1 July 2013

Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.

Jenny Watson, who heads a team of volunteer gardeners working on the award-winning East Court estate, tells us how things are going after a particularly cold, wet Spring

“WHILE working around the gardens there is plenty of opportunity to see and hear wildlife of all sorts. So far I’ve found two young lizards, which were ‘rescued’ and moved to the edge of the Woodland Walk, and while weeding, a Purple Emperor butterfly landed next to me which was unusual, as they normally fly around treetops in woodland. In June I also saw a large dragonfly, probably a Broad-Bodied Chaser.

“We are followed all year round by robins, which feed around our feet,  wasting a lot of our time as we just have to sit and watch them. It’s lovely in the late spring to watch the robins with insects lined up in their beaks ready to feed their chicks.

“I’ve also seen Green Woodpeckers feeding on ants in the grass and heard Great Spotted Woodpeckers hammering away on tree trunks. I even managed to watch a Treecreeper on the trunk of one of the large conifers.

“There are plenty of bats living around the estate too, mainly Pipistrelles in Ashplatts Wood but also Daubenton’s bats feeding on insects over the ponds.

“And there are things we can all do to encourage wildlife, including ensuring that we give them the longest possible flowering season in our own gardens, starting in Spring with snowdrops and several types of daffodils. Pulmonaria and Hellebore also flower early and this gives the insects a chance to feed after winter, and before breeding.

“During summer trees, shrubs and perennials provide blossom and here we look particularly for single-flowered plants. Doubles are rarely used as they have little in the way of pollen or nectar, having been bred to give colour and large blooms for us.

Finally many annuals and hardy annuals will flower until the first frost and are very easy to grow.”

The New Memorial Beds

“DURING a particularly cold day in early Spring work started on clearing one of the War Memorial beds of old shrubs. Despite becoming something of a blizzard by lunchtime, everything was completed so that replanting could begin as soon as the ground had warmed up.

“It was decided that the bed would become an insect-friendly area, with the main planting being fruit trees. These are Memorial Trees chosen from a specific list of suggestions from the estate gardener, and will have both blossom for insects and hopefully plenty of foodstuff for the birds to feed their young.

“By late summer the fruit will also be a good food supply before the onset of winter. Much of the under-planting is also for insects and bees especially, including herbs such as sage, rosemary, chives and oregano. Next year more plants and annuals will be added including fennel, cirinthe, teasel and verbascum.

“While not being specifically wild flowers from Britain, we will include as many as is feasible and practical.”