Tuesday 28 June 2011
Skylark
There is a Skylark somewhere nearby and it sings all the time. I love the song of the Skylark. It reminds me of holidays on the Cornish coast and makes me think of wide open spaces.
Sunday 26 June 2011
Bumble Bee
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| This is not from the meadow but I could not resist. It is a bumble bee on a giant scabious flower in our garden. |
Old and New Flowers
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| Oxeye Daisy, Goats Beard, Birds Foot Trefoil (I think - suggestions welcome) |
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| Borage and Field Poppy |
The Meadow as it was and Showing some new Flowers
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| The meadow before we started |
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| Showing a few field poppies, germinated from seeds sown last year. |
Bees
Just this last week there are far fewer bees in the meadow and in our garden. At the start of the summer there were a lot, all over the catmint and the vipers bugloss. Now there is just a handful in the garden and the meadow is very quiet. Also, the types of bees has changed. Before, there were bumbles (or they look like bumbles, I am not an expert, striped, some with white bottoms and others with golden bottoms). Now there are smaller, longer, browner bees, more like honey bees.
There have been more reports of hive collapses, but I do not know whether this local change is due to that, or the recent rainy cold weather (although today is hot), or another factor.
Anyway, Ian has fixed the computer so I will upload some photos later this evening.
There have been more reports of hive collapses, but I do not know whether this local change is due to that, or the recent rainy cold weather (although today is hot), or another factor.
Anyway, Ian has fixed the computer so I will upload some photos later this evening.
Friday 24 June 2011
Meadow Brown Butterfly
So, the butterflies which are all over the meadow are Meadow Brown Butterflies. I did see in passing a Red Admiral, or possibly Peacock, and there are a few common whites, which I think are Cabbage White.
The Meadow Brown likes the nectar from thistles. It mates in July and lays its eggs in grasses. This leaves me with a dilemma about when to cut the meadow. I had planned to cut half of it at the start of July. However, doing that, I am likely to remove grasses bearing the butterfly eggs. Perhaps I should not do anything until October. By then, all the plants will have seeded and I expect that the insects will also have gone through their life cycles.
But one thing I have noticed is that bees and butterflies and a host of other insects love thistles. So if you have a patch of thistles, especially those with the purple heads, in a patch which is not too inconvenient, it is worth keeping them.
The Meadow Brown likes the nectar from thistles. It mates in July and lays its eggs in grasses. This leaves me with a dilemma about when to cut the meadow. I had planned to cut half of it at the start of July. However, doing that, I am likely to remove grasses bearing the butterfly eggs. Perhaps I should not do anything until October. By then, all the plants will have seeded and I expect that the insects will also have gone through their life cycles.
But one thing I have noticed is that bees and butterflies and a host of other insects love thistles. So if you have a patch of thistles, especially those with the purple heads, in a patch which is not too inconvenient, it is worth keeping them.
Wednesday 22 June 2011
Butterflies
Great excitement.
The meadow is now thick with purple thistles, and the bugloss is going strong. When it eventually stopped raining today I pottered over and found that it was teeming with bees, and some lovely dark butterflies. I haven't identified them yet but if I do, I will let you know.
I had promised myself not to sermonise after my "wasp" blog, but I can't help but share another thought I had (we've just come back from holiday so I had time to think). A society which can afford to pay its footballers £50,000 a week, and its executives millions every year, can afford libraries. I am fed up with being told it's not that simple. I'm afraid it is exactly that simple.
Ian is going to fix the photo problem this week so I should be uploading photos anytime soon.
The meadow is now thick with purple thistles, and the bugloss is going strong. When it eventually stopped raining today I pottered over and found that it was teeming with bees, and some lovely dark butterflies. I haven't identified them yet but if I do, I will let you know.
I had promised myself not to sermonise after my "wasp" blog, but I can't help but share another thought I had (we've just come back from holiday so I had time to think). A society which can afford to pay its footballers £50,000 a week, and its executives millions every year, can afford libraries. I am fed up with being told it's not that simple. I'm afraid it is exactly that simple.
