Category: Nature

AGM and Orchard Update

 

Our AGM, held in January, produced a record attendance of 35. These numbers reinforce the strong support for wildlife in the village boosted by members from Dinas Powys, Penarth, Radyr and Barry. Our visiting speaker was Peter Sampson who talked about Flat Holm island, its history and wildlife. Not only was it informative but Peter entertained us as well with tales of lighthouse keepers and the ingenious ‘goal posts’ which prevented anti-aircraft gunners on the island shooting the top of the lighthouse. For more on the island along with the opportunity to join the Flat Holm Society go to http://www. flatholmsociety.org.uk. We were also pleased to welcome Janine from Daisy Graze who has used medlars from our orchards to produce Elizabethan Medlar Jelly. These, and her other products, can be purchased from farmers markets and Janine plans to be at the next Open Farm Sunday at Goldsland which takes place on June 9th.

Meantime we have been in planting mode. The Goldsland Farm Orchard now includes a Medlar, giving us 6 in total, along with a Quince, which are becoming increasingly popular but very difficult to buy in the shops. Such is the aroma from Quinces that they were once placed in clothing drawers to make garments smell nice and it is said that adding a slice or two of Quince to an apple pie raised it from the hum-drum to the exceptional. Although Quinces can take some time to mature, the variety we have planted is Meeches Prolific and the fruit can weigh as much as half a kilogram. There is often confusion between the traditional Quince which we grow (Cydonia) and the smaller fruit which grow on the quite common garden shrub, the Japanese Quince (Chaenomeles). The picture shows a Quince growing in our Community Orchard off Station Road. Two St. Cecilia apples have been planted which came top of our taste test last year and 4 varieties of cider apple that are new to us have been included, namely Cummy Norman, Breakwells Seedling, Twyn y Sherrif and Perthyre. Finally two donated Victoria Plums complete the picture. Wildflower seed will be spread in the Spring as we hope to create wood pasture, a rare habitat for Britain. It is good to see some of the bulbs, such as English native Bluebells, which we planted last year, already poking through.

Visitors to Dyffryn Gardens may have noticed that their orchard planting has nearly been completed and this will be a useful addition to our Orchard Trail as it will be publicly accessible at some stage from an adjacent public footpath. The trail could then include 6 orchards with a possible extension to a seventh at Peterston.

 

 

Shifting Baseline Syndrome Explained

So a new year and an opportunity for some New Year resolutions! Will we as individuals choose to make things worse, do nothing, or maybe, just maybe, do something to improve the environment. The choice is ours but what is clear is that within the parish if we do not do anything, no-one else will. Those working in conservation now refer to Shifting Baseline Syndrome and this means that each generation has a lower expectation of wildlife and the wild places that (for the time being) surround us than the previous generation. If you were alive in Wenvoe 20-30 years ago you would have heard the Cuckoo, regularly each Spring. You took it for granted – it was the norm. But the Cuckoo is no longer heard in the parish so the norm, the expectation is no Cuckoo. We still see hedgehogs but if their current decline continues they will soon be a thing of the past, read about in books like the Tale of Mrs Tiggywinkle but never seen pottering around our gardens. Remember the windscreen test? After a long summer car journey your windscreen used to be splattered with squashed flies, moths and other insects. Now you might just find one or two.

So are we part of the problem? The RHS reports that over a ten year period the percentage of front gardens lost to paving, gravel or concrete rose from 8% to 24%. And back gardens are changing as well as they shift to fake lawns, decking, paving and outdoor rooms – one estimate being that plastic grass in increasing by a rate of 10-15% each year. Not only is this bad for wildlife but it is bad for us and our health. Plants help to reduce the effects of climate change, roots absorb water and help to prevent flooding, branches reduce the velocity of wind and leaves help to lower temperatures during hot spells. People who can see trees and greenery recover from illness quicker and mental health can also benefit. Yet 5 million front gardens have not a single plant growing in them. It is said that we are shifting from green to grey.

Thousands of people have now signed up to the Greening Grey Britain campaign run by the RHS. They pledge to do something positive like planting a tree or shrub – even a small window box. So do we cut down that tree in the garden because it might appear at times to be a bit of a nuisance; do we plasticise our lawn so that we do not have to mow it or do we cover our gardens with decking or concrete slabs because it makes life just that little bit easier. It is worth thinking about – talk it through with your partner or a friend. Most importantly discuss it with the younger generation because they will inherit what you do.

 

 

Benefits of Gardening and Tips

Gardening on times can seem to be hard work and it is easy to stay indoors when it’s cold or wet. The garden at this time of year is not at it’s best; we are still waiting for most of the bulbs to emerge to cheer us up. The main thing not to forget are the benefits of being in the garden and working with the soil. There have been numerous studies over the years and some of the pluses of gardening they all agree on are as follows.

