Gardener's thoughts - monkey puzzles and garden spiders
Day 9 of Summer
I haven’t always been a gardener. I didn’t grow up with parents who were keen gardeners either.
My mother keeps her garden tidy - she manages the weeds and cuts back at the right time (with some initiative and strict instructions from me). A few years ago, I planted up a few of her beds and since then, I can tell she takes pride in her small cottage esque garden. Recently to my enjoyment, I noticed my mother had been nurturing a cluster of Geum urbanum as if decorative plants and was shocked to find out they are a particularly invasive weed.
On the other hand, my father is a sensitive soul and would intentionally nurture a weed. There is a story told in my family - my father bought a monkey puzzle, he had success with propagation and eventually had fifty or so plants. My mother suggested that he share the plants with his friends, however he treasured each tree and wasn’t able to part with even one.
Supposedly they went away on holiday and all the trees died. There’s a moral in there somewhere about greed but instead I see my father‘s deep care and concern for each tree. Years later, I visited my father’s house to discover that he had bought a monkey puzzle from the boot fair, making me smile.
My childhood was rich in nature and I was very lucky to grow up in Kent. We moved a lot and I lived in many houses and played in a variety of gardens.
I can remember running through the rose beds and catching a spider on the peak of my cap, particularly an Araneum diadematus (the garden spider). This spider is surprisingly large when suspended in front of a nine year olds little face.
I would watch the frog’s spawn wobble, witnessing them hatch to become tadpoles, then frogs sunbathing on shiny lily pads - nature’s miracle.
I would collect conkers with my parents, running my fingers over their smooth surfaces. Freshly shelled conker always fill me with wonder - my mother would weave conkers onto string, making gangly conker people to the envy of my school friends.
At home, my mother grew beans on a trellis at the back of the garden, together we would harvest them, appreciating the vibrant colours once boiled. These newly podded beans really mesmerised me as a child and even now, i’m in awe of the bean shells soft inner coating. I even kept a few beans seeds from that garden, still in my possession. I treasure each bean like my father treasured his monkey puzzles.
I also vaguely remember my grandma’s arthritic fingers on a passion flower. It is difficult to place this memory exactly, yet whenever I see a passion flower I think of the purple and white spectacle, gripped between her two long piano fingers, tilting it downwards so I was able to see on my tip toes.
I appreciate I was lucky, not everyone is so fortunate to grow up amongst green spaces - gardening is so important for children and I wish it were taught in school. I understand that this is changing, but the change feels too slow. It’s crucial for young minds to understand nature and the seasons, children should be taught to care for soil, to grow vegetables and in turn, will grow up with a greater respect for nature.
We aren’t moving in a good direction with Mother Nature. I feel that nature is becoming confused - fossil fuels, plastic and forever chemicals dirty our ground water and our sea water, we will ironically poison ourselves. I try not to get bogged down but climate change bears a heavy weight on my shoulders and I feel the change daily.
Gardener’s update
It’s hot - isn’t it?
The good news- the tomatoes, sweetcorn, cucumber, cabbages are thriving. The roses at my allotment are still very satisfied with the manure I added in Autumn and plump, lush roses are unfurling. The Richard Jackson organic slug pellets have worked well and it seemed it was a slow start and all we needed was some sunshine.
I’ve been harvesting raspberries and early plums, while I water the plot I have been feasting on raspberries and fallen plums. It’s a heart warming feeling to pick fruit from a tree and eat it - I’ve been giving plums to my allotment neighbours too, dropping the juicy orange jewels into their hands.
I inherited my fruit trees when I took on the plot. I have sixteen trees in total, mainly plums, apples, quince, rose hip, hazelnut and my prize possession, a small pear tree. I also bought a fig tree which I am growing in a container as know they are particularly rampant so wanted to keep it in check.
Bindweed has a hold on my plot, I will continue to weed it. It’s winded it’s way into my potatoes and tries to sneak up into my roses. This winter, I intend to use Charles Dowding’s method of covering the soil with cardboard and mulch …we’ll see.
A lot of my time this week has been feeding and watering, deadheading, pruning dead branches, mowing lawns (thankfully the grass has slowed as doesn’t like this hot weather).
Leaf cutter bees
This week I discovered leaf cutter bees had been in one of my clients gardens. They are solitary bees, cutting circles in the leaves, rolling them up and transporting them to make shift nests. They use the leaf parts to make compartments, leaving nectar and pollen then lay and egg, laying sometimes twenty eggs. They make their nests in holes in trees, hollow stems, in Devon I’ve seen them living in the dry river bank.
The most exciting part is that solitary bees have a less powerful sting that that of a honey bee or a wasp, there is no queen to protect so not as necessary.
Bird of the week
A blackcap - their name comes from their appearance, wearing what looks like little black (male) or brown (female) hats.
They make tidy, well constructed nests out of grass and moss. Their chicks are incubated for 14 days, fledglings for 14 days then considered mature and leave the nest - a short 28 day cycle .
They are more territorial than robins and have a wonderful song that is quite striking. I haven’t yet seen one but I’m going camping this weekend and will take my binoculars. My mother gifted me our family binoculars and it’s one of the most special gifts I’ve ever received.
What beauty. Thank you for sharing Sarah! And I'm so glad to see you've turned on the paid subscriptions setting 🙏 hope you get lots of paid subscribers!
So so lovely and beautifully written !