Our January Wildlife Garden
‘I like to think
That, long ago
There fell to earth
Some flakes of snow
Which loved this cold
Grey world of ours
So much, they stayed
As snowdrop flowers.’
Happy 2023 to Marden Gardeners. How are your gardens faring after the big chill? This time of year is full of hope in the garden, the New Year ushered in by the arrival of the first snowdrops. Mary Vivian very understatedly wrote about their simple joy at this time of year in her poem ‘Snowdrops’ above.
There is a bewildering variety of snowdrops to choose from (I noted single bulbs for some varieties are going for upwards of £70)! But from a pollinator, wildlife garden-friendly perspective, the Common Snowdrop (galanthus nivalis) is the best for providing nectar and pollen for the early emerging Queen bumblebees. Better still for our pollinators are crocuses, which carpet the floor from the end of January. Crocuses are one of the most valuable sources of food for bees, moths and beetles which are active at this time of year and stunningly pretty to boot.
I also love January because it’s a chance to wipe the slate clean and make Garden Resolutions. This year my resolutions are to replace as many of the non-pollinator plants as possible (especially double-flowered plants and non-flowering evergreens). So goodbye to the 2 phormiums which came with the house and the Holly Fern which has been frost-stricken for the last 2 years. Time to order some pretty Canterbury Bells and Astrantia for replacements on the North-facing walls. Replacing plants that have been in the garden for a long time can feel uncomfortable, but like a relationship, if it’s not working then it’s time to move on! The ex-plants have found new homes with my neighbours so nothing is wasted.
Some of you may have been lucky enough to catch Lou Carpenter’s recent talk for MHS on British Wildflowers and conservation. This year, as part of our garden resolutions, I’m going to be introducing some new wildflowers into the garden, including the beautiful cobalt-blue Viper’s Bugloss, Native Cornflowers, Field Scabious and Vervain. There are many excellent online shops which sell British Wildflowers and seeds. Recommended sites include Naturescape.co.uk who are a family-run Nottingham-based company, Meadowmania.co.uk and RHS even supply a complete ‘starter’ wildflower pack at www.mr-fothergills.co.uk/RHS.
Now is also the ideal time to buy bare root trees. From December to February trees are considerably cheaper to buy as they are available in bare root form. We are very lucky to have Brogdale National Fruit Tree collection here in Kent. They are the world experts in growing fruit trees and for amateurs such as I, they are a friendly and supportive service. Firstly, you make a call to Grow at Brogdale and let them know what your ‘circumstances’ are…I described our Marden heavy clay soil, the size of the tree we wanted and the position in the garden. The Brogdale experts chose a tree to be picked up from their Grow at Brogdale farm which should flourish in the given conditions. Blossoms such as cherry are fantastic for pollinators as well as very beautiful and our Brogdale bare root Lapin Cherokee tree bore delicious cherries just 5 months after planting. In Japan, cherry blossom symbolises ‘renewal’ because the blossom dies away but always comes back beautiful again the following year. I think is a very apt analogy for this period of looking forward.
Whatever your wildlife garden resolutions are this year, don’t be too harsh on yourself if they don’t work out (the honeysuckle which tore down half our fence under the weight of the snow this December being a stand-out disaster for me!) One of the joys of gardening is that if something goes wrong, it’s a chance to choose a new option which might be brighter, better and prettier, (sorry Phormium, it’s just not working out between us). The New Year brings new opportunities in the garden and as the cherry blossom will shortly remind us, the best is yet to come.