Tag: my garden

Older garden varieties and the knowledge inherent seems doomed ?

I don’t know if some words were altered and even the original Daily Telegraph copy leaves something to be desired in how it reports the impending possible/ probable loss of a great variety of horticultural material, ie bred named forms, diversity,  varieties treasured, things kept going for generations, the product of clever hands and minds. In other words anything that is produced for a ‘mass market’ seems to be squeezing other more knowledgable specialist approaches. I found the article via MSN and clicked to the Telegraph original. It certainly could be better worded, to be clearer, to make the point far better; the loss of specialist growers and the lack of younger people to take on such a precarious business with often a low financial reward. Reads as if the writer possibly had no real understanding of the subject.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/17/british-rose-snowdrop-risk-extinction-42-per-cent-nurseries/

What they really meant is the nationwide network of SPECIALIST ENTHUSIAST plant nurseries is declining. The prospective not particulary knowledgeable or even totally unknowledgeable customer finds it easier to go to the big commercial garden centres where its often bought-in and all designed to sell and sell quickly. I can appreciate that position. That is good news in avoiding pot bound con-jobs, worst case recently was my unknowingly bought a £30 shrub from an unknowledgable so-called garden centre (non-specialist) ie a buyer-in of all material only to find half of the lower pot bound rootball sliced off to leave a disc four inches thick in a eight inch deep pot!

In other words the specialist growers are finding both that no-one wants to follow on after them and fewer people nowadays hunt out their specialist plants, that the general non-specialist garden centre ie plastic furniture, ornaments, novelties are one-stop shopping centre for most ordinary occasional gardeners; plants and shrubs are dealt with as if any other bought-in product. Like it or not we live in the here and now.

Its called the pushing aside of  ‘knowledge and experience’ … things that if not presented or primarily existing within the screen are seemingly irrelevant to much of the population. Its not only the young apparently middle aged folk also seem bewitched by online activity.

I’ve said this for years, the ability to work with soil, to nurture, to create a worthwhile and ‘intelligent garden’ are quite rare and increasingly rare. An interesting illustration is my patch of the English lake District where its very difficult to find a small scale garden that instills any sense of depth or age, everywhere everything is never older than a decade. ie retirement then infirmity scupper what can be achieved over decades as the garden, the plot itself determines the winners and losers.

 

postscript: its hard to get the point across of basic soil husbandry with many people, ie how to garden. Each autumn I treasure the leaf fall as nourishment for the myriad soil inhabitants, worms, algae, mold, bacteria and its also an insulating blanket for the impending winter cold. Note bulbs by the end of September already are showing significant underground development, in waiting for the spring push. Likewise buds on trees by the September are set and waiting for the Spring dash!  Yet so many unwitting households adore their silly garden vacuums and love to hoover away all that is set by nature to help them! And yes I’m aware of excessive leaf fall and the possible plague of midges, point taken. The so called ‘garden compost’ so beloved of the bbc r4 GQT I am most sceptical of, its not inherent in any truly natural system of organic soil development, can throttle off self sown seedlings in the established flower garden, is much over-rated in fact, most certainly it will kill off all your crocus! I build my compost heaps for the mice. I remember a customer trying to loosen up a v heavy clay soil with annual mulches of sand … my suggestion of a top dressing of FYM to aid worm and soil life development went totally unheeded. She had no realisation of Nature and nurture, establishing the right framework to aid her little assistants underground, yet lift up any lump of FYM and the life is teeming from under.