Ian is going to fix the photo problem this week so I should be uploading photos anytime soon.
The Wasp Jar
I was thinking the other day about how, in the 70's and 80's, if we were eating outside in the summer, we would be pestered by wasps. My parents' remedy was to half fill a jam jar with honey and water, put the lid on and punch two holes in the lid. I don't blame my parents, this was normal. The wasps, attracted by the honey, would find their way into the jar. Once inside, they would be unable to get out, and would inevitably drown. With complete detachment, we would watch them struggling and dying.
Nowadays, I hardly ever see so many wasps, which is presumably yet another symptom of our destruction of the planet. And it seems unimaginable that anyone would set out to kill such a large number of wasps, or anything else, knowing how threatened almost every species is. Anyway, I could not now watch a wasp drown. How cruel we were when we thought it was all endless.
Nowadays, I hardly ever see so many wasps, which is presumably yet another symptom of our destruction of the planet. And it seems unimaginable that anyone would set out to kill such a large number of wasps, or anything else, knowing how threatened almost every species is. Anyway, I could not now watch a wasp drown. How cruel we were when we thought it was all endless.
Thursday 9 June 2011
The Grim Reaper
I have bought a scythe! It is about my height with a very long curved blade. I am rather nervous.
I was wondering how to mow the meadow. We only have a little Flymo which needs plugging in, so that won't even reach the meadow. I could have borrowed a neighbour's sit-on mower, but that seemed rather brutal. What about the dormice, for instance?
So a scythe seemed the best choice. For the meadow, at least.
I am going to try it out on half of the meadow (the left hand half, not the "new" bit) in early July because most of the grasses and flowers there will have seeded by then. If that works, I'll do the new bit in the autumn. As the cats will almost certainly follow me, I'll have to shut them indoors. Otherwise we could end up with some interestingly limbless animals.
I've been looking at videos on the internet on how to scythe. They invariably involve sepia-coloured men who look as though they're from another age mumbling about the correct length of scythe and sharpening stones in broad country accents. I feel a fraud already.
Will let you know how I get on. Wish me luck!
I was wondering how to mow the meadow. We only have a little Flymo which needs plugging in, so that won't even reach the meadow. I could have borrowed a neighbour's sit-on mower, but that seemed rather brutal. What about the dormice, for instance?
So a scythe seemed the best choice. For the meadow, at least.
I am going to try it out on half of the meadow (the left hand half, not the "new" bit) in early July because most of the grasses and flowers there will have seeded by then. If that works, I'll do the new bit in the autumn. As the cats will almost certainly follow me, I'll have to shut them indoors. Otherwise we could end up with some interestingly limbless animals.
I've been looking at videos on the internet on how to scythe. They invariably involve sepia-coloured men who look as though they're from another age mumbling about the correct length of scythe and sharpening stones in broad country accents. I feel a fraud already.
Will let you know how I get on. Wish me luck!
Up to Date
Watching a garden or a meadow come to life is wonderful. At the beginning of the year it is seems impossible that those small clumps of newly emerging plants will grow to fill all that space. I usually fall into the trap of planting new things to fill in the gaps, only to have to move them a few months later as they are squeezed out by the established plants. Cat mint, for instance, especially Six Hills Giant, starts from nothing in the spring and by June is a foot high mass flowered fronds.
Every morning before work, if I have time, I stand at the edge of the meadow and look to see what has grown. Sometimes, you have to look for a long time before you really see what is happening. Most exciting is that the yellow rattle is well established. It is a short spike of a plant studded with little yellow flowers, and it has colonised the rotavated part. This should help the flowers to continue to spread year on year. Then in the middle is a whole clump of brilliant red field poppies and nearby some oriental poppies in bright pink and others in a dark mauve. Oxeye daisies have established themselves along the edges of the meadow and there is also a clump further in, amongst the long grass. The vipers bugloss has sent up its spikes and the blue and pink flowers are so intense in colour that they almost glow. But best of all are the cornflowers. There are two tall plants each bearing a constant flush of those glorious sky blue flowers.
