greenbenchramblings

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

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2013 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 16,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

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Looking a little closer.

Recently I purchased of a pack of close-up filters by Polaroid. I longed to use them but the weather thwarted me. After days of waiting the light was good enough so I rushed to attach them to the standard lens of my trusty Nikon DSLR.

These are my first attempts, after the worst were deleted. My failures were mostly trouble with focus. It is difficult to get distance to subject right but trial and error resulted in the following shots. Let me know what you think. I need to do some research now and find out a bit more about using them effectively and efficiently. I shall dig into my photography books and copies of the wonderful “Outdoor Photography” magazines.

First a couple of shots of a Hamemelis “Jelena” followed by looking at the spent seed heads of Echinops, Clematis and Eryngium.

A close shot of this Buddleja illustrates the soft texture of the surface of the leaves. The texture of the Cotoneaster berry with its hard glossy red jacket is in strong contrast with the matt black berries of the Hypericum.

The leaves of the variegated Osmanthus are in every shade of yellow and bronzed green. The similarly spiky edged leaves of Eryngium are dry and grey as old bone.

The next few shots are of the old dessicated flowers of asters. They are so delicate – it makes you wonder how they stand up the strong winter winds.

Taking close up shots of fennel seeds within their seed heads shows the restricted depth of field of the close up lenses. Look closely at the differences and you will find the subtle changes by altering slightly the central point of focus.

The flowers of Mahonia japonica are usually seen in long racemes but a close up lens lets us appreciate them as individuals. I had not realised until I looked at these pics that each little flower is a double form.

We grow several trees for their interesting bark and in winter the low angle of the sun allows us to see golden light brightening it up.

Tansy is such a common flower we rarely take time to have a close look and appreciate its beauty. I tried to show them at their best here but sadly not too well.

Looking at the light playing on sticks and stems brings out their beautiful structure and delicate colours.

Grasses look stunning in any bright light and when studied close up their beauty increases further.

These little shaving brush flower heads expose their softness of texture when viewed in close up with each fine thread catching the light.

I shall finish this selection of my close up photos with the soft pink blooms of our Prunus subhirtella autumnalis. I shall keep trying and play around with the close ups and post again when I get more of a handle on them.

Tags close up photography, grasses, ornamental trees, trees, trees and shrubs, winter, winter garden

countryside grasses nature reserves the sea the seaside the shore wildlife

Strands – Discovering a Beach – Part Three

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 31, 2013
7 Comments on Strands – Discovering a Beach – Part Three

Okay here we go with the third and final part of my Strands posts, where we make our way – very slowly as you will see – back to the car. We went by way of the grass path above the strandline and explored the wildflowers growing there as well as enjoying glances across the sand dunes to the sea.

But first a reminder of the photos of Jude (Mrs Greenbench) beach combing and collecting objects for our seaside at home.

We found our pathway home by scrambling over the pebbles and then over the sand dunes.

Sadly some of the walkers who trod the path before us lacked caring and thoughtlessly left this plastic bottle. The seashore has enough of a problem with the plastics that roll in on the waves. It makes you wonder how many Coke bottles are dropped to bespoil our countryside every year.

Along the path we found interesting wild flowers and the dried remains of last year’s flowers stiffly standing among them. The first clump of photos show a beautiful blue leaved grass which is grown to bind the sand of the dunes to keep them from shifting. It must have an amazing network of roots working away down there.

The variety of the flora here on the beach itself, on the strandline, the dunes and the pathway alongside illustrates just how effective a narrow strip of land can be as a really good little nature reserve. Butterflies, bees, insects, invertebrates, mammals, birds and amphibians will find homes, shelter and food here. As you look at the following photos spot, in particular, the blackberries and wild carrots, relatives of our crops grown on our allotments, and wild forms of erodium, achillea and others that are the cousins of our garden plants.

As we moved closer to the car park shrubs took over, some brightly flowered and berried, mostly rose briars and a type of broom. Their cheerful colours made a fitting end to our great day of beachcombing.

Tags coastal flowers, sand dunes, sea, seaside, the sea, the shore

photography the sea the seaside the shore

Strands – Discovering a Beach – Part Two

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 29, 2013
4 Comments on Strands – Discovering a Beach – Part Two

Back on our favourite beach on the North Wales coast we are carrying on our discovery of the gifts the sea has deposited on the strandline. First she uses her power to shape and smooth, to erode hard and soft matter alike. Feathers, seaweed, boulders, stones and all sorts of wood.

