seemed very close to home.

My father survived the war but its effects could be seen hanging over him, the shaking hands, the sudden bouts of anger, changing temperament, the hatred of loud noise and the dislike of time wasting.

Next was the memorial to the paratroopers, a beautiful sculpture displaying strength and bravery.

We shall continue our journey around the National Memorial Arboretum in my next post, but please share a few words we wrote as we sat quietly over coffee at lunchtime.

Peaceful place to celebrate waste

Lives wasted in war

Trees peacefully grow in lines

Celebrating soldiers’ short lives

Trees giving hope for a future

Tags arboretum, memorials, ornamental trees, remembrance, shrubs, trees, woodlands

arboreta autumn autumn colours garden design garden photography gardening gardens gardens open to the public ornamental trees and shrubs photography trees woodland

Another Day at Bodenham

We have shared a visit to the wonderful arboretum near Kidderminster in Worcestershire before but we visited again this autumn and were equally enthralled by the collection of trees, common, less well-known and even rare. So come back with us now on our return to Bodenham. Let us simply celebrate in photographs!

It is always good to find a tree you do not know, one you have not got the faintest idea what it might be. At Bodenham on this visit it was the Wingnut Tree.

Tags acers., arboreta, arboretum, trees

autumn autumn colours birds garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening grasses hardy perennials migration ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography trees

A Garden Bouquet for November

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 24, 2013
4 Comments on A Garden Bouquet for November

I began writing this post in mid-november when we should have been surrounded by the blaze of autumn colour, the hedges and trees should be on fire with the reds and oranges and the autumn migrant thrushes should be gorging on the berries in the hedgerows and gardens. At that time there was little sign of these things happening.

As we move towards the end of November things have changed greatly. We now garden to the sounds of migrant thrushes passing high over head, Redwings, Fieldfares and Mistle Thrushes and a few small flocks are settling in our berried trees. They see us as a stopping off point where they can gorge on the berries and fruits of our Crab Apples, Sorbus and Cotoneasters.

But what will they see when they drop in? Come with me and my camera for a wander.

Tags autumn, autumn colours, autumn leaves, autumn plants, birds, foliage, garden photography, garden wildlife, gardening, grasses, ornamental trees, sculpture

allotments autumn community gardening conservation fruit and veg garden wildlife gardening grow your own hedgerows natural pest control spring bulbs trees wildlife

The Big Planting – a new hedge and more bulbs for the allotments.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date November 21, 2013
3 Comments on The Big Planting – a new hedge and more bulbs for the allotments.

In mid-November we held another working party on our allotment site, Bowbrook Allotment Community. This will be the last one this year and our aim was to plant a new hedge along the bare green fence that serves as the boundary to our site extension. We hoped also to plant the thousands of bulbs donated by our members. The green security fencing looks so bare at the moment so we can’t wait for our new hedge to hide it.

Recently we have been trying to involve whole families in our working parties and we hoped some youngsters would turn up to our hedge planting day as it was a rare opportunity for them. These days few children get the chance to plant a native tree.

We were awarded a pack of 460 native trees to plant by the Woodland Trust and had been given others by members and locals so we had well over 500 to plant. They were seedlings of hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, rowan, birch, oak and all about 18 inches tall. We had guelder rose, dogwood and dogroses to add from elsewhere on the site. The Woodland Trust were able to give many sites like ours packs of trees because of the generosity of Biffa, Ikea and Nicky’s.

The trees, canes and tubes arrived at our house a few days before and the boxes were mighty heavy to deliver up to the lotties.

The day before the working party we mixed the plants up to make sure the planting looked random and natural. We placed a selection of little trees, canes and protection tubing alongside each section of hedge ready for a quick start in the morning.

With heads down and bottoms up Pete and I busily made our way along the stretch of fencing – we did need some time out around noon to straighten out, rest our backs and refresh ourselves with coffee and biscuits.

Twenty five members of all ages turned up to help us plant our new hedge including children, their parents and grandparents. Several were started way before our planned starting time. It was heartening to see them all sharing the experience together. We were amazed how the children all managed to find little creatures as they busily planted away, such as worms, beetles, slugs and spiders. Little hands carefully held them like precious jewels as they were all studied in great detail.

Jude, our community secretary and my “better half”, caught up on all the children’s news since we last met with the two little girls from our neighbouring plot. She heard all about the birthday party they held on the allotments using the picnic benches under the old oak tree and enjoyed following the trail and doing the quizzes with their friends.

Three generations, Syd, his daughter and granddaughters, helped each other to plant the little plants, but progress was slowed every time a mini-beast was discovered as granddad had to move them to safety, even a big slug!

Within half an hour of our ten o’clock start members were heads down hard at work along the whole length of fence.

Below Margaret is enjoying her first ever Bowbrook Allotment Community working party having started on her plot in the spring, while close by Anne and Charlie work in top gear to get as much done as possible before they have to go elsewhere for a family gathering in the afternoon.

The day started off chilly but before the end of the morning jackets were discarded and hung up on the fence. Sherlie and Pete in the photo below had been hard at work since 8:30 so straightening up afterwards was a bit of a struggle.

There were some stunning wellies on display.

Amazingly all the plants were snug in their new homes within an hour and a half. It goes without saying that we had earned our lunch break. The children went off at lunchtime as they all had other activities to attend in the afternoon such as dance lessons. We hoped they were not too tired to enjoy their afternoon activities. Those who stayed for the afternoon creaked more than a little when they returned to new tasks.

After a good rest with chatter and laughter we moved on to plant thousands of bulbs. Tulips, Daffodils, Muscari, Alliums, Camassias, Crocus, Iris and Fritillaries. We already have planted thousands of flowering bulbs, both spring and summer flowering over the four autumns we have been in existence. This year we intended to add to those already in the two orchards, the car park borders and under the mature oak and sycamore trees. In late winter and early spring these flowering bulbs will appear to brighten us up and provide our pollinator friends and our natural pest controllers with some vital nutrition.

To finish the day off a few of us stayed to move some hedging plants from elsewhere on the site.

A busy, successful and most fruitful day, which displayed just what a true community of gardeners can achieve by working together. We hope these activity days help to ensure we encourage and nurture interest in our naturalists and gardeners of the future.