Breaking up a garden into different compartments can make a piece of land seem far larger than it is. This works on even small gardens. Simply designing it so that the whole garden cannot be seen with a single glance.
Okay our garden is that much larger than others. The top area is an acre in size. But still we have created areas that have to be walked to to find them, you have to take a mystery walk around paths. Much of the garden is simple in itself, large trees and shrubs, all to enrich the area and attract wildlife. What has now come on nicely is our Holly tunnel. Part of the hedge on one of the banks around the perimeter of the garden was Holly (Ilex aquifolium). This area of Holly is mostly male, so we don't get berries on the bush, but it is valuable for pollinating other female bushes in the garden so they burst with berries during the Winter. Well for as long as the birds leave them alone, but that is fine by us.
The tunnel creates a wonderful link from the bottom area of the garden into the centre part and is a cool dark walk on a hot Summer day.
Love Lichens
Living over the West of Britain means we have a damper atmosphere, and cleaner air! This is amply shown by the amount of lichen that grow on our trees.
It's a very good indicator that air pollution levels are very low if lichen grow in abundance. The greater numbers of varied lichens mean less pollution, the longer the lichen the cleaner the air.
Many people worry about lichen taking nutrients from the tree. But they are definitely not parasitic. They take nothing whatsoever from the tree and are completely harmless, in fact they give shelter to many insects over winter creating a well stocked larder for birds. We feel they add an air of maturity to a garden.
Last One?
Just a day back I released the 13th Vole caught in the cupboard under the sink. Hopefully the last, fingers crossed.
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