Covid-19 is causing unprecedented turmoil across the globe. In the UK, the government has promised to pay up to 80% of the wages to try to prevent huge job losses, there are financial packages being implemented to try to reduce the risk of companies folding and mindless selfish people are stripping shelves of all manner of goods, without a care for anyone else, and regardless of whether they will actually use the stuff they've bought before it spoils, and the added risk of spreading the virus further!
However, while the human race hurtles towards impending doom, Mother Nature is quietly smiling to herself as fewer emissions choke the planet while lockdowns and self-isolations increase.
The sun continues to rise and set, continues to warm the soil as spring settles in. Leaves are unfurling on trees, shrubs and bushes. Insects come out of hibernation and go about their lives. Herbaceous perennials thrust into the light and the birds busy themselves hatching and raising their young. Not in the slightest are they bothered by pubs closing or how many toilet rolls they can stockpile. Mother Nature will provide the necessities the creatures of our world. The Circle of Life will continue, all the more without humans poisoning the planet.
Fresh red foliage of photinia Red Robin.
Swelling flower buds on magnolia George Henry Kerns in the Long Border.
Clematis Armandii and filigree purple-black foliage emerging from sambucus nigra Black Lace in the Terrace Border.
Euonymus elatus Blade Runner looks quite uninviting at the moment but the leaf buds are appearing and will soon soften the effect.
All the hydrangeas are still wearing last year's faded papery bracts. It's a little soon to remove them just yet as they are helping to protect the emerging buds beneath from spring frosts.
Take a moment in the fresh air, whether that is in an open space adhering to the social distancing protocols, in you own garden, or just by opening a window.
Now listen. Not to the low thrum of traffic but to nature. Bees are humming. Frogs are calling and the birds are providing a stunning musical masterpiece.
Now watch. Not the people walking by but nature. Get close if you can. Take pictures. The zoom in features on mobile phones are amazing now and almost all the blog photos are taken on our phones.
Watch those bees foraging. Watch the frogs pootling about in the pond, laying spawn, catching early midges. Watch the birds as they go about their day, attending to nests, firkling about on a sunny wall to pick off insects in the nooks and crannies. Watch the birds visiting a water source having a bath and a drink or squabbling over the best feeders. It can be very entertaining.
Now act!
Find a shallow container, a lid from a container, a dustbin lid even. I use large saucers designed for large plant pots and put a rock in at the edge for stability, and fill with water for the birds.
Use a smaller lid and fill with marbles before adding water for insects.
Clean out that grotty looking bird feeder and fill with fresh seeds. Use a variety of different foods to encourage different birds.
We have a block of fat with berries, seeds and mealworms in it, which tits and robins like. One of our male blackbirds has learned to hover to pick at this. We also have feeders with niger seeds for goldfinches, sunflower hearts are adored by almost all our feathered visitors, along with a seed mixture, and I have another feeder for mealworms. The feeders are all designed to prevent larger birds (starlings will empty all feeders in one sitting!) but the starlings, wood pigeons and other blackbirds do hoover up all the food that is dropped. We also have other visitors including at least one wren, greenfinches, dunnocks, bluetits, long tailed tits, coaltits and great tits.
Plant wildlife encouraging plants and shrubs. Look for evergreens to help with hiding places. Look for trees and shrubs that feature berries. Look for open flowers rather than double frilly pom poms to help pollinating insects. Labels will help point you in the right direction as they will often have a picture of a bird or bee on them.
Choose perennials and shrubs over seasonal bedding if you cannot afford much. Seasonal bedding usually lasts for that season only, whereas perennials and shrubs perform year after year. If you're fortunate enough to have a Botanical Garden close by, or maybe even a local allotment shop, plants are so much cheaper than the garden centre. Places like B&Q sell off plants very cheaply as they go over - pretty much all my spring bulbs have been bought for pennies, and okay I have to wait a year to enjoy the flowers but oh boy are they sweeter for it!
Remember that there are four seasons and plant accordingly to ensure there's something to assist wildlife in each season. This might be early blooms such as hellebores for those earliest emerging pollinators. Spring and summer are easier of course with blossoms, open landing pads like the various daisies, simple roses and lavender. Then of course late flowering sedums, and all those lovely berries to take them into winter. Don't be afraid to leave dying stems and flower heads, particularly if they're hollow where beneficial insects can hibernate inside, or provide a few bug hotels.
Leave the pesticides alone. Remember the Circle of Life. If there are too many green fly on your rosebuds, don a pair of marigolds if you're squeamish and squish them! Go out with a torch at night and pick off snails and slugs, and handfork over the bare patches of soil before the plants fill out to unearth clusters of their eggs for the birds.
Recycling doesn't just involve plastics and paper. Gardeners are constantly recycling. We have 6 waterbutts...rainwater is free.
We also have 4 compost bins. All the plant waste, egg shells and vegetable waste and spent teabags from the kitchen are recycled. This all rots down and is spread onto the borders to improve the soil...again, for free!
Make 2020 the year you help Mother Nature. Make 2020 the year you care.
Keep safe. Keep well xx