As you can imagine, the meadow is full of bees who can hardly decide between the different flowers. They seem to have a special love for the flowers of the purple thistle and the cornflower. They land on the very soft level cushions that these flowers provide and, having waded around them for the nectar, seem to go to sleep. Perhaps they provide the perfect platform for a snooze in the sun.
So, the meadow story is up to date. My next task is to upload some pictures so that you can see all these plants I've been talking about, and how they look in the meadow.
Every morning before work, if I have time, I stand at the edge of the meadow and look to see what has grown. Sometimes, you have to look for a long time before you really see what is happening. Most exciting is that the yellow rattle is well established. It is a short spike of a plant studded with little yellow flowers, and it has colonised the rotavated part. This should help the flowers to continue to spread year on year. Then in the middle is a whole clump of brilliant red field poppies and nearby some oriental poppies in bright pink and others in a dark mauve. Oxeye daisies have established themselves along the edges of the meadow and there is also a clump further in, amongst the long grass. The vipers bugloss has sent up its spikes and the blue and pink flowers are so intense in colour that they almost glow. But best of all are the cornflowers. There are two tall plants each bearing a constant flush of those glorious sky blue flowers.
As you can imagine, the meadow is full of bees who can hardly decide between the different flowers. They seem to have a special love for the flowers of the purple thistle and the cornflower. They land on the very soft level cushions that these flowers provide and, having waded around them for the nectar, seem to go to sleep. Perhaps they provide the perfect platform for a snooze in the sun.
So, the meadow story is up to date. My next task is to upload some pictures so that you can see all these plants I've been talking about, and how they look in the meadow.
Sticky Weed
It looked as though the sticky weed might be the only plant growing on the patch of ground where I had sown all those seeds. So I put on wellies and my gardening gloves and waded into it. I grabbed handfulls and just pulled it up. It comes away quite easily but it is amazing how much there can be as it grows high and each plant has a lot of stalks. I cleared a few patches, especially around the clumps of vipers bugloss which were still low to the ground with their rosettes of pointed leaves, and the foxgloves.
About a month or so later, in May, one of the Conservators and I walked through the meadow to see what had come up. On the old part (the bit we had not rotavated) was the long grass, common vetch, meadow buttercups, dandelions, clover, stinging nettles, dead nettles, brambles, speedwell, black medick (or possibly trefoil), goats beard and wafts of lacy yarrow. That in itself was looking lovely. In the new bit, all we could see were the foxgloves and bugloss, the thistles and nettles and the acres of sticky weed. So we spent an hour or so pulling it up, again throwing away mounds of it whilst I worried that we would also be pulling up seedlings trying to establish themselves.
About a month or so later, in May, one of the Conservators and I walked through the meadow to see what had come up. On the old part (the bit we had not rotavated) was the long grass, common vetch, meadow buttercups, dandelions, clover, stinging nettles, dead nettles, brambles, speedwell, black medick (or possibly trefoil), goats beard and wafts of lacy yarrow. That in itself was looking lovely. In the new bit, all we could see were the foxgloves and bugloss, the thistles and nettles and the acres of sticky weed. So we spent an hour or so pulling it up, again throwing away mounds of it whilst I worried that we would also be pulling up seedlings trying to establish themselves.
Sunday 5 June 2011
Spring
Spring came at last. The bulk of the meadow I had not touched and here the grass was growing. Lovely long wavy grasses. Everywhere daffodils sprang up. The most gratifying daffodils for me were those which had been buried for years under the brambles.
As spring came on, a buddleia which I had rather stupidly planted in my narrow flower bed alongside the house, when it looked small and pretty, became a monster. After some thought, I dug it up and planted it on the meadow. Just at that point the dry spell arrived. I spent at least two months going out every other day and watering the trees I had planted and that buddleia. I am sure my neighbours must have thought I was obsessed. My husband, who is not a gardener, stayed indoors and escaped notice. However, the buddleia is still alive although it hasn't flowered. Perhaps next year.
