September marks a year on the wildlife plot. I can't quite believe it. I have to say it has been an absolute pleasure working on it and now that I know the garden a bit better, I am more able to see what I need to do.
There have been so many benefits to looking after this plot, not least the number of people that stop to talk and I have to say a massive thank you to everyone who has donated a plant or two to the plot. I have had everything from trees to bulbs and rarely, if ever, say no.
The other great benefit for me is that I have had to start learning the names of butterflies, moths and caterpillars and whilst I am not great at it, I am getting better.
As September is the start of the year for the plot, I thought I would talk about some of the things that I would like to do over the coming year just in case anyone thought they would love to join in and help with any of the tasks. ;-)
I will try and be as specific as I can be about what I want to do so that if you do want to help with anything you have a rough idea about when, but I am sure you will understand if I don't stick to the timetable exactly.
September
This month I set off looking for the leak in the pond liner. The pond would not hold water overnight so I knew that it wasn't just evaporation. I started to dig up and uncover one side of the pond to inspect the liner and fortunately found the problem straight away. In order to get to the paving slabs set near the pond I discovered that you had to walk on the edge of the pond and overtime this had flattened it to the point where the water just ran out gently over the lowest point. I have fixed this now, building the edge back up and creating new paths to the slabs so that there is no need to walk anywhere near the edge. If you are wondering what the sticks are that lean over the pond next time you visit it, they are dragonfly perches. Apparently, they like sit over the pond staring down into it for their next meal.
October
Tidy and replant the bed to the left of the pond (as you stand on the slabs). I found 3 newts in here as I cleared it to get to the edge of the pond so it needs quite dense planting. I have some dogwoods and a Euonymus compactus for autumn colour, flowers and covering the soil.
Tidy and edit the planting in the sensory beds. Decide on new plants needed.
November
Come up with a plan for an easy way to top up the pond with rainwater. At the moment I use a hose pipe from the tank off the shop and unwind it through someone else's plot and into the pond. I need a way of topping up the pond with water collected on the plot. Put the plan into action!
Once the willow has lost its leaves it needs a serious weaving to recreate the covered sitting space it used to be. I have someone to help me with this but the more the merrier if you would like to join in.
December/January
An indoors job is to create some new insect hotels. I like the idea of posts like those in the photo in the long bed down the side of the plot, about three to five of them, and so thought now would be a good time to make them.
February
Divide the bed with sedums in it into two halves. Replant the upper half with plants in the bed and then clear the lower half ready for wildflower seed to be sown in March/April.
Plan how I can include more fruit and perennial vegetables on the plot.
An on-going job throughout the autumn/winter is to lift and divide many of the plants in what I call the Thugs Bed. This is the long bed down the side bordering my veg plots. There are some great plants in there but many need a bit of controlling and there are one or two that I could do without which would leave some spaces for new plants.
If there is anything that you would like to do in this list, do let me know. It is always much more fun working with others than by yourself.