Hello

This is one of my favourite months of the year. Autumn is upon us but with still the last remnants of Summer.

I love the cool mornings when there is that slight misty haze and just the hint of colder weather to come.

The leaves are turning brown and beginning to fall and the trees and shrubs are red with berries.

The old Buddleia in the garden has still a few flowers upon it and this is drawing many Butterflies, Moths and Bees.

The Buddleia has for the first time this year drawn a number of Red Admiral Butterflies to the garden to feed and in the evenings far more moths than I have previously seen. The other night I watched whilst a Robin took advantage of this free meal and sat in the branches and snatched the moths from the flowers.

There have also been quite a number of Large Whites Butterflies also feeding there alongside various Bees and Hornets.

I have noticed several insects that I had not previously seen in the garden this year so just maybe I have made a little bit of a difference.

The Nasturtiums I planted are still going strong and attract the Large Whites to them, as they still appear to be laying eggs. And the Bees appreciate the late flowers.

Many of the plants I have put in failed to flower this year although they are growing well and I hope to see clover and Birds Foot Trefoil flower next year,

Also I hope that many of the plants that have flowered will re-seed themselves and come back alongside various other plants seeds that I have scattered in the garden collected on my countryside walks.

The wild Strawberries I planted have sent hundred’s of runners out across the area I planted with wild grass and flower seeds so it will be interesting next year to see how well they do. I will cut back the grassy area once all growth has stopped to prevent too much of it compacting and give the strawberry plants a chance to see the light next spring so that they can continue to multiply.

A few other plants have failed, so I know that they were not happy there and will look for alternatives in the future.

And there have been quite a number of plants that were doing well but were absolutely decimated by slugs and snails. It is a bit disappointing to lose so many but since I am creating this garden for wildlife I cannot really complain too much.

I am still fighting against the Brambles and small seedlings appear daily and each weekend I spend quite some time picking them out. I know I will never beat them completely but as long as I can keep them to the minimum I will be happy, as I don’t want the garden to return to the way it has been for previous years.

One of the small Pyrocantha has quite a few berries on it as has the large old Guelder Rose although most were blown off by the strong winds.

But no berries on the Rowans this year as neither of them flowered, nor did any of the Hawthorns, but they are all still only small so hopefully in later years. And, I was quite surprised not to get any Elderberries this year.

But the Ivy is flowering well so hopefully a will get a good showing of berries again this year as the birds love them.

Also my small Crab Apple tree is doing well and put on quite a bit of growth and I have about six apples on it. But I am still a bit concerned about the Medlar. Which has had very little leaf on it this year, and the Kent Cobs did very little and have suffered a bit from the wind.

I bought two hop plants this summer, the one I planted in the garden has done ok but the one I re-potted is by far the better plant. But I will probably also put that into the ground in the next few days.

I also bought a small Canary Broom this year and planted it in the garden but within a week or two was suffering badly from Snails feeding on it. I tried putting a little fence around it and filled the space within with holly leaves, as I was told the snails would not like crossing it. Didn’t work at all and within another week was stripped bare.

But I dug it back out and potted it and bought it onto the concrete area, and now it is looking very healthy again and has managed to put on some further growth. I think I will leave in the pot for a year or so and try and give it a chance to get larger before planting out again.

I need Hedgehogs badly. Problem is, with Badgers visiting regularly. I don’t think that will happen. As I understand that their spines are no defence against a hungry Badger.

I often see the woodpiles in the hedge disturbed, probably by the Badgers looking for mice or grubs. And they regularly dig for worms under the hedge.

There have been a number of Fungi appearing around the garden but identifying some of them has been difficult, as they always seem to have been trampled in the mornings, probably by the Badgers, which are regular visitors now.

Almost every evening I have looked out of my window to see a Badger out there and sometimes two.

Like most town animals they are quite tame and are not bothered by lights and noise, and on occasion when the wind is in the right direction I have been able to stand in the garden and watch them from only a few feet away. Well that is until the wind swings around and they scent me. They then take off at high speed.

The Robins have been with me all year feeding from the bird table alongside the Collared Doves and Jays, but today I noticed that just a few other birds are beginning to return as natural food becomes slightly scarcer, and the Robin has been vigorously trying to defend the bird table against the re-appearing Dunnocks.

The Magpies who have been absent all summer are also beginning to return to the garden and I look forward to seeing all the other birds that visited regular last winter.

Hopefully I will get a couple of new species come calling.