The little fruit trees produced leaves and a small amount of blossom. They have been struggling a little, not only with the dry, but with the muntjacs which have been nibbling their leaves. The taller plum trees each have a little crown of leaves which are just out of reach of the deer, but the cherries are looking very bare. Still, the deer have to eat something and I just have to hope the trees will survive and get stronger as they get taller.
After the daffodils, spring brought to the muddy patch, with its precious seeds, an abundance of sticky weed, goose grass, or, to give it its proper name, gallium aparine. It was everywhere, in great swathes, and my fear was that it would prevent all those little plants from coming through.
As spring came on, a buddleia which I had rather stupidly planted in my narrow flower bed alongside the house, when it looked small and pretty, became a monster. After some thought, I dug it up and planted it on the meadow. Just at that point the dry spell arrived. I spent at least two months going out every other day and watering the trees I had planted and that buddleia. I am sure my neighbours must have thought I was obsessed. My husband, who is not a gardener, stayed indoors and escaped notice. However, the buddleia is still alive although it hasn't flowered. Perhaps next year.
The little fruit trees produced leaves and a small amount of blossom. They have been struggling a little, not only with the dry, but with the muntjacs which have been nibbling their leaves. The taller plum trees each have a little crown of leaves which are just out of reach of the deer, but the cherries are looking very bare. Still, the deer have to eat something and I just have to hope the trees will survive and get stronger as they get taller.
After the daffodils, spring brought to the muddy patch, with its precious seeds, an abundance of sticky weed, goose grass, or, to give it its proper name, gallium aparine. It was everywhere, in great swathes, and my fear was that it would prevent all those little plants from coming through.
Yellow Rattle
One other thing I planted as the frost and snow came were four small fruit trees, just along the edge of the common by the road: two plums and two cherries. I chose these because there is a Woodland Trust wood nearby which has a lot of plum trees and many of the gardens nearby have cherry trees. I wanted two of each so that they could pollinate each other. They looked very forlorn in the hard ground.
I was hoping that the small plants I had grown from seed and planted out would survive, as well as the little fruit trees. Then, after a cold November, or it could have been half way through snowy December, I remembered the one thing I had learned from the programme about Highgrove; a successful wild flower meadow needs yellow rattle, the parasitic plant that keeps the grass under control.
I ordered a large bag of yellow rattle seeds online and scattered them on the snowy common. I have to say I wasn't holding out much hope. But I didn't want to wait until spring because according to the instructions that came with the seed, it needs the freezing and thawing of winter to help it germinate.
By now, the bit of meadow which had been covered with brambles, when it wasn't covered in snow looked like an unloved strip of mud and not at all like a meadow, let alone a wild flower meadow. The only creatures that loved the it were our cats. It made the most fantastic toilet.
I was hoping that the small plants I had grown from seed and planted out would survive, as well as the little fruit trees. Then, after a cold November, or it could have been half way through snowy December, I remembered the one thing I had learned from the programme about Highgrove; a successful wild flower meadow needs yellow rattle, the parasitic plant that keeps the grass under control.
I ordered a large bag of yellow rattle seeds online and scattered them on the snowy common. I have to say I wasn't holding out much hope. But I didn't want to wait until spring because according to the instructions that came with the seed, it needs the freezing and thawing of winter to help it germinate.
By now, the bit of meadow which had been covered with brambles, when it wasn't covered in snow looked like an unloved strip of mud and not at all like a meadow, let alone a wild flower meadow. The only creatures that loved the it were our cats. It made the most fantastic toilet.
Seeds
That summer I collected seeds from our garden. I had bought a small greenhouse which consisted of shelves about two foot across with a plastic cover. It was cheap and would fit in our small garden. My intention was to grow lots of plants which I would put on the common, use in our garden and give to friends. I somewhat overestimated myself, but I got something.
From the garden I collected sweet pea seeds, foxglove, aquilegia, echinacea, iris, delphinium and poppy. I also bought some vipers bugloss seeds. VB is not easy to find in garden centres and bees go crazy for it.
