Where the Wildlings Are

It's a bit early I know, but I want to treat all my employee to Glastonbury next year!!! So if anyone is wanting to go and wants help in raising the odds of getting tickets, we're in!!!

May Moths and Murder!!! (Continued)

'The development of certain pesticides and the creation of nerve gases for chemical warfare have gone hand in hand' NY times.

I have found researching the so called 'bug sprays' to be quite a harrowing and shocking education. I had been taught these insect killing chemicals worked by breaking down their exoskeleton; leading to death, I didn't question it. In fact, they work as nerve gas; absorbed into the body, they cause seizures, paralysis and death, an ending perhaps no less gruesome than I had previously imagined, but why are such strong and environmetally detrimental products so readily available, or even sold at all? Lethal conconctions are being sprayed with such flippancy and ignorance, expelled into our gardens, having a terribly detrimental effect there, as well as in the wider landscape. Would they be so prevalent if their development and effects were more acknowledged?

The UK is one of the most nature depleted countries in the whole world, shameful isn't a strong enough word, there aren't any. Our agricultural industry is responsible for a lot of this, it is obviously the most prolific user of pesticides, it has come to rely on them, it cannot be be turned around overnight, and this is somewhat out of our control, continued government lobbying and a lack of any meaningful funding or investment in this sector mean that destructive and devastating chemcials are used everyday, chemicals sometimes 10000 times stronger than DDT are sprayed onto the very crops we consume.

I believe we can incite change, we can march, we can campaign, we can buy organic, eat local, grow our own, vote, but in our gardens; this is where we hold complete control and the power and can really make a difference now. Not using pesticides is the best thing we can do to aid in nature restoration and increase biodiversity. The best thing we can do to help is to stop, do nothing at all, give nature a chance to recover, our existence depends on it.

May Moths and Murder!!!

It's no longer May, je sais, but it was, it's when I took this photo, and it was around this time that I found bottles of poison in a select few sheds of some gardens I work in. The title of the post came to me almost instantly, but a solution did not.

Do I walk away, do I have it out with them, do I go into eco warrior mode, do I use my knowledge, anger, disappointment and expertise to help them find alternate solutions? I can do all of these and I will try, but even if I convince them, these products are still readily available to anyone, sold next to the 'plants for pollinators' signs, sold within an ideology that says 'THIS IS HOW YOUR GARDEN SHOULD LOOK AND THIS IS WHO YOU NEED TO KILL TO GET IT'.

I read the back of a bottle, I'm sickened to see the long and deadly list; boasting all the various insects that on contact this liquid will bring to its knees; flies, beetles, caterpillars even bees are at risk if exposed and they won't be safe for the next two weeks once applied. And then come the danger warnings; unapologetically but honestly detailing just how devastating the spray is; poses risks to non target insects and other arthropods, is a danger to bees, with specific warnings not spray where they forage, oh, and is highly toxic to aquatic life and has long lasting, damaging effects.

These danger warnings are not subtle side effects, no 'may cause drowsiness' or 'don't operate heavy machinery' here; these are major and pretty catastrophic risks; may destroy all pollinators, may further deplete bird numbers, may create a hostile dead zone where grows your plant uninterrupted in a sea of poison and corpses.

I've been gardening with wildlife in mind; trying to create a safe haven for insects and other arthropods to live, breed and feed; have I been unknowingly acting as a decoy luring them to their untimely death?

Research into these chemicals I have found to be quite a harrowing and shocking education, but the amount I have written just won't fit into one post. So a TBC I shall instill here.

Sticky trick: new glue spray kills plant pests without chemicals Edible oil droplets trap bugs without the harm to people and wildlife that synthetic pesticides can cause

Winter Wanderings!!!

So these beautiful burning Betulas were supposed to be part of my Happy New Year message, alas, I remain consistent at being inconsistent with this whole social media postage.

'The one that never was' was going to be all about the beauty of Winter, which is fast now disappearing into spring.

I have an ever growing fondness of this cuttingly crisp time, the dramatic scenes caused by a seemingly late rising and early setting, low in the skies sun. It's all so calm and still; the silouettes are often 'stop walking and become mesmerised beautiful'.

But now is now, everyone's slowly coming out of hibernation, sap is rising, the landscape is ready to burst into life once more, there is work to be done.

Without all that crawls, buzzes, slithers, scuttles, hops, pounces, burrows, flutters we're screwed, without us, well they'll thrive, as will all else, if we don't destroy it first.