A fifty yard bank of cowslip from Seaham, seed first cast twenty years ago.
A fifty yard bank of cowslip from Seaham, seed first cast twenty years ago. ie my annexe / nature reserve, a private venture so to speak.
Heres a tricky area, lots of shade, probably its best year yet, a patch three decades old. I've also planted Amelanchier to the left and a few weeks ago the small white flowers were a delight in the semi-shade.
Heres a tricky area, lots of shade, probably its best year yet, a patch three decades old. I’ve also planted Amelanchier to the left and a few weeks ago the small white flowers were a delight in the semi-shade.
Two dozen native british north country species introduced over as many years, latest successes are avens and primrose where my wifes ashes are scattered.
Two dozen native british north country species introduced over as many years, latest successes are avens and primrose where my wifes ashes are scattered.
Doronicum looking good, ivy at right is for nesting wren, lots of honeysuckle and rambler rose to flower in a couple of months.
Doronicum looking good, ivy at right is for nesting wren, lots of honeysuckle and rambler rose to flower in June and July.
Just a small part, looking north, all paths are herringbone brick from thirty years ago. The garden itself decides what shall flourish! The clever part if the unfolding of so many layers and years of planting as the weeks progress from Christmas.
Just a small part, looking north, all paths are herringbone brick from thirty years ago. The garden itself decides what shall flourish! The clever part if the unfolding of so many layers and years of planting as the weeks progress from Christmas.

 

All it takes is a little bit of appropriate habitat and to be left alone ... much like myself!
All it takes is a little bit of appropriate habitat and to be left alone … much like myself! ie damselflies taken on a secondhand £20 ebay camera.

 

 

 

 

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No chemtrail to be seen…

However its only 0800 BST and for the second day it is clear, today is Thursday 11th April 2019, even the blue sky itself showing only minimal signs of aluminisation, remember we can see complete alteration of the sky if drift comes in from chemtrails sprayed elsewhere. In fact its so unusual to feel as ‘sans chemtrails’ it is a pleasure posting a photograph.

No chemtrail so far 0800 BST NE England.
No chemtrail so far 0800 BST NE England.

My garden extends further than the plum tree visible on right, this is taken from an upstairs window, the plum tree Czar this morning has the dreaded bullfinch pulling it apart. Various birds like to pull the blossom apart, likewise coloured primula other than yellow have seen their attention this year, without a wire mesh dome they are soon without any colour. My deliberate habit to plant ‘successive layers’ of display in each square yard amply repays the effort and attention, i think thats why so many garden birds are present. So many perennials and shrubs are cuttings from gardens visited / worked in. I’ve never seen a place like mine, no … maybe three times in my lifetime, my own dads sister was also gifted and had similar outlook, her dad too, its in the blood.

As each fortnight unfolds Jan thro May its a new display of bulbs, all sorts, hellebore, erythronium, campanula, cyclamen many species of each.  I focus on perennials, probably the only annuals are weeds, but Raphanus rupestris is often useful, ie radish sown as a flowering plant. Its all about helping insects, invertebrates, etc creating a healthy and significant soil litter is a must, bare earth is a total contradiction, a connected food cahin, ecological completeness. Also so called ‘garden compost’ is not what it seems – best avoided. Nearby down the road theres a hidden ‘wild area’ of say half an acre that has two dozen British native plants introduced by me (say seed/ cuttings ratio of 70/30) over the last quarter century, only things that would have found their way perhaps eventually to the reclaimed land, common spotted orchid, foxglove, avens, fifteen cuttings of honeysuckle thriving and maturing etc etc. As long as the Council ‘do nothing’ then everything will be fine.

This last five years theres hardly any moths wanting into the evening kitchen light. Last two years bees noticably absent, this spring a few more than the previous year, but only a few. I also think in our semi-urban location the Dawn Chorus is quieter, six years ago i would get up at 0400 to record it. The encroaching desire for gravel and paving in small urban gardens does not help. Likewise at the multi-million pound revamped local authority Public Park, a typical unthinking use of wood chippings does not help, ie ‘think blackbird’. .

Okay, back to the purpose of this blog ie UK chemtrail diary….

Next task will be wind direction and look at NASA worldview to see signs of yesterdays chemtrail therefore predicting likely aluminization/haze even if no chemtrails were visible above yesterday.

If we get a second clear day it will be because we are being allowed a clear day. 

what will the day provide?