I put my seeds in seed trays or individual plugs in my makeshift greenhouse. The echinacea and iris seeds disappeared without trace. However, the delphiniums, foxgloves, poppies and vipers bugloss all germinated. The seeds I didn't plant I scattered on the common, along with a few packets of mixed wildflower seeds.
By the end of the year, I had small plants to dig into the common. I put a clump of foxgloves at the back of the unbrambled bit, and two clumps of vipers bugloss near the middle and front.
Then the snows came.
From the garden I collected sweet pea seeds, foxglove, aquilegia, echinacea, iris, delphinium and poppy. I also bought some vipers bugloss seeds. VB is not easy to find in garden centres and bees go crazy for it.
I put my seeds in seed trays or individual plugs in my makeshift greenhouse. The echinacea and iris seeds disappeared without trace. However, the delphiniums, foxgloves, poppies and vipers bugloss all germinated. The seeds I didn't plant I scattered on the common, along with a few packets of mixed wildflower seeds.
By the end of the year, I had small plants to dig into the common. I put a clump of foxgloves at the back of the unbrambled bit, and two clumps of vipers bugloss near the middle and front.
Then the snows came.
Preparing the Ground
The title, "preparing the ground", sounds very grand. In fact, I did very little preparation but there were a couple of things to take care of before I started to think about flowers.
First, some of the wooden posts at the edge of the meadow had fallen away. So I organised for someone to replace the missing posts. This cost around £200 but was worth it.
The next thing was that the brambles on the right hand side of the meadow had encroached by 3 or 4 metres since I had moved in about five years before. I asked a friend of mine, who is a tree surgeon, if he could get rid of the brambles. We decided to keep the brambles along the back edge and just along the right hand side because they are good for wildlife, but to take back the chunk of bramble which had grown in. My friend decided that he would use his stump grinder and the benefit of that was that it would leave totally bare soil where the brambles had been (I had found out by this time that cornflowers love disturbed ground and I was determined to get cornflowers back on the meadow). He charged me £150 which was very reasonable considering the amount of work involved. But you can see that getting started is not necessarily cheap.
The removal of the brambles turned out to be a good move as it left a good few metres of bare ground in which to sow seeds which would be harder to establish in the existing grass. By this time, we were approaching autumn 2010.
First, some of the wooden posts at the edge of the meadow had fallen away. So I organised for someone to replace the missing posts. This cost around £200 but was worth it.
The next thing was that the brambles on the right hand side of the meadow had encroached by 3 or 4 metres since I had moved in about five years before. I asked a friend of mine, who is a tree surgeon, if he could get rid of the brambles. We decided to keep the brambles along the back edge and just along the right hand side because they are good for wildlife, but to take back the chunk of bramble which had grown in. My friend decided that he would use his stump grinder and the benefit of that was that it would leave totally bare soil where the brambles had been (I had found out by this time that cornflowers love disturbed ground and I was determined to get cornflowers back on the meadow). He charged me £150 which was very reasonable considering the amount of work involved. But you can see that getting started is not necessarily cheap.
The removal of the brambles turned out to be a good move as it left a good few metres of bare ground in which to sow seeds which would be harder to establish in the existing grass. By this time, we were approaching autumn 2010.
Friday 3 June 2011
The Meadow through our Front Door
In this picture you can just see the fence at the end of our front garden and the meadow on the other side of the road.I hope to be able to upload some up to date pictures soon.
The Meadow before we started (around 2008)
Our camera is still not uploading, but I have found two old photographs. The first, on this blog, gives you an idea of the meadow. It shows our cat, Tiggy (who sadly died in 2009) on one of the wooden posts at the edge of the common. You can see the brambles encroaching from the right.
Getting started
Last year, I had sown some seeds around the edge of the meadow. By the summer, a few modest flowers had got going including, to my delight,a single cornflower. A start,I thought. Unfortunately, the contractor who mows the verges got a little carried away and mowed the entire meadow, including the wonderful thistles and nettles, and that little cornflower. I was devastated, as was the meadow which looked brown and dead for the rest of the summer.
