Jungle Seating Area, New Species Success & Late Season Pollinators...oh and more Rain!!

Wow, what a dreadful summer we've had weather wise! I have never seen so much rain as we have had this year and to think that we were in drought back in spring!! I suppose the wet weather does focus your mind on the handful of jobs that can still be done in the garden doesn't it!?

As regular readers will already be aware we are situated on the edge of 'Wetland Grazing Marsh' which is 'boggy' at the best of times!! This summer has been a challenge as even on dry days the ground is still saturated, simply walking across the lawn is met with a 'squelch' and sight of water as the ground releases it like a sponge!

I honestly wondered and doubted how my wild flower lawn and perennial pollinator borders would survive being stood in constant wet soil but much to my surprise they seem to have done really well. I have tried to be a little more considerate in my planting by ensuring new plants have a good layer grit in the bottom of the planting hole to offer a little help with drainage round the roots. This year I have also done a little more plant maintenance and dead-heading, which appears to have really helped and combined with the wet seems to have made strong healthy plants. One example of this are my Corn Marigolds which are corn field annuals but I have managed to keep them in flower since May. This has had a knock on effect of lots of visiting pollinators including several new species which I will cover in more detail later on!

So before we talk about the wild life I'm going to take you back to a job I finished a while ago and have been promising to show for some time! With the wet weather and lack of hard landscaping recently this seems the ideal time to show you the conclusion to the 'jungly' path at the side of the Koi pond....

In case you've forgotten this is the area before the 'jungle path' project began!!...

Once the raised beds & path were built (as covered elsewhere) I was left with this area next to the raised decking and water butts....

Having decided on a small decked seating area I laid down weed membrane and built a frame for the deck to sit on. Due to the persistent wet weather I actually constructed the framework in my workshop..... and then wondered if I could get it out through the door-way!!!?...

Luckily my measurements were spot on and it came out through the door with a couple of millimetres to spare! The frame was laid in position and I levelled it using blocks under each section of frame...

 As you will see from the above picture there is a raised drain cover at a difficult angle which needed to be factored into my workings. Once the frame was in place boards were laid on top and screwed into place (below). I chose 'basic' rough cut wood rather than decking boards as I felt it fitted in better with the 'jungly' look I hope to achieve here....

With the boards fixed in pace I trimmed the edges and built a 'trap door' to fit neatly into the recess. This gives instant access to the drain if required and I chose to run the boards in a different direction to make it a feature rather than trying to hide it....

To finish off I built two raised beds from the same material and planted with ferns which should grow quite big and do well in the shady situation here....

Finally the end result and how this area looked this summer. Unfortunately the damp weather has prevented some of the more 'tropical' type plants such as the banana and Cannas from reaching their full potential. You will see that I also add flowering plants in my 'jungle/tropical' areas to help attract the pollinators throughout the whole garden, which is something I always strive to do....

So I hope that you will agree this part of the garden has taken on a massive transformation and is now a usable space rather than a dumping ground as it was before?

Without further ado here is this months wildlife successes in Higgy's garden...

BIRDS

A pair of Goldcrests put in an appearance last week and seemed to be 'sussing' out the feeding area. As is always the way I spotted them from an upstairs bedroom window and my camera was downstairs so no picture for the record which is annoying!!

BUTTERFLIES

Despite the wet weather we've recorded a great year for butterflies with both Gatekeepers and Small tortoiseshells showing a massive increase in numbers seen! Peacock butterflies have also shown an upward rise in the garden. Here are pictures of two new visitors since my last post....

Green Veined White

Small Copper

MOTHS

I've not really recorded moths before so this is a new venture for me and is proving extremely interesting. I have already started to include some 'moth friendly' pollinating plants in the garden but this is something I look forward to studying and reporting in more detail as time goes by....

A couple of recent moths...

Siver Y moth seems extremely common in the garden. In this picture you can clearly see the 'Y' shape on it's upper wing which gives it its name...

This was a very interesting find as it was initially identified as a 'Blue Underwing' which is extremely rare! Unfortunately it is now thought to be the more common 'Red Underwing'...

This pretty little moth is a 'Gold Spot' seen here on purple Toadflax which has proven itself to be the most visited plant by pollinators in the garden!!...

OTHER WILDLIFE

My hedgehog has put in an appearance again which is great as I desperately need help with the ever increasing number of slugs! The next door neighbour had a slow worm in his garden, it was only a few feet away from where my log pile so I hope that it is living amongst the logs! This year seems to have been extremely good for Dragonflies and we've had several species in the garden recently.

There have been a few other identifiable new visitors and I will leave you with a look at a few which have taken advantage of my late season pollinating plants. I'll name the plants to give a guide as to what I plant for late season pollinators etc...

GOLDEN ROD - currently covered in bees & hoverflies...

ASTER - make a colourful addition to the late border and again attract all pollinators...

COSMOS - an annual that I grow in my wildflower area, despite not being a true wild flower it's loved by bees, flies and butterflies and will flower all summer until the first frosts so long as you keep deadheading it....

CORN MARIGOLDS - These are my number one wild flowers and this year dead heading has kept them in flower since May! I now also plant clumps in my 'tropical' borders as they are such good attractors!...

PERISCARIA - Basically a cultivated wild flower which is well visited by honey bees in my garden and moths at night! Below is Periscaria being 'munched' by a 'Knot Grass Caterpillar' These hungry caterpillars will strip a plant so you will need to decide if to remove or leave!??....

JAPANESE ANEMONE - Late and long flowering, a useful plant for colour and it will get visited by pollinators although not as prolific as others mentioned...

LARGE LEAFED PLANTS - worthy of a mention as at this time of year all pollinators will sit for several minutes in the sun to warm up. The large leaves are a natural radiator of the suns rays and an ideal place for all sorts of pollinators to warm up! Here a Comma butterfly is warming itself sat on a large leaf...

VERBENA BONARIS - Probably one of the best known bee & butterfly plants and rightly so! It flowers for a long period and late into the season. It is also loved by all pollinators. Below shows a Small White feeding on it.....

RUDBEKIA - is bright, colourful and long flowering for all pollinators, seen here with a Small Copper...

HELENIUMS - One of the best late flowering perennials, they came in all sizes and varied colours creating a nice clump of nectar rich flowers. Gate Keeper butterflies seem to find them irresistible as shown here...

Well that's about it now folks, I hope that you've enjoyed reading this post and it's helped to brighten up another dull and wet day!! Now is a really good time to get any of the above pollinating perennial plants in the ground whilst there is still a little warmth in it. By planting now you will actually be providing nice strong and healthy plants for the pollinators in your garden this time next year! For any further planting ideas, or suggestions of different plants please feel free to send me a message or leave a comment. I reply to all messages and comments and use them to gauge interest in the posts I write....

I have no idea what I will be posting about next time as the weather has stopped a lot of my planned projects in the garden this summer! Please do watch this space and I will update you anything that happens in the garden between now and then!!!....

Many thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings

Cheers

Higgy