Diary Of A Wild Country Garden

Berries Abound In Abundance!  Berries abound on the Cotoneaster and in the hedgerow. I wonder as there are so many berries what the winter will be like.  It is often said around here that if there are many berries that it will be a severe winter.  I don't know about that. It is perhaps that we had such a good spring and summer and the trees and shrubs produced more berries.  I guess only time will tell as we go through winter.  The birds have started to notice the berries now and are eating a few already as they ripen.  Many birds visit for the berries. In particular large pigeons sit on our garage roof savouring the tasty berries. Often they will simply sit in the Cotoneaster eating berries within their reach! Our visiting Woodpigeons are looking quite plump now! Of course, birds are one of the main distributors of berries and it works well. The birds get their food and the berries get distributed far and wide and of those that land on the favoura...

It shines a stunning vibrant red. We value it as much as the Daffodils in Spring.  Most of the year it is hardly noticed but now it shouts out and is beautiful. A plant swan song before it too loses its leaves completely here.  I love its rich red shiny leaves at this time of year. The way it trails up and over structures and other sturdy plants and shows off its amazing colour. On a bright sunny day, the leaves seem to shine and I think they look very beautiful. Even dark, dull rainy days are brightened up by its glorious display shining out for us to see. The vibrant red giving us a boost at a time many of us start to slow and slumber.   Virginia Creeper is quite an easy plant to grow. It likes sun or shade and is not fussy about soil type either, wet or dry it does not worry it, it can even grow in slightly alkaline soils. A lovely plant to have in the garden. Obviously, in a very dry spell it is advisable to water it and in its first year especially keep ...

I wonder how many of us see a birdbath as an essential item in the garden?  I know many of my neighbours do not have one yet and even though they feed the birds and some put up nest boxes and allow hedges to grow they do not see the need for a birdbath. However I feel that it is an essential item in any garden, be it a wild one or not.  When we got ours a few years ago I had no idea how much it would be used!  It took a few days but it wasn't long before we had a lot of inquisitive visitors and took them no time at all to be drinking and bathing :)  We have ours on our patio close to the house but they do not seem to mind this at all and it gives us a close view of them.   It is essential for birds to be able to drink and to be able to bathe and preen their feathers, their very lives depend upon it. So a clean safe source of water is of vital importance to them. All year round they use our birdbath. Just yesterday when I was talking to a friend on Fa...