The statistics and outlook are solemn and scary, but if you are lucky enough to be custodian of any green space, be it a garden, a balcony, a windowbox; you can make a difference, 'it's only one plant pot full of flowers' said 67 million people.

Be mindful and responsible about what you do and buy for your garden, steer clear of plants sold in peat composts, doused in chemicals, detrimental to the very beings that depend on them, unfortunetly that's most of them, don't always trust the 'plants for pollinators' label.
Encourage wildlife, provide spaces where they can live, eat and breed.
Drill holes into wood.
Don't dig, less really is so much more in the garden, leave leaves, make a compost pile, make a pile of sticks.
Mulch.
Stop spraying poison, everything has it's place and is vitally important to maintain a balance, I'm on the fence about our particular species on that one, but am also slightly biased.
Cut a hole in that fence to allow hedgehogs to wander freely.
Wear sunscreen.

On that note Happy 2024 and Happy Wildlife Gardening!

Just did the Big Garden Birdwatch for the first time, is a very fun and relaxing activity I must say, would recommend you all taking an hour out of your day to just watch the garden and count the birds all in the name of research!

The biggest of it's kind in the whole wide world apparently, an efficient way to get a roundabout record of what birds we have flying and landing about and what has increased or decreased in numbers, so the more that do it the more accurate the numbers are :)

My list was pigeon heavy unsurprisingly, but I've now become familiar with the local flock, there were only ever a maximum of 12 at any one time!

Was above the national average for the bright parakeets, (which tells me not many South Londoners are taking part), also had some magpies, goldfinches and the most loverly little bluetits hopping and hanging about finding goodies high in the oak trees.

Might just make this a regular occurrence and do more surveys on my lonesome, make a little book, I really enjoyed it; so I am hereby spreading the encouragement!!! :D

Big Garden Birdwatch © The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654

Liquidambar Leaves and Leaves!!!

And all the leaves are gone, almost. Those practising the ol' 'marcescence', such as the majestic Beeches, will cling on to theirs, all golden and crispy until the new ones begin to emerge in spring.

As for the rest of the deciduous droppers, who just a few days ago were captivating us at every twist and turn with their 'stop walking and say out loud wooooah' enchantment, now stand peaceful and reverent, a silhouette surrounded by a sea of their fallen fragments

In a forest these leaves fall and remain, they are not removed but used again and again. (Am not meaning to rhyme here... oh dear :/). This is what you should mimic in your garden, what happens out there naturally!

If you can't leave them on your lawn (pun intended), rake them onto the beds, I would discourage too much 'blowing'; imagine t'would be like a tornado uprooting your slumber if you were,say, a frog sleeping amongst all that, be gentle. Or collect and containerise them. Allowing them to degrade in a quiet corner and break down into leaf mould, a delicious and rich substance that can be added to the soil later. Just don't throw away this hugely valuable and free resource, it's sacrilege!

The soil and all its inhabitants, the hibernators, all the plants that are dormant, and all those still awake, will thank you, by using it to overwinter, it will get eaten, slept in, played with, used for warmth and protection and the soil will be a more fertile and richer place as a result!

There is no sympathy here for those so utterly tormented by leaves on their lawn I'm afraid, and I will never understand the frustration, and almost shock and surprise at the fact that again the trees are behaving just as they should. Use this valuable and completely free resource to enhance your garden, and all that lives and grows within it.

The huge eco system below our feet, within that there earth, it knows what to do, it is the absolute expert, so don't challenge it, support and encourage it by doing not much at all, and as much as you can.

Sea Holly by the Sea!!!

This was actually taken in September, they would have dried out more by now, losing their green and embracing the sandy colours of autumn.

They punctuated the beachline with their crispy prickliness but luckily, for our feet, we didn't step on any.

I was pretty excited to see so many in their natural habitat, I do like them in gardens, but it's here they are at home, they thrive in these pretty harsh conditions. With roots scrambling deeper than a metre and an apparent 'masochistic delight in being buried by an avalanche of sand'.

When I first ever saw these in a garden; I really thought they'd been sprayed with the colour they wore, a kind of twisted Gaudi move, that they'd been sculpted to live amongst the more 'conventional' flowers growing there.

I still find Eryngiums quite strange beings, their ruffled arms outstretched caught still as they twirl through the flower beds. Their sharp, solid irradescant silhouettes stand up and out next to their laid back, actually dancing companions.

