When was the last time you or anyone near you got stung by a wasp? Its a shame! Well not that you haven’t been stung, but there just are not many around anymore, a few butterflies, a few flies, but nothing like a few years ago. Check the front of a car and notice how dead insect free it is! If you like everything neat and tidy, well plant lots of insect friendly flowers in straight lines. If you do not sit or play on your lawn – let it become a wildlife meadow. Large parts of the countryside have been sprayed to death – gardens can be a counter to this.
INDOOR PLANTS
How many times/people have you heard say that they cannot keep / or kill indoor plants? Lots. Well its no big secret.
I have been growing 60/70 plants in my place for a couple of years or more – the number keeps increasing. My philosophy is to water a little and often. The bigger the leaves the more I water!That way I don’t forget to water them. If they don’t like this then they fo and die. Harsh but it does mean I am surrounded with lots of beautiful greenery.
CLIMATE CHANGE – THE POST BELOW CONTAINS SWEAR WORDS!
Covid-19 might kill me, but in the grand scheme of things that is not a big deal. Even to me! Brexit is like a feather in the wind, it will blow away. Even a lying corrupt government is irrelevant when we look to the future. What is important is doing something about climate change. This will have a major impact on my children and grandchildren and future generations. But the government is silent! (Probably a good thing in a way as they usually talk bollocks and make false promises).
KEEP OFF THE GRASS!
Or at least keep the mower, pesticide, herbicides and fertilisers off the grass. A lawn is a pretentious middle class monoculture of generally no practical function.
Longer grass with wildflowers, herbs and small shrubs provide food and cover for invertebrates and insects of all kinds. A study published yesterday showed a reduction in wildlife around the globe of 68% since 1970. (WWF et al).
My front lawn has been called wild and scruffy – thank you for the complement. My road has over 2ha. of front lawns – what a great nature reserve that could become?
FIRES IN CALIFORNIA
An area twice the size of Somerset has burned in California this year, and the peak of the fire season is yet to come. Temperatures in LA have nudged 50C whilst Death Valley may have recorded the hottest ever temperature on earth. Air quality is amongst the worst in the world. Climate change is happening.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Flying
Slow down! The shut down halted most flights – not all as the rich continued with their private planes (of which about 50% of flights have no passengers!!). As planes are a major source of pollution this has to be a good thing. But people need holidays, and the cultural benefits of foreign travel are invaluable. A conundrum. Maybe shorter journeys abroad by train, and flights that are powered by electric planes (yes the technology is getting there), will be the way to go.
REWILDING
Tens of millions of gardens across the UK have a large area devoted to mono culture. i.e. grass. Much of this is never sat on or played upon. Just cutting the grass once every 10-14 days. Benefit to wildlife = zero.
So I have rewilded my front lawn (and the back one too!). It started up with raised beds for herbs (mint, sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, Jerusalem artichoke, fennel, anise hyssop), but has now spread to the whole former lawn. I have planted some bush roses and salvias, marigolds, poppy, chicory, and many other wildflowers (some donated by Di Redfern – thank you). I have put in 100 bulbs, and have 200 more coming. Some plants do well others do not – it will sort itself out with a little help from me.
Hopefully the increase in insects of all kinds will be beneficial to the environment.
I am much heartened to see a couple of other people leaving the flowers in their lawns alone.
It is not neat and tidy – nature does not ‘DO’ straight lines.