I have also spent some time exploring the Hastings country park which I love, and the other day whilst visiting to take a look at the Highland cattle I got caught up in watching daylight flying moths and whilst doing so, I for the first time saw one of the large wasp spiders that are found there, and spent some time taking photographs. My thumbnail; about 2cm, beside the Spider in the picture to try and give a size comparison. Before that day I had only ever seen pictures of a Wasp Spider. I have to admit it is quite an impressive beastie.

I have also continued to explore some other parts of our town’s parks and surrounding countryside, although there are still many places I would like to visit.

I did take a trip down to the Bird reserve at Rye, but to be honest it was blowing a gale and quite hard to see much bird activity. And to be honest I don’t much care for being out in the wind. It’s a hair thing!

ciao

Hello

The spell of warm weather we are currently enjoying is slowing the growth of all my new plantings and I have to regularly use the watering can to ensure I don’t lose plants.

Some of the new shrubs are looking a bit brown around the edges but not as bad as some of the larger trees in the street.

But I don’t want to have to water too much as I want the garden to be able to look after itself and that is why I have favored native plants rather than aliens.

I have-not done much in the way of gardening recently as the ground I far to hard to plant anything and have mostly just been weeding out dozens of tiny Bramble seedlings before they get established.

But recently, whilst on a visit to Bodiam, visited a local nursery there, near the station, and bought a Hop plant as my attempts to grow them from seed failed.

They had a number of plants there that you don’t normally find in the local garden centers and at reasonable prices, so will probably be returning there in the future.

The warm weather certainly has bought out the best in one or two of the established plants and my large mature Privet hedge has put on the most stunning display of flowers, which smell glorious and have been absolutely covered in Bees of all sorts as has the Honeysuckle, which also has the most beautiful scent.

I have large Buddleia at both the front and back of the house but have not seen a single Butterfly on them and even the Bees don’t seem much interested in them which I find odd because the last garden I had also had a large Buddleia and when in flower was almost always smothered in Bees, Butterflies and Moths.

I have only seen a few Butterflies in the garden so far, most recently Comma, Large Skipper and both Small and Large Whites, both laying eggs on the Nasturtiums.

But last week I went for a walk following the river Haven up onto the marshes and was amazed at the number of Butterflies there. I cannot remember when I last saw so many, and I am sure the numbers must have run into the hundreds or more?

Back in the garden I have started to see just a few Meadow Grasshoppers and continue to see the occasional Green Speckled Crickets, which seem to prefer the shrubs and bushes.

I recently found, on a Hawthorn, a large silken web containing caterpillars, which I believe to be one of the Ermine Moth larvae. And next to that I noticed large areas of the Dog Rose had been stripped by Sawfly larvae which although small are quite pretty and adopt an ‘S’ shape when disturbed.

There are quite a lot and I was a little worried that they would strip the bush. But then the local Robin discovered them and thinned their numbers considerably.

The Robins are still my most regular visitors to the garden and I have continued to top up one bird feeder which is their favourite and will patiently sit nearby whilst I fill it.

The Collared Doves are still visiting the bird table for corn and whenever I put Peanuts out the Jays soon appear.

The other evening whilst in the garden a Fox came down the drive and was halfway across the garden before spotting me. It stopped stared at me for a while and then turned around and wandered back up the drive without any great sign of fear.

I only seem to have one Squirrel visiting now but it must be checking the bird table regularly as it seems to appear like magic as soon as I put peanuts out.

And the Badger certainly likes Peanuts as it is visiting the garden just about every night now to look for handouts.

To have a Badger visiting the garden regularly, but also happy to feed right outside the window is more than I could have hoped for a few months ago when I first started work on this project.

So far I have only completed about 25% of the garden but already I have so many plans for the rest of the garden, which will probably keep me busy for a year or two.

So, it looks like you will have to put up with my ramblings for a while yet.

ciao

Hello

You turn your back for what seems like no time at all and almost a whole month has slipped away.

But wasn’t that short period of this month glorious. And look at it now.

Yet once more my garden is being battered by the wind, but it did need the rain. I have cleared a good half, or more, of the Brambles and dug out the roots, but after that warm spell my garden was beginning to look like a dried up river bed criss-crossed with large cracks in the earth.

Taking advantage of the warm weather I have neglected the garden and have been exploring the Firehills and I am not afraid to say that I am rather falling in love with the area.

I have seen the Exmoor ponies that others have written about. Idled in the narrow rides surrounded by dancing Speckled Wood butterflies and been mesmerised by Stoats performing playful acrobatics. I have been tunelessly serenaded by Ravens, and generally lost myself in the early morning tranquillity of the place.

And there I have discovered an