Hello All,
Yet again time has flown by and I'm struggling to find the opportunity to get on here and update you on what I've been up to recently!
The weather has been so wet this summer that here on low lying grazing marsh land we have been pretty much squelching in boggy conditions all summer! This hasn't dampened my gardening spirit and despite the conditions I have managed to keep busy and introduce a few more features and plants into the garden this year. As the plant life and in particular wild flowers have increased so has the number of visiting wildlife and insects. This has been extremely pleasing as from the start one of the main features of the garden was to be wildlife friendly which seems to be the case as it evolves!
So what mad ideas have I been hatching recently? I know that you are all probably wondering whatever the next instalment on here will produce!....
Well without further ado I will introduce you to my latest invention and current project which I am building to utilise a dark corner of the garden that wasn't being used to it's full potential and had become a bit scruffy and forgotten about....
Higgy's Secret Seating Garden Pod....
So prior to showing you the building of this new madcap idea here is a picture of the corner which I felt could be used more effectively...
This corner of the garden is behind some big shrubs and bushes and is generally quite shady. I thought about planting ferns and other shade loving plants as most things I've tried planting here haven't done too well. Being close to the wild flower meadow/lawn I thought some form of seating area would be good
In keeping with the rest of this part of the garden I decided to use wood stakes which should weather down and match in with the cut stakes and logs used in the wildlife area
After clearing the area and saving what plants that I could reuse I drove the stakes into the ground using a small sledge hammer and created the desired shape which in this case was a circle...
Once I was happy with the shape of the pod I needed to secure the stakes and make the whole thing a little more stable. I opted to use builders metal banding as I quite like the slightly 'industrial' look this gives and it is easy to use just screwing into place. Use a spirit level at this stage to keep it level as it becomes difficult to judge by eye as you move round the curves!!...
With the structure in place I needed to build two seats to fit into the pod. I opted for using 2"x2" treated wood to make a frame to fit into the curve of the pod walls...
I then added legs from 3"x2" treated wood....
To make the seat look like it is integral to the pod I opted to clad it with cut stakes. Using stakes in this way also helps as it is easier to trim and shape each stake to fit the curve of the pod walls....
So there yo have it one completed and custom built 'secret seating garden pod'!!...
This picture below shows how the pod sits in the wild flower area giving a great view of pollinating bees and butterflies...
To add to the secrecy of this feature I have removed the grass pathway by extending the dry river bed (as below). Now the only access to the pod is to walk to the bottom of the garden into the wildlife area, you then double back on yourself down through the wild flowers to actually enter it. This gives a journey to get to the feature and adding the fact that you can't see into the pod from elsewhere in the garden creates even greater secrecy and intimacy for anyone sitting inside it! I will cover the extended dry river bed in the next post but here's a quick look at a picture showing how I've lost this path by digging it down to the level of the riverbed....
Well that's about it for my new pod, I do hope that you see the benefit of using wooden stakes for landscaping in the garden and building structures such as this pod? They do really offer affordable versatility and enable structures and features to be tailor made for any specific project.
Other than this current project I haven't taken on too many other jobs as I haven't wanted to trample around the whole garden whilst it's been so wet and boggy!
On the rare sunny days this month I have managed to have the odd few minutes walking around my oasis with my camera and recording what's growing and what wildlife is visiting the garden. So without further ado here's a quick trip around the garden for you all....
The jungly pathway behind the Koi pond is slowly improving, the addition of a few flowers to add colour such as Amaranthus, astilbe and Agastache has enhanced the look and shows off the lush green leaves of the architectural plants nicely...
There has been a great showing of Long Tailed Tits over the last month or so with a group of about a dozen visiting and sometimes staying most of the day....
Earlier in the year we seen increased numbers of damselflies, this summer has been no difference with dragonfly numbers and varieties up significantly. Unfortunately my dragonfly ID skills aren't very good and I'm hoping that I'm correct in saying that this is a Common Darter?...
The wild flower area has been a hit with butterflies and for the second year we have seen increased numbers whilst most records are in fact down! I put this down purely to the nectar rich habitat that we have created by growing or leaving plants and weeds which different species feed or lay eggs on. Two very notable increases here this summer has been Small Tortoiseshells and Gatekeepers which have both been prolific! Below are two Gatekeepers mating on Helenium which is a great attractor for us!
A Speckled Bush-Cricket using a large ornamental Grass leaf as a resting platform...
White coloured Loosetrife (Lysimachia Clethroides) is less common than the well known Purple version but is a great plant for attracting bees and has a clump forming yet slowly spreading habitat. Loosetrife will also thrive in wet conditions and will cope with some shade also, therefore proving a useful addition to the wildlife garden...
One plant that has really thrived due to the wet weather is Crocosmia. These are native to north Africa and contrary to most peoples thinking they grow in an area which actually sees lots of rain and is very wet! Good drainage and lots of water has seen my numerous varieties flourish this summer with many just coming into their own right now! Another very interesting observation for me this year was the number of Bumble Bees actually going into Crocosmia flowers to collect pollen. In the many years that I've loved to grow them I've never really classed them as a 'bee plant' so this is really encouraging and if we get a hot summer next year I'll be sure to give mine plenty of water!!..
As always I still have lots to tell you but with the clock now saying 12:10am I think it's time to say goodnight for now!
Next time I will update you on the dry riverbed extension and hopefully show you some finished landscaping and planting between this and the pod on the old path. I still need to update you an a little project completed sometime ago at the end of the 'jungly' pathway. To find out more keep watching this space and I'll attempt to update it a bit sooner next time (so long as I can get myself out of the garden to do it!!!)
Finally I just wanted to mention a question sent in by 'Ripper' who asked how big my garden is as apparently it looks "massive" on here?... Well the garden measures only 130feet x 40feet (approx) so although long not classed as big in gardening terms! I have basically just tried to use every bit of space that is available to me! Although I did have loose plans the garden has just evolved with time and encompasses my love of gardening and nature, the rest just happens as it happens!.... :-)
Cheers
Higgy
P.S. as always feel free to post me your comments and questions....
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