  1. It can reduce the risk of a stroke.
  2. It burns up calories.
  3. Heavy gardening can reduce the risk of heart disease and other life-threatening diseases.
  4. The chances of osteoporosis developing can be reduced and for people who already live with the condition gardening is a good workout.
  5. Stress levels are reduced. A study in the Netherlands proved that it is better than most other leisure activities at reducing stress levels.
  6. Being surrounded by flowers improves ones health as they are a natural moderator of moods.
  7. Digging in the soil has actual health and mood boosting benefits. There is a natural antidepressant in the soil called Mycobacterium vaccae. This stimulates serotonin production which is the stuff that makes us happy. It has been known for sometime that children exposed to soil in formative years develop healthy strong immune systems and have a lower incidence of asthma and eczema.
  8. Gardening may lower the risk of dementia. Research shows that the physical activity associated with gardening can lower the risk. Two separate studies of people in their 60s and 70s over a sixteen year period showed a 36% to 47% lower risk of dementia than non gardeners, even when other health factors were taken into account. If only half of the claims of these studies are to be believed, then gardening can only improve our lives.

RHS top tips for this month

  1. Prepare vegetable seed beds and sow some vegetables under cover.
  2. Chit potato tubers
  3. Protect blossom on peaches, apricots and nectarines.
  4. Net winter vegetable crops.
  5. Prune Winter flowering shrubs that have started to fade.
  6. Divide snowdrops and replant while still in the green.
  7. Prune wisteria.
  8. Prune evergreen hedges and renovate deciduous ones.
  9. Any climbing plants in conservatories can be cut back now.
  10. Cut back deciduous grasses left uncut over winter. Remove dead grass from evergreen grasses

Note: start using those gloves you were given for Christmas or your partners will think you didn’t appreciate the well chosen gift.

Dahlia tubers can be started now. Place in a warm, well lit area to start sprouting before planting up. You may need to spray with water to avoid drying out. Sweet pea seeds can still be sown now under a cloche. Keep up with dead heading of Winter pansies and primula and these will continue to flower well into the Spring. Cut off the old leaves of hellebores to expose the flowers.

Towards the end of the month, top dress the borders with a well balanced fertiliser such as growmore or blood fish and bone to feed perennials as they start to grow. Please follow instructions as to how much you need to use or the extra will only wash away

If you’re thinking it’s too early to plant tomato seeds then think again as the likes of Colin Thomas and Brian Foster will already have seedlings on the window sill.

 

 

January Garden Tips

 

THE VILLAGE GARDENER

Happy new year. Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. January is usually the coldest month, so wrap up warm when you start getting the garden ready for the year ahead. We start as usual with the RHS tips for January. I would really like to hear about your ideas on how we can all improve our gardens.

  1. Recycle your Christmas tree by shredding it for mulch.
  2. Clean pots and greenhouses ready for spring.
  3. Dig over any vacant plots.
  4. Disperse any worm casts on lawns.
  5. Inspect stored tubers of dahlias, begonias and canna lilies.
  6. Prune apple and pear trees.
  7. Start forcing rhubarb.
  8. Plan your vegetable rotation for the coming year.
  9. Keep putting food and water out for the birds.
  10. Make a polythene cover for outdoor peaches and nectarines to protect against leaf curl.

It may seem early but with a propagator you can sow begonia, pelargoniums and lobelia seeds. Sweet peas can also be sown this month. Sweet peas that were sown last Autumn can be re-potted but be careful not to damage the roots. From the middle of the month seed potatoes and onion sets will be available. These days most things can be bought online but these really ought to be seen before purchasing.

Cut the old leaves off hellebores to expose the flowers. Once the winter grasses have started to look scruffy, they can be cut back.

Still a good time to move trees and shrubs as long as the ground is not frozen. You can still plant bare root plants, making sure that the support stake goes in first so as not to damage the roots. Wisteria can be pruned now by cutting back to 2 or 3 buds. Check all other plant supports to avoid wind damage.

Mr Darlington in Larchwood has a lawn to be envied. One of his winter tips is to stay off the grass in freezing conditions. Walking on the fine grass can lead to it being scorched which leaves black marks that won’t recover quickly.

Garden centres will be selling off stock now that Christmas is over. There are bargains to be had, especially pots planted up with the odd decoration thrown in. These planters will last for months and I still have one from last January.

Cut flowers in the home especially at this time of year can really brighten up a dull day. To keep the flowers looking good for longer, a mixture of 1 litre of water, 1 teaspoon of thin bleach, 2 teaspoons of sugar and 4 teaspoons of lemon juice works a treat.