I promised a selection of images of pebbles that the sea has created from man made materials normally found on a building site.

We followed on carefully studying the pebble beach and the strandline picking up interesting pebbles and shells until we felt we needed to turn around and start back. We decided to walk back following the grass path along the top of the beach so made our way carefully over the pebbles and rounded boulders upwards. When doing this we found the remains of an old wooden pier now exposed and well-eroded. This slowed our progress to a stop as here there was so much of interest.

Enjoy our exploration of the old wooden structures and share with us the smells, sounds and sights all around. Follow the gallery by clicking on the first photo and using the right arrow to move on.

The sea forced the pebble between the wooded pieces like a magic trick.

Once we decided to make our way back to the car we started searching for objects we wanted to collect to take home as added features to our seaside garden. This part of our garden needs a revamp in the spring so the items we collected will be most useful.

In Strands Part Three we will make our way back to the car and a welcome cup of coffee!

Tags beach combing, beaches, North Wales, sea, seaside, shorelands, the sea

colours landscapes light light quality outdoor sculpture photography the sea the seaside the shore

Strands – Discovering a Beach – Part One

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 27, 2013
4 Comments on Strands – Discovering a Beach – Part One

To help us forget the winter and escape the winter blues I will write a series about a day at a beach in North Wales. We spent the day on a lovely windswept stretch of beach near Conwy. We are big beach lovers and this has been favourite for decades. It is so different every single time we visit it. We have loved walks here on hot sunny days under bright blue skies, freezing cold days wrapped in thick coats, scarves and hats under clear thin blue winter skies, windswept days under heavy grey clouds and wet days when we walk heads down and hoods up.

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We never know what to expect, how much sand there will be, whether the sand will be smooth or deeply rippled, whether the strandline will be full of feathers, driftwood and seaweed and whether the boulders and pebbles will be exposed. We love discovering driftwood of whatever size or shape, but always of course smooth as velvet, ground down by the power of the sea. We have found tiny curly bits of heather roots, old sections of telegraph poles, bits of boats of all sizes and parts of trees from who knows where. We often find sections of buildings, clumps of bricks or stone, some locked together by twisted lengths of metal red with rust. Sea Gull feathers stick out of the strandline debris at all angles, all grey, white or black. Sadly we find lots of plastic, the worse type of the debris of man and his throw away society. On 26th September 2013 we came to our beach to celebrate Jude, aka Mrs Greenbench, aka The Undergardener’s birthday. We usually celebrate each other’s birthdays by having special days out. This special day was a cold one, so we were wrapped up well against the cold wind. It is invariably cold here, just some days it is a lot windier than others. I have recently read a book called “Strands. A Year of Discoveries on the Beach” by poet Jean Sprackland, which featured her own favourite stretch of beach. In it she describes those little clumps of artefacts, the miscellany of collected objects that the wind brings together and deposits on the strandline where an obstacle takes it from the clutches of the wind. “The sea itself makes its own strange artefacts, combining rope and wood and miscellaneous plant material into eclectic tangles known as “mare’s nests”, a name which describes their muddle and untidiness as well as their illusory and paradoxical nature.”

An artist has been at work creating pictures in the sand, the sea itself. The receding tide becomes its paintbrush leaving patterns of light and shade.

As we move along the beach the colour of the sand varies sometimes a purer silver as in the last photo in this batch but at other times it is more of a buff colour as in the first pic.

The powerful influence of the artist tides encourages even the least creative of people to make art. They collect and sort stones, pebbles and wood and make pictures and sculptures in the sand and on the grass strip beyond.

The seashore possesses a flora all its own. Flowers and leaves which are spotted nowhere else, with thickened stems, white backed leaves and other tactics to help withstand the attacks from the salt laden sea air. We are frequently tempted to walk up the sands over the pebbles and study the greenery.

We soon return to our searching of the strandline, heads down eyes wide. We spot pebbles with interesting textures, with narrow white lines on as if drawn by pen or paint brush, or lines of seaweed.

A few years back we decided to see if we could collect together a pocket full of pebbles with white lines on, with the intention of creating a circle. We managed to do this and created a circle of quartz lines, but added one black line for interest.

