Welcome To The World Of My Secret Hidden 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 me forget myself....

"The liberating truth is not static; it is alive. It cannot be put into concepts and be understood by the mind. The truth lies beyond all forms of conceptual fundamentalism. What you are is the beyond-awake and present, here and now already.

To be here, all you have to do is let go of who you think you are. That's all! And then you realize, "I'm here." Here is where thoughts aren't believed. Every time you come here, you are nothing. Radiantly nothing. Absolutely and eternally zero. Emptiness that is awake. Emptiness that is full. Emptiness that is everything."
Adyashanti

I love watching the butterflies, birds and other wildlife in my hidden garden. It is fascinating to just watch them go about thier daily lives.

Every time I go there it is different, subtle changes as the Spring rush to find a mate, nest and raise young changes to the heat and basking of high summer and the gentle fading into Autumn, getting ready for the cold winter ahead. Even the insects and creepy crawlies they too have their place in the whole ecosystem and often do good.

By The River Groove Amada

Ever lay down on your back on a sunny afternoon looking up at the sky and playing this song? Whether you are on a beach, or in the countryside or even grabbing five minutes of relaxation anywhere, I highly recommend it for utter relaxation. You may like to play it while reading the rest of this page.



“One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth."


Relaxing In the Hideaway

This is a beautiful place to spend some time either alone or with my husband. Here if we are together, we chat quietly about the past, sharing memories or talk about our future, planning our dreams, or simply in the moment just being together right now.

Alone I can be with my thoughts, time to reflect, recharge, heal and rest. The gentle lapping of the water, natures soothing sounds and a soft breeze...

Noticing Nature In The Hidden Garden.

I like to stop and notice the amazing little things in nature that are all around us. Especially taking photographs gives me the reason to look, consider and dwell on the little things in nature we often walk by.

Focusing a camera helps me to focus on the scene, the unnoticed, the colours and the shades of each season. Here a  Poppy seed head, amazing of itself, hidden in the greenery all around, waiting until it bursts forth a brilliant red, never to be overlooked. It holds all the promise of a beautiful flower.

“I've always thought my flowers had souls." Myrtle Reed, Lavender and Old Lace (1902)

A Single White Flower Card by RaintreeDesigns
Design your own photo cards at zazzle.com.

What Is Life If Full Of Care...?

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

by W.H. Davies

Ducklings in May. Ducks and ducklings are so cute to me and I love to see them grow up as I visit this garden from time to time. I smile at their ungainly waddle across the grass areas and laugh as they dip and quack and settle their differences. I admire their beauty and happy dispositions. I love their ability to live for right now, right in the moment, just being a duck on a pond...

Feeding The Fish. I Love feeding the fish here...I find it intensely relaxing and so very close to nature. Now the bigger ones even let you hand feed them. I feel very much "in the moment" here with nature at peace and that in itself is so very relaxing....

Just For Today...

A simple statement I learned in my Reiki training that make a difference when practiced.

Just for today:

Do not worry
Do not anger 
Be compassionate to yourself and others 
Be humble 
Be honest in your dealings with others.

Peace Be With You Pink Blossom Card by RaintreeDesigns
Look at more cards from Zazzle.

  Come on over for a quiet chat and relaxation :)

Here are some comments from when this page was posted on another site. 

Adventuretravels  from London UK
I have a secret garden too and it's in the middle of London! It's hidden away in Regents Park in fact! Even though this wonderful park has thousands of visitors each month, I'll bet that far fewer find my secret garden! Shhhh I won't tell yuo where it is -but next time you're in Regent's Park look and you'll know when you've found it because it's very beautiful.

nightbear What a truly beautiful lens. I love the photography and I would love your lovely garden as well. Beautiful. Blessed.
    
skefflingecho Tobermory Ontario Lovely lens and garden. Blessed. Here's one of my favourite quotes, and I think it fits here

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time"
Sir John Lubbock

   
indigoj  UK Spending some time here with you in your hidden garden brought a feeling of peace into my day. This lens is a treasure and it feels like I've come across a kindred spirit. Delighted to lensroll this to The Gift of Solitude and to Finding Happiness in Nature. Next time I update I'll feature your lens too.

RaintreeAnnie 
Thank you so much for all your lovely comments, I do appreciate them.

   
RaintreeAnnie 
@ohcaroline: Thank you I am so glad you enjoyed it :)

    
ohcaroline
 You have a wonderful place to get away and relax. Blessed by an Angel. This lens will be featured on my angel lens: "angel-on-assignment".

   
perfumereviews
this is really sweet. i love getting away (even if only for a minute or two). parks and botanic gardens are always my favorite picks. :) and the odd museum here or there--quiet, inspiring and contemplative. :)  
 
paperfacets  La Verne, CA This is a wonderful lens. My neighborhood is rather relaxing so a nice walk helps when I need it. Nothing like a beautiful lake like this, though.

    

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Reflections On Appreciating A Garden

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.

Who would have thought to merge those colours, scents and that form together!  She got the same sense of amazement and wonder walking around her own garden, as some people only do by traveling to exotic locations. 

My Mum was well into her 80's when she died and she had various health issues, yet she never lost her wonder at nature and particularly flowers, trees and birds.

 I will never forget the joy and appreciation in her eyes, how her whole face lit up and the excitement in her voice when she saw a plant she loved. Perhaps a new colour, a new form, something she had not noticed before, or an old favorite. The continuing happiness in any garden, any flower,  brought her even up until she died was lovely to experience...

So now I like to take a moment, appreciate the wonder of nature, breathe and be thankful...

Dedicated to My Mum .... 



