Ten days of Easter holiday in the Lake
District spoiled me for natural gardening. The unspeakable beauty
of old deciduous woods coming into leaf, and of spring flowers on banks and
hedgerows can hardly be matched in Edinburgh Central. And the weather was
superb as well.
However, I returned home knowing that there would have been
masses of growth, a lot of weeding to do and who knows what else.
I always hope for lots of birds nests, of course. But I’m
not sure there are any this year. My new nesting box is either too low, to
sunny, too close to the house, too vulnerable….
Possibly there are more
suitable sites than breeding blue tits this year. Certainly they no longer seem
to be the dominant bird at the feeders; one sees the odd one not the crowds
queuing up. As for the thickets of thorny shrubs and ivy – well, there may be
nests, but I am not sure, and don’t want to poke about disturbing nervous young
couples. Given the number of pestilential cats around our garden is not a
perfect nursery. I did see a pair of mallard walking around, possibly looking
for a site. The female sits so still and quiet once nesting that one might have
one somewhere and not know it.
There are several wild flowers around that I am pleased to
see. I am glad the cuckoo flower has re-appeared. It is so delicate and subtly
coloured.
The dominant wild flower right now is the dandelions, of which we
have a brave show. Of course they get weeded out from many places, but their
colour is magnificent, and their seed heads are one of nature’s best designs.
Meanwhile I’ve got the veg patches sown up. I was pleased to
see a frog while weeding, and have left some cover for him. My experience is
that the theory of wild gardening, that predators keep what we call pests in
check, doesn’t work too badly. An adult frog certainly gets through a lot of
invertebrates every day. It isn’t perfect, mind you, so most of the vegetable
seedlings will be covered with plastic-bottle cloches till they get too big.
I went out the other night with a torch, hoping to see
nocturnal creatures. There was nothing to write about in the pond, and I was
about to give up. But I tried the compost heap, and there on a rhubarb leaf
were two sorts of snails, three sorts of slug, a very large caterpillar and
assorted bugs.
Nearby were some of those monsters of the night, great grey
slugs. They are not pests at all (eat dead leaves) but at three inches long
they are very impressive. I have read about their mating, slimily intertwined whilst
hanging in mid air, but never yet seen it.
Tomorrow is May Day. But the May Blossom will not be out for
a week or two.
Meanwhile I have just started “Landscape and Memory” by
Simon Schama. It is undoubtedly going to be a treat, though it is physically
heavy, thanks to the many illustrations. I can recommend it to all
EarthBeGladders.