So the Conservators agreed to my request that I might be able to manage it, but where to start? I knew nothing about making a flower meadow and my research told me it is very difficult. If the soil is rich, you should remove the top soil, you need to know what will grow in that area, etc. I had some useful correspondence with a nice chap at the Grasslands Trust, who helped me decide to keep some of the brambles because they provide food and shelter for wildlife. I was overawed and inspired by watching Alan Titchmarsh interview Prince Charles about Highgrove. The wild flower meadow there is wonderful, but has been created with massive resources and by experts. However, I did learn that one plant you need is yellow rattle. Apparently it is semi parasitic and thins out the grass thus leaving space for the flowers to come through.
So I gathered bits of information here and there. But the first thing I had to do was sort out some basics.
So the Conservators agreed to my request that I might be able to manage it, but where to start? I knew nothing about making a flower meadow and my research told me it is very difficult. If the soil is rich, you should remove the top soil, you need to know what will grow in that area, etc. I had some useful correspondence with a nice chap at the Grasslands Trust, who helped me decide to keep some of the brambles because they provide food and shelter for wildlife. I was overawed and inspired by watching Alan Titchmarsh interview Prince Charles about Highgrove. The wild flower meadow there is wonderful, but has been created with massive resources and by experts. However, I did learn that one plant you need is yellow rattle. Apparently it is semi parasitic and thins out the grass thus leaving space for the flowers to come through.
So I gathered bits of information here and there. But the first thing I had to do was sort out some basics.
Meadow update
My aim over the coming week is to bring the story of the meadow up to date. As soon as I've worked out how to upload photographs, I will also put these on the blog so you can track the meadow in pictures.
But I can't resist a quick jump forward to this morning. The Vipers Bugloss which I grew from seed last year and planted is now flowering. The bees adore it and before I left for work this morning I stood and watched a bee working its way around and around each wonderful hairy spike with its mass of little blue and pink flowers. We have more bees than usual in the garden at the moment and I hope it is because they now have a good food source in the meadow as well.
I will blog again this evening with the next chapter in my efforts to create a wild flower meadow.
But I can't resist a quick jump forward to this morning. The Vipers Bugloss which I grew from seed last year and planted is now flowering. The bees adore it and before I left for work this morning I stood and watched a bee working its way around and around each wonderful hairy spike with its mass of little blue and pink flowers. We have more bees than usual in the garden at the moment and I hope it is because they now have a good food source in the meadow as well.
I will blog again this evening with the next chapter in my efforts to create a wild flower meadow.
Thursday 2 June 2011
Wild Meadow
There is a small piece of common land opposite our cottage which is part of the Nettlebed and District Commons. The Conservators have kindly agreed that I can manage this meadow.
I have taken this on because I am aware that our wildlife is in decline. If I can encourage a range of wildflowers to grow on this meadow, and manage it sympathetically, this will encourage insects by providing food and habitat and therefore benefit birds and other animals up the food chain. It will also provide a beautiful sight for those of us who live around it.
The land sits opposite our cottage. Between us and the land is a single track road. The land is bounded by low wooden posts alongside the road and at the back, by tall trees which screen it from the houses behind. It is about 150 foot long and 50 foot deep.
The meadow, as I will now call it, was covered in lush grass and bordered by brambles. I started working on it last Autumn and will let you know where I have got to in my next blog.
I have taken this on because I am aware that our wildlife is in decline. If I can encourage a range of wildflowers to grow on this meadow, and manage it sympathetically, this will encourage insects by providing food and habitat and therefore benefit birds and other animals up the food chain. It will also provide a beautiful sight for those of us who live around it.
The land sits opposite our cottage. Between us and the land is a single track road. The land is bounded by low wooden posts alongside the road and at the back, by tall trees which screen it from the houses behind. It is about 150 foot long and 50 foot deep.
The meadow, as I will now call it, was covered in lush grass and bordered by brambles. I started working on it last Autumn and will let you know where I have got to in my next blog.
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