Eryngiums are loved by flying pollinators who can bypass their spiky and chemical defenses, you will often see the flower spikes covered in scrambling bees.

Easy to grow and care for these perrenials would make a great addition to any wildlife welcoming space. I've tried to grow them from seed, which isn't quite as easy and haven't had luck as yet, but will try again properly when I have an actual garden to put them in!

Misty Morning!!!

What happens when you are part of the time we call morning.

Contrasting Colours!!!

Finding these colour combinations truly scrumdiddily-umpcious I is indeed!

The deep magenta of the Allium sphaerocephalon against the non imposing grey purple of the Salvia yangii compliments each other so well.

The lollipop like Alliums punctuating the translucent haze of the Salvia, well I just bloomin' love it!

And look the bees love it too, both really great plants for the little buzzers.

They will keep coming back harder and stronger each year, both can survive in pretty poor soils, they can take the heat and are drought tolerant.

Chomping Cinnabars!!!

With their heads stuck right into the flowers of this ragwort, Senecio jacobaea, these little caterpillars you see gorging here are the young of the beautiful and striking Cinabar moth, scientifically named the Tyria jacobaea.

As with other brightly coloured insects both the caterpillar and moth of this species are unappealing to predators, and considering it's main food source is toxic to other animals, apart from certain cuckoos who can stomach the flavour, the predominat reason this caterpillar might not make it to adulthood would be due to lack food. A starving caterpillar can even become cannabilistic.

So efficient at eating their favorite meal they are even imported into countries where they are not native to control ragwort populations.

The red and black moths, that are on the wing both night and day do not feed themselves, their main aim is to mate and lay eggs so the whole process can start again. Their whole life cycle is complete in just under a year, from egg to caterpillar, pupating overground and metamorphosing into it's final winged form.

Sadly as their main foodplant is considered toxic to livestock so much ragwort has been removed as a result of the usual hysteria that surrounds 'poisonous and dangerous' plants and the general negative effects of the way our land is now managed. Numbers of the Cinnabar moth have declined and are declining, a story all too familiar in the insect world.

So in an effort to ensure survival, it's so important that at their various stages they have somewhere to shelter, breed and feed. It's all so simple too, just leave as many native wildplants as you can for all these indispensable creatures. Some ragwort left at the back of a border, a group of nettles hidden at the bottom of a garden, a patch of unmown grass, a few dandelions in a lawn are invaluable to help create an interconnected web of linked habitats.

In a sea of Green I can hardly be Seen!!!

Have identified this little critter as a Meconema meridionale, a Southern Oak bush cricket. He was happy jamming and scramming in a Virginia creeping hedge I was trimming.

Scabiosa stellata!!!

Look at this absolute beauty, like some kind of delicate, papery, origami creation, and it starts out as the white flowers you can see in the background, just so cool!

Had never seen one before this one drew me in at Beckenham Place Park, where they do have some really lovely planting, loads of pollinator friendly, flowing swathes of colour, mostly pretty drought tolerant too, it's where I've probably seen the most bees in one place so far this year.

Having identified it as the Scabiosa stellata, or starflower pincushions, I shall now definitely be collecting seeds, somehow, ready to sow in the autumn. Ah I just really love it.

Creeping Climbers!!!

I have learnt through this whole gardening extravaganza that one of my favavourite things to do at work is to help climbers rejuvenate and regenerate. It's one of those really satisfying jobs, where the improvement is so clear, sometimes very extreme at first, but the speed of restoration is really quite impressive. Getting to watch the climber grow again and become lush and floriferous I find very gratifying indeed.

Cutting a climber, and indeed many plants, drastically means that all of the plants energy is put into regrowth, which will obviously be new and juvenile, allowing the plant to grow strong once again.

Granted at first I underestimated, LARGELY, how long it takes to carefully cut out all the dead wood, untangle the mass of stems, trying to save as many of the living as possible; to reshape or create a framework, while at the same time attempting not to loose too many potential flowers.

These photos are of a Solanum laxum, the potato vine. On a grey day in May I started to cut away all the dead wood, and was not left with much at all, my phone died so didn't get a photo of just how bare it looked, but it soon recovered and look at it now. It's flowering, attracting many pollinators and seems to be a favoured climbing frame of ladybird larvae and it's just so blooming green.

Sweet Seeds!!!

Discovered these little beauties in a garden I was working in today.

Each seed you can see in the pod there is about a millimetre in diameter, if that.

