Cyn's Nature Notes: The Pleasure of an English Garden

Monday 14 April 2014

The Pleasure of an English Garden

The great beauty of my garden is not only in the flowers it produces but also in the many creatures attracted to it. The winter has been milder this year and the bees have been abundant.The many dandelions on the lawns not only feed the bees but also the beautiful butterflies.

Each year as soon as the plum tree blooms the bullfinches appear, steadfastly pecking at the flowers to reach the insects within, sadly they often pull the petals off at the same time, this doesn't seem to affect the crop though as there are always enough for the birds, bees and us.

Chaffinches are always to be found in the mahonia, leaving a scattering of bright yellow petals underneath on the ground. Orange tip butterflies, always plentiful in this garden, love the pretty violet flowers of honesty, which being a self sown plant always springs up unbidden, often filling an empty space or brightening a dull corner. During the autumn we can once again take pleasure from this plant, due to its eye catching shiny seed pods, They are quite delightful and children love to rub off the outer casing on each side of the round seed cases, showing their bright inner sides.

There are many varieties of birds to enjoy watching in the garden, any day looking out of the window I can watch; robins, blackbirds, thrushes, pigeons, blue, great and coal tits, wrens, dunnocks, blackcaps, magpies, crows, jackdaws goldfinches and chaffinches.

Sadly so far this year we have seen no greenfinches or starlings, and although we have not seen owls in the garden, we have seen them fly over and most nights we can stand outside after dark and hear both tawny and little owls and occasionally barn owls also.

Until recently we have always had hedgehogs in the garden and if we walked along the lane at dusk we always saw at least one, now sadly there are none to be found.

We also are lucky to have badgers visiting and to feed foxes every night, also to enjoy the visits of muntjac deer.

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About this Blog

When we moved to our present home in December 1987, I was very ill and bedridden. My garden was a life-saver, although it was very different then. The first thing I did was to put up bird-feeders, and long hours were spent lying indoors in a recliner. This was when I discovered many things. Do you know the underside of every blue tit’s tail is differently marked? Gradually, over the years, the garden changed. We put in shrubs and plants that would not only enhance the garden, but would also be good for wildlife. The first rabbit we saw was so joyful for us. The deer eat the flowers, prune the apple trees, eat the marrow, and are wonderful to watch. Foxes have been a major part of our wildlife. We have fed them each night for more than 20 years. They are such a delight, especially in late summer and early autumn when there are youngsters. They behave like puppies and are great fun to watch.

I love all wildlife: the mason bees that nest in the brickwork of the bungalow, the hornets that last year made their home in the roof above our bedroom, the bees currently nesting in the roof above the bathroom. On a hot evening, if you stand quietly in the bathroom, you can hear this amazing sound: it is very rhythmic and reminds me of the waves at the seaside. It is made by the beating of the bees’ wings as they fan their nest to keep the temperature at the right level -- how many people have heard that sound? I feel so privileged.

Obviously, I feed the birds. When I open the window in the morning I call “Come on Bobby and Blackie”, and one followed swiftly by the other they fly immediately to the bird table. Each morning, on rising, I make my way to the kitchen and find the squirrels already sitting on the window ledge waiting to be fed. Winter brings the moorhens and spring time the mallards. Our pond is a poor effort from a human point of view, but wild creatures see it differently. On summer days, the grass snakes spend long hours in the pond: eating the fish, froglets, toadlings, newts, and any other living creature they can swallow. Although I hate to see the pond emptied this way, I do enjoy the snakes and feel they are an important part of the balance of nature in the garden. Watching a dragonfly nymph climbing out of the pond, up a plant stalk, and then over the next few hours gradually transforming into a beautiful dragonfly -- these are contented hours well spent.

It has been my pleasure to write and publish a nature column each month. I am always delighted to hear how much pleasure this brings to my readers. I have often been asked if I have written a book, so I am making more of my writings and photography available through this web site and blog.