Trees and Storm Arwen

Storm Arwen hit the UK yesterday with some tragic consequences. Fallen trees were behind many of the incidents including the loss of life, power outages, blocked roads and train cancellations. Trees are, of course, beautiful and essential to our general well-being and we should be caring for them better...

Seasonal Changes in the Garden - September 2021

 In the northern hemisphere, September is the start of the meteorogical autumn. It is still warm enough to enjoy the outdoors and plenty to do in the garden. It is also a busy month bringing in the harvest before any chance of frost.See here for links to the first 8 months of 2021. At the start...

Bee Rescue

 What do you do when you find a bee trapped in a spider's web? If it is alive and buzzing, and you are Mary, then you don't call International Rescue but quickly find a couple of sticks with which to extricate the stricken insect from its sticky trap and place it on the operating table or,...

Green Manure

 Green manures are fast-growing plants that provide ground cover which, at a later date, can be dug into the soil to add nutrients and improve soil structure. There are different types depending on the time of year they are sown; usually mixtures of legumes and grasses. For my purposes, I need...

Seasonal Changes in the Garden - August 2021

August is a strange and intermediary month representing the last of summer and the first of autumn. Days can feel like high summer (hot & still) or autumnal with early morning and/or late evening chill. The garden still displays much of its colour and vibrancy but it is also the start of harvest-time....

Seasonal Changes in the Garden - July 2021

 Midsummer in the UK and what should be the warmest month of the year, July. See here for the link to June and earlier months.July 2nd and clear evidence the grandchildren have been round; plastic tumblers and the table-top firepit has seen recent use. Front-of-house, the roses and hydrangea still...