Checking the wildlife ponds yesterday we caught sight of a blobby mass sprawled across the marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), right on cue there it was - the first frogspawn of the year. It's always full on excitement finding the first clump and this year feels just that little bit more exciting after such a long… Continue reading Frogspawn
Hungry Hedgehogs
The hedgehog feeding stations have been used frequently for well over a week. We decided to put food out just to see if anything fancied a late winter snack and was surprised to see the bowls almost empty every morning, just the odd few crumbs left. The wildlife camera helps to identify the diners, at… Continue reading Hungry Hedgehogs
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The Making of Snowdrop Hill
Snowdrops are a sign of spring being just around the corner, beautiful nodding bells of hope emerging in the depths of winter. We picked an area of the garden to plant some and named it 'Snowdrop Hill', the title is a bit grand, it's not actually a hill but a sloping side of the rockery… Continue reading The Making of Snowdrop Hill
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Winter Pruning Apple Trees
A couple of weekends ago we did some winter pruning, some of the apple trees needed a little help. We are not terribly experienced when it comes to pruning trees (or anything else for that matter), so we follow some basic principles which seems to do the trick. We concentrated on the three D's, removing… Continue reading Winter Pruning Apple Trees
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Big Garden Birdwatch 2023
The Big Garden Birdwatch weekend returns this month for its 44th year. By taking part in the survey you are helping the RSPB to monitor how the UK's garden birds are faring, it's a great excuse to get out in the fresh air and reconnect with nature. It's something we look forward to doing every… Continue reading Big Garden Birdwatch 2023
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Winter Flowers
Last May we planted Prunus x subhirtella 'Autumnalis Rosea', an ornamental cherry to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. Also known as winter flowering cherry, right now in dreary early January it is flowering its socks off. According to the label we should expect flowers in mild periods between autumn and spring, which is one of… Continue reading Winter Flowers
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Changes
Last year our garden was very different, mostly lawn (it still is) with huge pine trees down one side planted by the previous gardeners. There was privacy and shade but not many options to plant in this area. The garden in 2013 The previous gardeners built a large rockery border at the top of the… Continue reading Changes
The Noisy Garden 