If last year was anything to go by some of the village gardens ought to be shown off on an Open Day, perhaps to raise money for one of your favourite charities.

Take care and good health.

 

 

Fungi Competition

 

A big thank you to all who took part in the Fungi competition and to the judges who decided which should receive an award. Over 100 entries were submitted, most of these were in the photography and art categories with only two craft entries. The Primary School took part enthusiastically with both younger and older children involved. 14 prizes representing £150 in cash and vouchers have been distributed – one of the prizewinners is shown in the photo.

A display of some of the entries can be seen in the Wenvoe library starting during January. This project was funded by Grow Wild and Kew Gardens.We have been fortunate to be granted 60 native hedging shrubs which will be used to create a hedgerow around the new orchard at Goldsland Farm. We are not sure when these will be delivered but we will then need to get them planted or heeled in as they will be bare-rooted. These have been donated by the Woodland Trust

 

 

The Knepp Estate Success

 

NATURE NOTES

Whilst much of the news about wildlife is often negative and depressing, one interesting item that is bucking the trend is the Knepp Estate and anyone with a genuine interest in UK wildlife needs to be aware of it. This is a 3,500 acre estate near Horsham in West Sussex which was not making a profit and where from 2001 this intensively-farmed land was ‘rewilded’ by being grazed by Longhorn cattle, Exmoor ponies, Tamworth pigs and red, fallow and roe deer. These animals prevent the scrub land that emerges from becoming woodland, require little or no supplementary feeding, minimal veterinary costs and generally look after themselves throughout the year. There is a lot more to the process than we can do justice to in this short article but if you want to know more, either read the book Wilding by Isabella Tree or look at the website https://knepp.co.uk/ home. You can also visit the site and go on walks or safaris around the estate.

The results in terms of wildlife alone are dramatic. 90% of the UK nightingale population has been lost since 1970. In 1999 there were 9 nightingale territories in Knepp which had risen to 43 by 2013. Since the 1960s Turtle Doves have declined by 96% and the bird is predicted by the British Trust for Ornithology to be the likeliest to be extinct in the UK by 2020. There were 3 singing males at Knepp in 1999 which by 2017 had increased to 16. Our second biggest butterfly, the rare Purple Emperor, was not recorded at Knepp before 1999 yet is now well-established there with an increasing population. 13 of the UK’s 17 species of bat can be found on the estate including two of the rarest in Europe. All five of Britain’s owls have now been recorded there along with 600 species of invertebrates. Doing particularly well are those that feed on dung as this is uncontaminated by parasiticides which may be used in conventional farming. The rare Scarce Chaser dragonfly, which has been found at only 6 sites in the UK, has now turned up at Knepp with 18 individuals counted on a single day. Raptors include Buzzards, breeding Red Kites, Ravens (which had been absent for 100 years) and Peregrine Falcons are now also here.

Whilst there were many hurdles to overcome, interestingly some of the greatest opposition came from local residents who preferred to see fields that were all green with neatly-manicured hedgerows,

however devoid of wildlife they might have been. Comments like ‘It feels like a foreign land’ and ‘he has turned a fine working estate into a wasteland – someone needs to stop him’ are not uncommon. The most obvious point that the intensively-farmed estate was just running at a substantial loss was not acknowledged.

Those behind the project would not argue that profitable and productive farmland should follow this route but for land which is losing money it is an option worth considering. Recent announcements in Wales refer to the Summit to the Sea project which will involve up to 10,000 hectares of land in mid Wales being rewilded. Whatever the future holds we can be sure that we shall hear and see more of rewilding in the months and years to come.

 

Winter Preparation

On a gorgeous day we had a good turn-out to put the Elizabethan Orchard to bed for the winter, weeding the beds, strimming, pruning the fruit trees and digging the hole for the new pond – just under 6 inches to go and we should be able to get it in position. Medlars seem to grow very well in our climate and soil despite originating in Asia Minor and South East Europe and we get consistently good crops from our four trees. A local producer of preserves, Daisy Craze, has used some of our medlars this year to produce Medlar Jelly which you can buy at Griffiths the butcher in Dinas Powys. They are also sold at local food and craft events – for more information, check out the Facebook page – daisygrazecaketoppers

In another link with local enterprise, Barry-based Mark Jones has just published a new book for children, The Adventures of Dixon Vole: Woodland Detective. Mark has included a reference to the Wenvoe Wildlife Group in his Introduction. Copies of the book sell for £8.99 but Mark will deliver to Wenvoe without charge. For more information go to https://fizzypopcreative.co.uk/

 

 

Winter Preparations

RHS December tips

1. Check that your winter protection is still securely in place.
2. Make sure your greenhouse heaters are working properly.
3. Insulate outdoor taps and prevent ponds from freezing.
4. Prune open grown apple and pear trees, not those grown against a wall.
5. Still take hardwood cuttings.
6. Keep mice away from stored produce.
7. Reduce watering of house plants.
8. Prune acers birches and vines before Christmas to avoid bleeding at stems.
9. Harvest leeks, parsnips, winter cabbage, sprouts and any remaining root vegetables.
10.Deciduous trees and shrubs can still be planted and transplanted this month.