You may have noticed that in several of these pictures the pebbles are actually smoothed down building materials. Look at the beach sculptures and spot the one piece made entirely of sea worn old bricks. The sea has enough power to smooth off sharp corners, remove glazed sides and gently round bricks and concrete blocks into pebbles. Similarly sea glass appears just like pebble gems.

In our second visit to our beach we will be searching these out. See you in Strands Part Two.

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Greenbench Greetings

Christmas Greetings to all my Greenbench followers. Please enjoy one of my favourite photos of the year taken on a crisp frosty winter’s morning.

allotments birds community gardening fruit and veg garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens grasses grow your own hardy perennials kitchen gardens light light quality meadows natural pest control ornamental grasses ornamental trees and shrubs photography roses spring bulbs wildlife Winter Gardening

What’s on the Plots? An end of year wander around the allotments.

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 23, 2013
4 Comments on What’s on the Plots? An end of year wander around the allotments.

Mid-December often sees the allotment site under snow or at least coated in frost, but not this year. We wandered around today with camera in hand and we were appreciative of the bright clear blue sky overhead. The midday sun cast long sharp shadows and it had enough strength in it for us to feel its warmth.

Having checked the post box for messages, and left a few magazines in the communal hut for others to enjoy, we started our tour at Wendy’s lovely plot. There is always something of interest to see and new things going on. We were not to be disappointed today. The sun caught the bright fiery colours of the willow hedge surrounding her compost heap.

On an obelisk where the soft bark paths cross the striped flag glowed alongside a sparkling glitterball, while this character decorated her shed door. A cranky old monk? Brother Cadfael perhaps when he was dropped by the BBC.

We next moved to the Autumn Garden and our newly planted section alongside our young fedge. The tree here is a Crataegus prunifolia which gives rich red autumn colour and deep red berries which is underplanted with bulbs. The border is planted up with sedum, asters, ferns, some perennial native flora and small shrubs. The cones and catkins of alders are beginning to get their purple hue. Cotoneaster leaves are as red as their berries.

On many plots old crops sit forgotten in places whilst others await being picked throughout the winter. The sprouts will grace a plot holder’s Christmas dinner spread.

Chard leaves on a sunny day are delightful. The reds, yellows and purples of their leaves and stems glow with the sun behind them.

Further along the borders of the Autumn Garden we passed Trevor’s plot where there is always an interesting development to find. Today we discovered his new shed number. He must have problems remembering his plot number or needs to arrange to visit an optician.

In the final section of the Autumn Garden the grass Calamagrostis acutifolia “Overdam” stand tall and to attention and gentle honey scents flow from the lemon flowered Mahonia.

On the shed roof of Plot 68 the massive scarecrow is looking worse for wear after our recent weather featuring heavy rains and strong winds. In the summer he won our annual scarecrow competition. It is hard to believe how he wowed our visitors on our Open Day.

In the first orchard the last fruit hangs on, a golden crab apple. Fennel is already sporting new foliage on Alan’s plot and the last of the Raspberry fruits sit awaiting a hungry Blackbird. Close by in the first Buddleja Border a Shistsotylus bravely blooms on with an early Primula.

The Globe Artichoke in the second Buddleja Border will soon burst and finches will flock in to feed off them, especially Goldfinches and Linnets.

We then took a detour to see what is happening on our own plot, Number 37. The last of the flowers in our wildflower mini-meadow are bravely hanging on and a few of our parsnips have gone to flower producing chartreuse umbrella heads. A few autumn raspberries provide welcome food for Blackbirds.

We moved on towards our old oak tree past plots where winter grown crops await Christmas dinners in members homes, leeks with their glaucous strappy leaves and sprouts behind netting protected against marauding Wood Pigeons.

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This little scarecrow bravely guards overwintering alliums.

The Oak invariably looks wonderfully majestic but on a winter’s afternoon it excels with its long sharp shadows and silhouette of bare branches. In the spring Garden nearby the first bulbs are coming into flower, a pale Muscari, pushing their way through fallen oak leaves.

On Sharon’s plot her frog thermometer shows it is mild for December and near by a lone apple hangs waiting to give sustenance to the Blackbirds.

Glyn’s plot is well covered in a mat of green manures, so no heavy rain is going to leach away the goodness from the soil. Now that is good gardening!

In the Sensory Garden the rose hips sparkle away in the winter sun which glows through the last of the rose bush’s foliage. Grasses here always look good but add extra movement in the gentlest of breezes.

