GARDENING WITH NATURE: OCTOBER

My gardening year begins about now. The hedges, trees and shrubs, left alone throughout the summer
while sheltering birds’ nests have been trimmed and pruned with a sigh of relief. Tattered annuals have
been dug up or turned out of their containers to make room for spring bulbs, violas, and forget-me-nots
- a valuable source of pollen for early bees, and it’s time to plant saplings and hedgerow plants.

Timing this work can be tricky as, in an effort to protect our bird's nests, these tasks are often left so late
that hibernating hedgehogs and dormice are disturbed by our well-meaning but ill-timed efforts. Three
winters back I played host to a couple of homeless hedgehogs from mid-January after a neighbour
ripped out a length of hedge. They spent the rest of winter safe in our greenhouse, and apart from all of
my cats getting fleas the story had a happy ending when we released them at the end of March.

It is now that we spread bark chippings under the trees and in the shrubberies, this slows down the
growth of ground elder and the dreaded cleavers but more important still it provides a cosy home for
hibernating insects. These, in turn, provide blackbirds, thrushes and robins a rich feeding right through
the winter months as they scratch around like hens, it looks good too. Gardening with wildlife in mind is
quite different from the usual kind of gardening and it is necessary to forget a good deal of orthodox
gardening practice. For example, what exactly is a weed?

Do we eradicate every daisy, dandelion or bugle, etc. from our lawn? Well no, we manage them as best
we can as all of these are of value to the insect population. Neither do we remove all traces of moss
from among the grass, as this is vital nesting material for many small birds. Long Tailed Tits use this soft
quick-drying material along with spiders’ webs to weave the most amazing ball-shaped nests which they
hide in conifers.

It is worth encouraging all members of the Tit family as they are the foe of blackflies, green flies and a
host of pesky little bugs. I never have to resort to spraying roses thanks to these pretty little birds. There
is an old saying, “no flowers, no bugs, no bugs, no birds.” Very wise it is too! There are, of course,
drawbacks from this type of gardening. This year our squirrels have become very lazy and are burying
hazelnuts in clusters, which means quite large holes in the lawn. On the plus side, however, a plentiful
supply of such victuals will hopefully mean that the cute little blighters will spay the bark of our fruit
trees.
Woodlice abound and for a couple of months during the summer our hedges are decidedly shaggy!

We always leave windfall fruit on the lawn around the base of the trees, something we are exhorted by
gardening experts not to do as it encourages pests, While this is true it will be well worth the risk when
during the cold winter months they attract Fieldfares and Redwings into our gardens, besides, if every
apple was perfect we should not be able to eat them all. Of course there are those who will remind us
that this fruity bounty attracts wasps, and it is all to true, but once again there is a price to pay when you
garden this way, though the rewards are great.

Above all, gardening with nature is about sharing your small green space with such lovely creatures.