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Friendly Blackbird Visitors In The Spring Garden

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 careful though as a couple of days ago I left our back door open and watched with my heart in my mouth as Mr. Blackbird bravely walked into our kitchen!!

I just waited and hoped he would walk out again and thank goodness he did. However, now that door is firmly closed at all times! 

Our garden is a nice welcoming place for birds. They have the hedge, lots of shrubs, a gardener who digs, food, two birdbaths and a variety of plants and cover. We have not ever and would not ever try to tame any of the wildlife but when they choose to be near you (even when it's cupboard love !) it is a blessing. 

So it is lovely to be rewarded with a close encounter with these beautiful birds.  I love it and treasure it.

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Why Do I Grow Forsythia For Wildlife?

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 sunshine yellow - when often there is not that much sunshine around. 

It is reliable, it flowers on cue every year, no worrying about it or tending it to get it to flower. I don't feed it or water it and yet it rewards me every year with a stunning if short sunshine display. 

It is an early flowering shrub. It is very important to have at least a couple of early flowering shrubs in the garden for wildlife. When not much else is flowering well it is an excellent source of nectar for those insects emerging from their winter homes and for all the early bees who are in need of a good meal.

 If planting new shrubs do make sure they are single flowering, which the bees and other insects can feed on, rather than the double varieties which are much harder or impossible for them to make use of.

For our forsythia in the hedge especially I notice each year the birds adopt it or near it as a nest site, especially the blackbirds and sometimes the thrushes. The Woodpigeons often spend a lot of time resting on or near it in the hedge as well.  It is shrubby and strong and the branches all cross in the hedge and so it is a good place to build a nest.  

So for a gardener, it is not difficult to grow and perhaps not the most beautiful of plants most of the year but it serves a very important purpose in our garden and I am happy to give it some space.


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Save Our Spring Hedgerows For The Birds!

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 always knew not to cut hedges in the Spring and early summer. We always waited until the birds had stopped nesting and you could feel the quietness descent in late August or September as all the birds seemed to leave the garden. 

So I am not understanding why I am getting leaflets and knocks on the door from so-called "tree surgeons" asking me if I want my hedge cut down! It is the worst time of year to do it! I understand asking for business but I tell them why we cannot do it now and say it is an Autumn/winter job. 

However, it occurred to me do all people know not to cut hedges now? It is an offence in the UK to cut hedges with nesting birds in them.  

I know there is a sudden desire to get out into the garden and tidy up and get things sorted for summer. I feel it too. However, hedge cutting is an autumn/winter job - not for now. If I forgot to do it in winter, well I have to live with a messier hedge for now.

If we cut hedges now we disturb birds, we lose nests and baby birds will die needlessly. With some species, we cannot afford for this to happen and it is in my opinion cruel. I like to think if people do it, it is out of not knowing rather than deliberate.

We have precious few hedgerows left these days so need to preserve the ones we have for our birds and hedgehogs and other creatures. 

Please if you care about birds, spread the word, however you can,  to only cut hedges in Autumn and Wintertime. 




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Magnificent Magnolias In The Spring Garden

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.
  
Over 20 million years old as a genus they are prehistoric trees and so evolved before bees. So they are pollinated by beetles who live inside the flower blooms. 

The reason that the carpels of the flower blossoms are so strong and tough is to avoid them becoming damaged by the pollinating beetles. 

I never want anyone to cut the Magnolia down and am looking to see if I can get a tree preservation order on it - I am fearful that when we sell our home someone will want the garden space to park their car which in my view would be a disaster.

So many front gardens and beautiful plants and trees have been lost this way.

This time of year our Magnolia is in full bloom and utterly gorgeous.

Magnolia should not be pruned unless necessary and then as lightly as possible. Ideally buy a Magnolia that will fit the space you have when fully grown. If you have to prune then take out dead and dying wood and prune after flowering as lightly as you can doing it over several years rather than a harsh cut. 
 
If like me you wish you could see Magnolia blossom all year round  there are some items here that you may enjoy

Magnolia Blooms In Spring Postcard by RaintreeDesigns
Look at Magnolia Postcards online at Zazzle.com

If in Uk Please use this link Magnolia Blooms In Spring Postcard By Raintree Designs  

Magnolia Blossom In Spring Greeting Cards by RaintreeDesigns
Check out more Magnolia Cards at Zazzle


If in UK please use this link Magnolia Blossoms In Spring Greeting Card by Raintree Designs  

There are more designs and more greetings cards and gifts on a flower and nature theme as well in the store so do take a look. 

 

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Are Birds Busy Nestbuilding In Your Garden?

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 wildlife-friendly side. We have a pile of logs in one corner and cuttings and twigs are left on the borders for the creatures to make use of as they wish. This time of year the birds love it! 

I do so enjoy seeing them fly down to gather up a mass of twigs in their beaks and try to see where they fly to as that is where the nest building begins. It is amazing how many twigs one blackbird can fit in its beak! 

I also put out the dander from the dryer to give them something soft if they want it to line the nest. I used to put out dog fur from grooming our golden retriever and it was surprising how many nests we could see afterward which had golden or cream dog fur peeking out for the lining!   

The blossoms from our Magnolia tree make a good nest lining too, so soft yet strong. So we leave them where they fall like confetti and very pretty.

  

So perhaps this year leave a bit of untidiness in the garden, a few sticks and twigs lying around,  they are the birds building materials. 

If you have a dog perhaps after grooming don't put the fur in the bin,  but pop it outside so that the birds can make use of it as their soft furnishings. 

You will be well rewarded for a little bit of untidiness with birdsong and nests :) If you are interested and would like to read my story of the life of a blackbird nest- from nest to fledglings please read Our Nesting Blackbirds.

 Are you seeing birds busy gathering materials and nest building in your garden? 


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