In the big meadow the last of the Red Campion and the Honesty are gamely flowering still. A lone bloom of Rosa Shropshire Lad casts a beautiful fruity scent across the picnic area.

The bunting on Brian’s shed looks faded now but still adds cheer. The sunlight beams through the Dedge and intensifies the flat plate flower heads of the late Achillea.

The Winter Garden is beginning to come into its own with peeling bark, powdery white stems and fluffy grass seed heads.

Moving on into the site extension we find our newest insect hotel still standing after recent strong winds. As usual I have string and my Opinel garden knife in my pocket so tie it back to the fence. The bamboo looks settled in its new home at the end of the proposed Garden of Contemplation. From here we can see the mass of “keys” adorning every branch of our ancient Ash tree.

Our long shadows look out across the site.

In the second orchard the crab apples still have much fruit left on and these give bright patches of colour visible from all over the site.

The stems of the coppiced willows in the Withy Bed shine as they start to show their late winter colour. This is something we are looking forward to. We have 17 different willow here in every colour possible.

We are just beginning to prepare the ground for our new Prairie Garden which we shall make in the new year. This big patch of bare ground promises to become a riot of year round colour. We can’t wait to get started. On nearby plots we spot a patch of another green manure, Grazing Ryegrass and another lone apple on a tree.

On Ian’s plot a big pile of farmyard manure waits the time when he digs it into the soil to add nutrients, humus and structure. It won’t take him long – he is a strong chap.

Returning to the communal hut along the wide path we spot this old beer can acting as a cane top rattling away by the old sweetcorn stalks. On Mandy’s plot this little insect home will be looking after hibernating friendly critters who will emerge in the spring to eat pests such as aphids. Dave’s flags hang sadly atop their poles.

As we returned to the car we noticed the first signs of growth on our spring bulbs. The first leaves of the daffodils have just made their way through the bark mulch. A promise of golden flowers to come. Our wheelbarrows give a big splash of colour in low sunlight.

fruit and veg garden design garden photography garden wildlife gardening gardens gardens open to the public grasses hardy perennials natural pest control ornamental trees and shrubs

Dorothy’s Delights – The Dorothy Clive Garden

Post author By greenbenchramblings
Post date December 20, 2013
5 Comments on Dorothy’s Delights – The Dorothy Clive Garden

Whenever we have friends and family staying with us we take them to our favourite places, usually gardens, arboreta or special patches of countryside and of course to our favourite coffee shop with the biggest most luscious cakes. If it is late summer or early autumn then we often share with them the delights of the Dorothy Clive Garden. So in September we took my brother, Graham and sister-in-law Vicky to share in the box of delights.

The garden began as a woodland garden set in a deep dell, but as the years went on it spread outwards so now much of the garden is on a gentle slope down from the dell. The dell features huge mature trees and below them plants typical of shaded places rhododendrons, azaleas and ferns.

After half an hour in the tea shop our first port of call was the sheltered area close by, sheltered enough to allow the gardeners to take brave decisions and grow Tetrapanax, amongst other plants grown for their interesting foliage. The gardeners at this garden are masters at the art of “right plant right place”. The enclosed space here was so sheltered that tender plants thrived, including one of my favourite plants Tetrapanax. We can’t risk it in our garden with its cold wet winters. I love the texture and colour of the stems – softly furry and gingery orange – and the shape and texture of the huge palmate rough leaves.

Another of the big leaved plants growing here in the damper areas are the Rogersias, with several different varieties thriving in the shade.

We left the sheltered garden taking a path beneath a tunnel featuring some delicate sculpture and neatly trimmed box balls.

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As we left the covered walkway we discovered another large-leaved architectural plant, the Onopordum, with silvery jagged leaves and stems with spikes all along their edges adorned atop by similarly spiky flowers. The Goldfinches will love them when they burst!

A new feature in this old favourite garden was an edible woodland garden. We were excited about seeing it and our anticipation was rewarded. This little shaded area under mature trees was full of atmosphere and interesting features.

We were impressed by the great insect hotels and the amazing wooden fencing found within the plants of the edible garden.

After this we wandered off along the meandering soft grass paths around the mixed borders. Enjoy them with us.

Part of the way round our border wanderings I spotted these lovely old chestnut gates and fences at the entrance to the kitchen garden.

Tags foliage plants, fruit and veg, fruit and vegetable growing, garden photography, gardening, grown your own, herbaceous borders, mixed borders, wildlife

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.