It’s September, the cusp of seasonal change. Here’s an update, which features new visitors and new habitats, plus the pond makes a special guest appearance (again).
The garden is wild at the moment; grasses are long, plants are setting seed and there’s vegetation everywhere! That said, I wouldn’t have it any other way. My interpretation of a wildlife garden is to give plants space and time to fulfil their whole lives – for them, and for the ecosystem. That means letting them grow, flower and set seed.
This time of year is particularly crucial for wildlife. Insects, mammals and birds are foraging food to store or build up fat in readiness for Winter. Some are looking for places to hibernate, or to mate and lay eggs. Bees and other pollinators are on the wing still, looking for nectar and pollen to take back to their nests or hives.
To give wildlife a helping hand, a ‘wild’ garden just the ticket. They need long vegetation for shelter and plenty of undisturbed areas of the garden for hibernation and nesting. A mix of wet and dry areas is also great. Some creatures like birds need access to a diversity of berries, nuts and seeds - the latter being all the more reason to let your flowerheads set seed. Seed heads might not look conventionally ‘pretty’, but they serve a vital purpose for other life.
So, let’s go!
Brash Pile
The brash pile (background) makes a great addition to a wildlife garden
The first piece I ever wrote on Gentle Waves was about a log pile, which I made several months ago now. These are really easy way to attract all kinds of beneficial creatures to your garden. Plus, as the wood decomposes, the habitat will only become richer as fungi and other bacteria move in.
I’ve seen loads of different beetles, spiders, snails, slugs and worms in and about the log pile. It’s also been colonised by at least two different slime moulds (which might not sound pleasant, but they’re fascinating). Snails and slugs might be a common sight in the garden, but as they’re feeding on the dead leaves and wood, they’re being diverted away from some of the plants I don’t want them on, so it’s win-win. They also provide a tasty snack for frogs and toads, both of which I’ve also seen multiple times in the log pile.
A Southern Hawker dragonfly laying eggs on the log pile (blurry, sorry!)
So, with all this in mind, I’ve decided to build a second stack just behind it. This isn’t as ‘set in’ to the ground as the log pile and is using mostly larger branches from the cherry tree and lilac that I recently cut back. This would make it more like a brash pile (basically a log pile but with waste branches and twigs instead of thicker logs). The branches are set on a flattened piece of cardboard, which will deter weeds, keep the moisture in the soil beneath, and slowly rot down. I’ll also throw on some Autumn leaves, as well as moss from in and around the pond – it all helps to create a rich habitat like you might see in ancient woodland.
A Bay Tree
The gift of a Bay Tree is a nice one!
We’ve been gifted this by our family next door. It’s growing in a broken pot, so is struggling a bit, and will benefit from being planted in the ground. Bay isn’t really known for being a great wildlife plant, but it will provide us with fragrant leaves to use in our cooking (you can use bay leaves fresh or dried).
Bay is best planted in a sunny position and likes free-draining soil (both of these features of its native region, the Mediterranean). So, you don’t need to fret about watering too much and it certainly doesn’t need a nutrient-rich soil. I’ll be popping this in the subsoil surrounding the pond, and it’ll be facing a South-Westerly direction, which means it’ll get loads of sun.
A Difficult Decision
Making a start in ‘ringing’ or ‘girdling’ the Weeping Cherry tree. The upright trunk can be seen just to the left - note the difference in bark.
This is an interesting one.
We have an ornamental cherry tree in our garden, but technically it’s two trees. The intended specimen, a double-flowering weeping variety, was grafted onto the rootstock of a more common, upright ornamental cherry. Over the years however, the upright has produced a ‘sucker’ which has become a large, forked trunk. This poses a problem; namely that the upright is likely to ‘kill off’ the weeping variety if I leave the trees to their own devices, but also neither tree will be able to thrive while they are competing for resources.
The weeping cherry had noticeably started to struggle, with sickly leaves and a very poor show of flowers.
Therefore, I had a decision to make, but decided to look at it as an opportunity. I decided to intervene and ‘kill’ the weeping cherry by cutting it right back and chipping a ‘ring’ around the bark which hinders nutrient exchange between the top of the tree and the roots. The reason I chose to kill the weeping cherry rather than the upright is twofold: Firstly, it was struggling anyway, and secondly, it produces double flowers which has virtually no wildlife benefit.
