The plot is abuzz with wildlife
A garden full of unusual plants and a big collection of fruit and veg in Alnwick, Northumberland.
After constant low temperatures and wet weather, March’s warmth and sunshine allowed us to make a difference in the garden. Priorities were pruning winter-flowering shrubs and a general pre-spring tidy-up, including the second mowing of the season for our lawns.
Two Jasminum nudiflorum that had developed a thicket of stems were overdue a thinning out. Flowers of Viburnum bodnantense ‘ Dawn’ were fading after months of continuous display and two evergreen V. tinus were looking ragged, so a light clipping was required.
A pair of Cordyline australis had dead leaves hanging from the lower stem. Judy removed them and the transformation was instant. The timing of these operations was spot on, just before new growth took off and the garden birds began to inspect them as nesting sites.
An assortment of spring bulbs are still flowering; narcissus, scilla and chionodoxa especially. Hellebores and patches of pulmonaria are so eye-catching, and we’ve divided and planted a group of primula ‘Guinevere’, which has deep bronze leaves and purple-pink flowers with a yellow eye.
A decade ago, we planted some winter heathers along the driveway, others on a raised bed. They bloom from December to early April, with a continual buzz from several bee species.
We’ve always encouraged wildlife and accepted occasional visits from three roe deer over winter. Their nibbling was confined to the leaves of three mature euonymus ‘Emerald ‘n’ Gold’, which have since shot back into growth. However, six deer have turned up in the nearby field, and as there are lots of succulent young shoots in the garden, it might be time to plug that small gap in the adjoining beech hedge!
Bird activity is stepping up too, with nesting boxes occupied by blue tits. Blackbirds and dunnocks are building in the hedge. But where will the resident robin, wren and song thrush build theirs? We watch from afar so as not to disturb.