Diary Of A Wild Country Garden

I love it here in this hidden, not well known garden somewhere near me in rural England.  It is not my garden but one I travel to when I am in need of recharging my batteries, inspiration and a welcome break from the pressures of the world. I always come away feeling a sense of lightness of being and a refreshed way of seeing the world and any challenges I am facing in my life. I have needed this place of quiet and reflection more than ever in recent weeks.... I would love to share this special place to me with you.   “ The poetry of the earth is never dead." John Keats A Place To Retreat I wonder how many of us have somewhere to go when we feel the need to relax, chill out and recharge? Or maybe we don't all need to go away somewhere physically and can do it mentally/emotionally? Do you have a place to go to get away from it all?     Bridge In The Hidden Garden. This is one of my fave views in the garden, so beautiful...makes ...

Sometimes gardening is sheer hard work and there is so much to be done in the garden, in life...  There is so much emphasis these days on being "busy" like it's always a good thing when it is not always beneficial for us.   I think it is important to take time out, to take a step back every so often, sit down, take a gentle stroll around your garden and really look at your plants, flowers and trees.  When you look closely at a garden and really take time to appreciate it a whole new world opens up. It is full of colours, shapes, textures and scents.  I remember walking around my garden and other gardens with my late Mum and how she appreciated every tiny detail. She helped me to learn to appreciate not just the garden as a whole picture, not just the obvious colours, but the little often overlooked wonderful details. Mum used to say how stunning and amazing it was that nature could make these colours and shapes and how beautifully they all flow together. Wh...

We have a visitor and garden companion now. Every time we go into the garden within minutes he is there! Mr. Blackbird has taken to making his arrival by swooping down over my shoulder! A flypast, usually pretty close!  He is a very confident, good looking sleek blackbird and he always proceeds to follow me around the garden. I think he knows that, especially when I am carrying a spade or fork, that digging is going to take place and easy lunch for him!  Lately, he has been joined by Mrs. Blackbird as well. She is just as brave and now both of them will happily work alongside me literally inches from my feet as I go my gardening. I feel like I can reach out and touch those beautiful black glossy feathers but of course, I don't.   I am pretty sure they have a nest together but I think it is deep in the hedge so I am not going looking. We should never disturb nests in any way.  I am just happy that there may be baby blackbirds later.  We are having to be care...

If you walked into my garden you would see a burst of bright yellow sunshine from one shrub in particular.  Yet the forsythia shrub isn't one that fills most gardeners' hearts with delight. It is so very common and for much of the year is simply a green shrub. However, for me, it signifies one of the joys of Spring. It never fails, it has beautiful bright yellow blooms on bare branches, it lives happily and healthily with little attention from me in our mixed hedge alongside a lot of competition for food and water, yet it has never become a thug in the garden.  All I need to do is to prune it once a year immediately after flowering and for the rest of the year, I pretty much forget about it.  Why do I grow Forsythia? I have one forsythia we inherited with the garden and one we planted from my Mum's garden.    Well for the few weeks of that bright yellow bloom, I just love it and it shines out so much at this time of year, a beautiful burst of sunshin...

I am worried when I see and hear hedges being cut and trimmed in Springtime. This is the peak time for birds to be nesting and hedges are often filled with nests, even if we cannot see them all.  So why do some people cut hedges down in Spring when birds are nesting?  We have a mixed native hedge in our garden and frequently birds nest in it. Our neighbors have hedges too so it's a good area for birds to travel along and is always busy in the Spring as they establish territory and build nests and rear their young. It is a pleasure to see them singing their hearts out wooing a mate, defending territory and gathering nest-building materials. Then, if we are lucky to see the baby fledglings and parents feeding them in our garden.  We recorded blackbirds nesting in our garden one year as they nested very close to the house and we could take photos without any disturbance. The photos of the birds here are from that page.  Growing up in the countryside I think I alw...

Magnolias are simply beautiful! The tree itself is lovely and provides us with gentle shade in the summer and the blossoms in April and May are stunning. From the tight buds with the promise of flower in March to the slow reveal during April to opening up to their full beauty, they are a Springtime delight I will never tire of.  I am lucky enough to have inherited a gorgeous mature magnolia in our garden. It has the most beautiful pale pink and creamy white cup-shaped blossoms. The blooms are very soft to touch and surprisingly strong. I have seen birds take them away to their nests, no doubt they make a good soft and secure base for eggs.    Now anywhere I go I will if at all possible plant a Magnolia. Most take several years before flowering but one or two like the Black tulip a deep pink bloom does flower early in their life. They do not generally like sandy soil or alkaline soil - do not put mushroom mulch on them. Leaf mould is good to mulch with.  ...

Springtime always sees the birds busy nest building. I have seen many birds gathering nest building materials from around our garden. This woodpigeon in the photograph found a nice large twig to start the nest with! I always find its a bit of a balance for me in the garden at this time of year. Part of me has an inclination to tidy everything up and get it looking nice after the winter.  However, the larger part of me wants there to be habitat and materials for our garden visitors to use.  I know many of our neighbors keep a very tidy garden so especially at the front I do keep things neater there, but the back is very private and can be more for wildlife. I have written a post earlier you may like to read about Are We Too Tidy In Our Gardens?  I know that nature likes and needs a bit of untidiness and that is useful to the birds and animals that visit and live in our garden. So, in general, our garden is a little on the untidy side or as I like to think it on the ...