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.
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