In killing the weeping cherry (but not cutting it down), I’m essentially creating a ‘snag’, which is standing dead wood. You may have seen something like this while out in the woods. Standing dead wood can become a rich and diverse habitat; it is colonised by fungi, moss and lichens, and solitary bees and wasps, as well as beetles, birds and small mammals are also able to use it as their home. In short, they’re great!
I’ll also plant some native honeysuckle around the base of the tree, so that it can scramble up the dead wood and improve the aesthetic slightly, although honestly, I’m very much not fussed about aesthetic!
So, I’m hopefully turning a difficult situation round; killing a tree goes against my being but I think on this occasion, it may be help facilitate more life than it is now. Watch this space.
The Pond
The pond, September 2021
The pond is definitely looking wild at the moment. Some vegetation has died off, other areas are looking lush. The marsh marigold is long gone, and the flag irises have set seed. The marsh cinquefoil is looking lush. Blanketweed has returned (a form of string algae), due to the warm, humid weather. The lobelia I planted has finally flowered a bright crimson.
In terms of the submerged plants, the willow moss has gone absolutely wild this year so it will need a little thinning out in Autumn. I tried this a few weeks ago, but pulling even small clumps out I noticed literally dozens of larvae and water beetles clinging on – Summer is not the best time for pond maintenance, so generally you want to avoid interfering if you can. The hornwort has done okay, but has been overshadowed by the willow moss. We had a great display of waterlilies in early Summer, and since then we’ve had a consistent amount of pads.
Recent visitors to the pond include a common smooth newt, which was incredibly exciting to see. I’ve only seen the one, but it’s a start. It was also home to numerous young common frogs and toads, both of which I still occasionally see either in the pond or in the shaded marsh area or log pile. Finally, this year the pond has a new guest – the great diving beetle. This gigantic, fierce creature is about 1.5 inches long and appears at night, where it hunts its prey.
The central island has come on really well. This time last year I planted various varieties of creeping thyme to help cover up the liner, but also to provide a great source of nectar for pollinators. They’re growing nicely, as you can see in the image.
The marsh next to the pond is also looking very wild! It’s very difficult to access for maintenance now which is probably a good thing as I want it to develop on its own. The only time I’ll really do much with it is well into Winter when I’ll cut the perennials back towards the base. The dead stems will go onto the brash pile to decompose and help build the ecosystem there.
Marshes are great if you’ve got a waterlogged area of the garden – common in areas where clay soil is abundant. Chives absolutely love wet soil, so be sure to plant some if you do have such an area, and like chives!
The Three Giants
The three giant sunflowers, (the third is facing away in the background)
These three giant sunflowers were a pleasant surprise – I didn’t sow them, they grew from seed set from the giants last year.
The tallest (which has just past its best) measured around 3m in height and I’m really glad we got them. They’ve been an absolute magnet for bumblebees and hoverflies (sometimes the bumblebees even sleep on the flowers overnight).
Again, sunflowers might not look at their prettiest when their heads hang and they start to die, but its at this time that they produce seed which birds will love, so do keep them standing as long as you can.
Wildflower Mounds
Vipers Bugloss is an incredibly good bee plant (this is the ‘Blue Bedder’ cultivar), still in flower on the mound
It’s not been long since I last posted about this, so there isn’t much to update.
I’ve been keeping on top of some of the more aggressive plants (nettles, thistles) and we’ve had a stunning show of oxeye daisies all summer long. The viper’s bugloss has also been really long flowering, and the bees have loved it. Some native grasses are poking through, along with some red clover.
As I said in the last article, I’ll not be interfering with the mounds much at all until well into Autumn, when I’ll cut the vegetation back a bit, let the seeds scatter, and then compost the stems. I’m also doing another sowing of pollinator friendly flowers in Autumn, to fill in the gaps and give the more aggressive weeds more competition.
I really can’t wait to see how this develops over the years.
Seed Collecting Begins
Seeds collected from an ornamental onion plant, which flowered in the Spring.
This is a first for me this year, but in the spirit of laughing in the face of capitalism, I’m really trying to get to grips with propagating plants for free. So far I’ve collected the seeds of some straw foxglove, meadow sage as well as some beautiful ornamental onion.
If you’re interested in collecting and storing seeds, there are loads of great guides online. The best thing to do is search the plant of the seeds you want to collect, and find the best time to do it. In most cases, you’ll need to fully dry the seed head, shake the seeds out and then place in a paper envelope with silica gel (or similar, to prevent moisture). They can then be stored in a cold place such as a fridge, ready for sowing at a later time - although some seeds are best sown right away.