Agnes Stevenson tracks down a midnight muncher
Gardening expert Agnes Stevenson channels her inner Miss Marple in pursuit of unwanted chompers. And there’s no shortage of suspects
There’s a bit of a mystery taking place in my garden at the moment. Something is disturbing the mulch on the flower beds and I don’t know what it is. There is clear evidence every morning of something having tossed the mulch on to the top of the wall that holds up this sloping border and I regularly sweep it back into place, only to see it disturbed again the next day.
There’s so much wildlife around here that the list of possible culprits is extensive but I’m just hoping that it’s something without teeth because I’m pretty fed up of everything being chewed up before it has a chance to flourish. Despite the fact that our soil is wet we don’t have much of a problem with slugs or snails, but just about everything else that walks, stalks and flies over this garden has a healthy appetite for plants.
Shrubs close to the house don’t get nibbled, but those further away are regularly grazed by deer.
Pigeons peck at cabbages and kale and pheasants eat almost everything. And what they don’t eat they shred to pieces with their sharp claws.
Don’t get me started about the rabbits that live under our neighbours’ shed.They may be cute and fluffy but they are also voracious. Fortunately, now that travel restrictions have been lifted I can start making plans to visit other gardens where not everything has been chewed up. I’ve just been to see Bargany near Girvan and next week I’m off to visit Portmore, a spectacular garden in the Borders.
If you are ready to expand your horizons after so many months confined to home, then the good news is that the Spring Garden Festival continues until the end of this month and it offers the chance to explore some of the most beautiful gardens in Scotland.
One that I’ve heard lots about, but have not yet had a chance to visit, is Cluny House near Aberfeldy where, at the moment, you can enjoy beautiful blue poppies, many different kinds of Asiatic primulas and rhododendrons as well as American woodland bulbs such as trilliums and erythroniums.This is exactly the sort of garden that I need to explore for some muchneeded inspiration and I’m also keen to revisit Teasses in Fife to take part in one of the foraging walks that will be led by head gardener Craig Cameron.
I’d love to know more about the edible plants that grow wild around here and despite being surrounded by a sea of wild garlic, I don’t know enough about what is safe to eat to be confident about picking any of it, so I’d like to hear Craig’s advice about nettles and ground elder and even pick his brains about mushrooms.