They are the seeds of the lovely, little, early flowering wildflower the Viola odorata, or sweet violet. A delicate flower that provides bold colour in early spring, as well as providing nectar to butterflies and other insects on the wing in spring (Oh yeah I rhyme)

It's also used in traditional medicine to help relieve headaches, colds and coughs. Both flowers and leaves are edible, brand new information pour moi this is, I shall be a munching next time, or at least a sampling, I do enjoy the occasional rose leaf after all.

Now, in summer, it provides a great, green, natural ground cover with, unbeknownst to me until today, these cool little stars full of perfectly formed and packed seeds; ready to disperse to become more and more sweet violets.

May Madness!!!

Everything goes a bit mad in May, including me!

Sap has well and truly started to rise causing plants to grow and everything is blooming green again. 'No Mow May' and a generally more relaxed gardening approach allows wildflowers to grow and set seed.

A beautiful Male Brimstone Butterfly here enjoying the striking hot pink flowers of Gernaium Robertium or Herb Robert. (A photo I'm particularly proud of I must admit). A perfect plant to illustrate my point, both attractive, edible, useful to our pollinators and not very invasive.

Considered by many as a w**d, these and the many other wildflowers of our lands are depended upon by our native wildlife.

A generic blanket term to categorize any plant that you don't think belongs, an unwanted intruder; w**ds/ wildflowers, whatever you want to call them, are vital for all our flying, crawling and slithering neighbours.

"Is that 'just' a w**d?" "Is this a plant or a w**d?" are questions I get asked a lot and they do sadden/frustrate me. Weeds/ wildflowers are of course plants and actually are really important ones, often the most nectar rich and often very specific habitats for very specific insects. Having grown alongside each other for millions of years many now share evolutionary mutualistic relationships.

Nobody is asking you to let your garden get overtaken with bindw**d and brambles, but if you can relax a little, leave some wildflowers alone, don't be so 'tidy' you will be doing everyone a favour. Your garden is not an outdoor room, it is an important stepping stone and link in a huge network of outdoor spaces and environments. It's all about changing our mindsets ever so slightly, trying to see beauty in something that we've been conditioned to see as unwanted. There's so so so so many beings out there that deserve their time just as much as us humanoids so live and let live and for insects sake DON'T SPRAY.

**ds

Spring has Springed!!!

A mining bee, I believe, joined me in a garden I was working in, well I joined her.

It seems like Spring shows up overnight, things just start to grow and show themselves to the light, colour is everywhere, green is returning, the crawlers and the flyers are coming to life once again and it's all just so exciting.

I've been filling my new heated propogators with all kinds of seeds, perennials, grasses, annuals, variations of flower shape, colour, size, all beneficial to wildlife in some way. Lots have germinated, will transfer these to a cold frame and then start the process again, hopefully will have enough to grow them myself and be able to sell peat free, organic plants to clients.

So just writing this at 23.52 and it looks like I'm going to meet my aim of posting at least once a month (I thought that was too easy of a task...absolutely not it seems) not good at all this, but coming into this hopefully busy season, I'll have lots to share and update on all the growing, gardening and insect spotting (identifying with all my new books ;))

Super excited waiting for 30 trees that I'll be planting on our little esate to create a native hedge, it was so easy to apply and you can even get trees for front gardens if you join with a neighbour. Go on plant a tree... more trees, more trees, more trees!!!

Want to plant greener spaces in your local community? Maybe you'd like to create a natural haven for wildlife at your school? 🌱

Whatever your vision, we're here to help with our for schools and communities!

Our autumn 2023 season is open, where we'll be giving away thousands of trees to help you for nature, people and the planet 🌳🌍

Trees are one of the best natural defences against , so please help us in our mission to get more in the ground!

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📸 Richard Faulks / WTML

Flavin on a Friday!!!

Made it just in time to this exhibition of an artist I find to be very inspirational. 

Obviously photos do no justice here, and I struggled with myself to even take this one, but I did spend about half an hour prior mesmerised by this particular piece, (didn't have the time to do this with every one although I easily could). 

The colours become something you could almost touch, a space is created that seems to have body; the absolute simplicity that has such a calming effect. His work draws you into a place of atmospheric colours that appear to dance and change before your eyes.

Dan Flavin featured alongside Olafur Eliasson and James Turrell as the protagonists of my dissertation.  Artists creating spaces or framing environments to be immersed and get lost within; to simply be there and experience.
 