Grass will continue to grow at temperatures above 5 degrees so if conditions allow, you may need to cut using a higher setting. Sharpen up the edges of lawns and carry out repair work as turves are available most of the year. Keep lawns clear of leaves. All this will help to make life easier next year.
This time of year there will still be quite a bit of work to be done on some trees. Don’t touch ornamental cherries, plums and almonds as these are prone to silver leaf disease if pruned now. Other deciduous trees will be easier to shape now that most of the leaves have fallen. Bay and laurel can be cut back as much as you wish; it will always come back. Small and medium sized conifers need to be tied up during winter months to prevent damage by high winds and snow settling on them, otherwise they lose their shape and branches break.
Christmas trees – the choice of tree seems to increase every year. To prevent needle drop choose any of the newer types but remember to cut a couple of inches off the bottom of the stem so that the tree can take up water. Make sure you keep the tree away from radiators. To be honest my choice would be the Norway spruce; yes, it drops needles which stick in your socks and jam the vacuum up when it’s time to get it out of the house but it smells fantastic.
If you’re lucky enough to have a holly with berries, cover a couple of the branches with netting to use as decorations in the home.
Make sure you write your present list or Father Christmas will bring you socks or things to take up space on a shelf, which won’t be a lot of use in the garden. If you feel the need to tell the main man of your wish list for Christmas, I have been reliably informed that he is at our local garden centre from 25th November. There is no age limit, you just have to believe.
To all the people I’ve met who have shared their love of gardening with me, thank you. Have an enjoyable Christmas and a happy new year.
I would just like to thank the What’s on team for the effort they put in to make this magazine the success it is.

Take care – Happy gardening.

 

 

November tips from the RHS

November tips from the RHS

1. Clear up fallen leaves, especially from the lawn and pond.

2. Raise containers off the floor to prevent water-logging.

3. Plant up Tulip bulbs for Spring displays.

4. Prune Roses to prevent wind rock.

5. Plant out Winter bedding.

6. Cover Brassicas with netting, if pigeons are a problem.

7. Insulate outdoor containers to protect from frost.

8. Stop winter moth damage on fruit trees with grease bands.

9. Most people like a bonfire, so gather up any debris that can't be composted, especially anything that's diseased and burn it – if allowed.

10. Make sure the mower is cleaned before putting away.

People who know my wife will know of her love of all things Christmas. So this time of year garden centres are some of her favourite haunts. The earliest Christmas shop to open, which we visited this year was The Old Railway Line, Brecon which opened at the end of September. At the time of writing the one with the best choice is Caerphilly Garden centre, according to Mrs Christmas. Wenvoe's local Garden Centre Christmas shop has yet to open. I'm sure that some centres would not survive without the footfall that these displays bring.

Everyone loves to see birds in the garden and we tend to put extra out as the weather gets colder. It can be a double edged sword as more food usually means more waste, which attracts vermin. Probably the best way to avoid rats and mice, other than not feeding the birds, is to have the feeders hanging over a hard surface which can be cleared easily and often. The BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) have some good tips on ways to feed and look after our wild birds.

After the first frosts cut all the growth off Dahlias, dig up and store in a cool dry place untill the spring. In some parts of the country they will survive in the ground where the soil is sandy and has good drainage but not in Wenvoe, which has clay in most places.

There is still time to take root cuttings of Perennial Poppies and Phlox. Start by digging up the plant and cut some roots off near to base of the plant. Do not take more than half of the root system, then replace the plant back into the ground as soon as possible with the roots cut into 3'' lengths and plant the right way up in compost and cover with grit. Put in a cold frame, then be patient .

Weeds do not follow the seasons and seem to grow at all times of the year so if you can get into the garden to keep the borders and veg patches clear it will save a lot of time in the spring. If bind weed is still growing, now would be a good time to spray

 

November 18th will see the return of a certain Mr Gwyndaf Breese to the marquee at the Wenvoe Christmas Craft fair, along with myself. After you have met this man your life will be far richer for it. If you time it right, and Mr Noel Williams is with him, then believe me we will all learn something.

 

Happy gardening.

 

 

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