Joy of a wild garden
I write this in the first week of having moved to our new home in Petworth. I’m surrounded by chaos and boxes indoors which is hindering me from getting to where I really want to be...in the garden! Looking out of my bay window I see a large back garden which hasn’t been mown at all yet this year. What a feast for the eyes! The grass is flowering and has a pinky hue. There are a few docks offering their seed to many visiting birds. A range of other wildflowers add splashes of colour to create a tapestry of colour, height, form and texture. As the garden slopes gently up and away from the house, the wind catches the grasses and the movement can be quite mesmerising. It feels like an indulgence to enjoy this simplicity and beauty before I start interfering and filling the garden with chosen plants, trees, fruit and vegetables. But...I have done the first and most important job… I have a compost bin up and running!
There are soooo many birds flitting in and out of the mixed hedge in the front garden, it is such a pleasure to see. If I needed proof that hedges are far more beneficial to wildlife than fences I have it. Other benefits are it doesn’t need painting and won’t blow down in the wind. If you have fence panels, do consider replacing them with a mixed hedge to provide more pollen and habitat for wildlife. You’ll reap the rewards of your efforts, I promise you.
I am so lucky to have a mature apple tree in the far corner of the garden casting a good circle of shade to sit under if the summer gets too hot this year. So far, it has been quite cool and I much prefer that, I can’t cope with the really hot sun we have now. I’m really wishing I hadn’t thrown my hammock away a couple of years ago, now that I have the perfect spot for it. I might have to invest in a new one….
My sketchy plans for the garden so far include a pond, a seating area under a heavily planted pergola, a border of shrubs and perennials to create the view from the bay window and of course, a vegetable plot. I have a few sapling trees to plant too, so I will soon fill it up. Hence why I am enjoying the simplicity of it at the moment. Make sure you have a place to sit and feel relaxed in your garden. Somewhere simple that doesn’t shout at you to do something for it whilst you are trying to sit and relax. Taking time to sit and enjoy our gardens is so important and is often the bit we miss out. Make sure you don’t!
Allow a wildflower this month is Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum). With its aromatic fern like leaves, dainty pink flowers and reddish hairy stems, they really are very pretty and grow where most other plants couldn’t so why not leave them. They are also a magnet for bumblebees, butterflies and many other pollinators. What’s not to like?