As much as I enjoyed getting my degree in Interior Architecture and all I discovered, I finally feel like I'm actually using it within my work. Creating and maintaining spaces, with colour very much in mind, to be experienced by both clients and wildlife alike (and me of course).

Upon leaving the exhibit I was thoroughly relaxed, in a haze wandering through Green Park, immersed in the light and colour everywhere. Often things in gardens and nature are overlooked, branched altogether as one, w**ds, moss, grass, trees but on looking closer and getting lost in the differences, there are so many details; the flowers, leaves, colours, textures in the frames all around us. Just seeing them can change our perception of them and how they can be appreciated.

February Flowers!!!

'The garden is never dead; growth is always going on, and growth that can be seen, and seen with delight'

Crocuses, snowdrops and primroses have started to pop their heads above the ground, spring is coming and it's all very exciting but the calmness of winter is still here for now.

There are still many ways to inject colour and interest into this sleepy landscape. Seed heads, berries and rosehips are both striking and invaluable food sources for birds at this time of year, coloured juvenile stems and textured barks on trees can really stand out and of course there are a plethora of winter flowering plants including hellebores, viburnums, winter flowering cherries, and this mystical witch hazel.

Looking like something you might see on the seafloor, these spindly flame coloured flowers are dramatic and eye catching on the bare stems of this Hamemelis x intermedia 'Jelena'. Rich in tannins; witch hazel also has many medicinal properties and has been used for generations to soothe various ailments.

New Moon, New Year, New Tree!!!

My first post of the year, and what better way to start a year, or even a month, a week or a day, than by planting a tree.

The first tree planted so far this year, of what I am determined to be one of many, is this Araucaria araucana, a monkey puzzle. Rescued by Jacob from a client's garden, it's now been planted on our estate. Hopefully with some nurturing it will the survive the shock and stress of the move, it could become quite a substantial and striking specimen. A slow growing tree, but could eventually tower above 12 meters in a few decades. The fruit or nuts are also edible, cooked or raw, and full of protein, but this fella will take at least another 30 years to produce those.

So, full of hope and anticipation, I will patiently keep an eye on its progress as I continue to grow my own small organic and wildlife gardening company. Both of us will have plenty to be getting on with come spring.

Welcome to WHERE THE WILDLINGS ARE!!! My small organic gardening company, specialising in creating wildlife friendly spaces.

Flyers have been sent to the printers, reluctantly but eventually social media pages are live, advertising has officially begun.

I am a solely organic gardener, so no herbicides, pesticides or insecticides. Focusing on creating and tending spaces that welcome and provide food and shelter to the array of beasts that crawl, slither and fly around our world. Those perpetually working, visibly or behind, under and between the scenes trying to sustain an ecological balance.

Gardens in the UK encompass more land than all of the nature reserves combined, we all have a responsibility to create habitats for wildlife and allow our outdoor spaces to act as stepping stones between these sanctuaries.

Having a wildlife garden however does not mean that you have to have an impenetrable space overgrown with brambles and bindw**d, it's so important that it is still a space that you will want to be in and enjoy. A wildlife garden is, in its essence, a healthy, biodiverse environment, there will be more plants and flowers, maybe even a pond, all adding to an enhanced sensory experience to entice you all year round.

You might just have to be a bit more patient, relaxed and mindful. Accepting some leaves and twigs here and there, allowing the aphids to multiply a bit; before the ladybirds arrive to feast, leaving some native wildflowers for all that depend on them. But it's completely inaccurate to assume that wildlife friendly gardens can't still be well kept and highly beautiful spaces.

Have been pretty blooming happy to be awarded the RHS Level 2 Diploma in the Principles and Practices of Horticulture from Capel Manor College. Prior to this I had achieved a BA in Interior Architecture at UCA, which finally I am putting to some good use!!!

I have accumulated a lot of detailed knowledge on what, when and how to plant, prune and propagate, and my in-head database of botanical names is ever-expanding, (am constantly annoying whoever is with me, continuously pointing out various trees and plants excitedly).

It is a subject I feel so passionate about that I've completely immersed myself in it, watching, reading, listening, looking all the time, I don't think I've ever been so wholly interested in anything as much as horticulture and botany and all that comes with it.

I am incredibly excited and looking forward to hearing from anyone that would like my help to create, look after or get advice on how to have a healthy, happy and beautiful garden that is brimming and buzzing with life.

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