Habitat Fencing

Photo: A Habitat Fence made by Diyana

Do you want anything from the shop?  I’m sure you’ve both said and heard that question before.  I was under the impression it was a rhetorical question, but I’ve been advised that it can actually be a genuine question for someone to buy something for you. 

It’s usually a packet of crisps or a bar of chocolate and not a three-page shopping list for the supermarket. Unless someone who was off to the garden centre asked the same question. I have a brochure full of items I like from there, starting with this year’s seed choice before delving into pergolas and ponds.

I’ve started particularly early this year with seeds and bought a couple of things online to kick start the season.  They are not veggies yet, I have picked my new ground cover plants for this year. I like to grow new varieties every year, some are successful but others I don’t bother doing again. This year I have the little-known plant Herniaria Glabra or rupturewort. It’s a practically indestructible plant that will do well in dry chalky soil. I don’t think it will be a big seller in my range of lawn substitute plants I have for sale, but I like it and can live with it in my own garden and that’s the main thing.

Habitat Fencing

There are so many types of fencing. We love to either keep things in or keep things out of our gardens. Fencing doesn’t always need to be just a functional barrier though, you can have a habitat where wildlife, insects and mammals can thrive.

Habitat fences are a simple method of laying out the waste materials in the garden in an orderly manner between upright posts. You could call them deadwood hedges. They don’t have to be used as a privacy fence, you can put them anywhere in the garden as a feature or to hide the compost bins. It could save you the hassle of going to the landfill site with garden waste too.

Deadwood fences aren’t new of course, people have been making woven willow and hazel fences for ever. Habitat fencing uses the waste materials from the garden so you don’t need to grow the materials especially for the purpose. 

Turn Waste into a Fence

There are no hard and fast rules for the fence. They can be started by pushing in wooden posts up to around 30cm into the ground or until you think they are sturdy enough. There’s no need to make them permanent as this gives you the freedom to pull them up and relocate if needed. They can be around one metre apart. When this is in place put all of your garden trimmings, sticks, shrub prunings in layers horizontally and keep treading them down to a height of around 80-100 cm. The fence width can be anywhere between 30-100 cm. Any more than that and it might be a bit awkward to stack it up depending on how long a reach you have. If things are looking a bit untidy you can tie the loose pieces in with some hemp twine.

The last layers of shrubs and branches can be added quite loosely so that the interested birds can also build a nest in the shrubbery. The denser areas underneath will be a home to loads of smaller creatures who need shelter at all times of the year. It could also help as a wind barrier for areas in the garden where you have taller perennials

The shrub and branch prunings in the garden can now be applied to this hedge again and again (check there are no birds nesting first) The fence will settle and decay from the base so it can be topped up indefinably. You might even be left with some lovely compost at the base to grow some climbers in.

A Tidier Option

If you like things a bit tidier and you don’t have a lot of woody waste in your garden, there’s a great design made from fencing wire you can use. It’s made from fence panels again but has the wire running both sides of the posts. The idea is very much like the gabion baskets filled with stones, but instead of stones you can fill the gap with leave, small twigs and even your kitchen waste. I’ll call it the compost fence. You heard it here first.

Garden Lighting

The dim light outside the house casts interesting shadows

In summer I spend a lot of time in the garden. It’s not that often that I sit and sunbath as I like pottering and keeping on top of jobs that I feel need doing. This really leaves me very little time for other hobbies or interest beyond horticulture – no complaints here. 

 

When it comes to late autumn to spring though, I turn my attentions to other varied pursuits to help hang onto my sanity. 

This year I have done a bit of soap making, which made Christmas presents for family and friends pretty easy and then I do a bit of pottery in my quieter moments. My main interest away from the garden this year is buying lamps – generally ones that need to be refurbished as I like cleaning and mending things. 

It must also be something to do with the long dark days. Dim, warm ambient lighting not only makes the house more relaxing, it can really accentuate treasured ornaments and your favourite houseplants.

If I’m being truthful the main reason I go for ambient lighting might be that it’s makes the dust on surfaces fade into the shadows and makes clutter invisible in shaded corners. In the right lighting your house looks as though it doesn’t need cleaning or even redecorating.

I’m more focussed on desk lamps compared to table or standard lamps because I am a bit limited for space. I particularly enjoy lamps dating from the 1930’s to the 70’s (“my era” so my lads say) before the use of plastics. Of course, the old Bakelite lamp fittings were an early form of plastic for years but I don’t count that. I also like the inclusion of steel and industrial enamel finishes, particularly for Danish designs.

I did start off by buying and selling the lamps a couple of years ago but missed them so much after they were posted out to customers that I think I have sort of turned into a collector – or even a lamp hoarder as I have boxes of parts beginning to clutter up the garage.

My interest isn’t confined to the inside of the house either. I really appreciate old external lights too as these are both an aesthetic and also a practical feature in any garden. I have some great cast aluminium security lights, each a whopping 500watts that can illuminate the whole garden and beyond if needed but I very rarely turn them on, mainly as not to annoy the neighbours. I’ve also got a couple of more practical and neighbour friendly 1940’s vintage  goose neck lights that help to make the pathways safe and see any obstacles when I get the dogs home from a night time walk. The lights also illuminate certain “Objects D’ Art” (junk some might say) I have scattered alongside the pathways behind the house. I think my old cast iron windows, chimney pots; terracotta planters look great in the reduced light. Even shadows cast by an old broken skateboard, left behind by my lad, has a certain magic to it.

I do have one modern lamp which lives on the shed lighting up the step to the doorway. It’s a solar panelled one and works efficiently, being charged up even on dull days producing a dim light just powerful enough to show the step. I don’t have an emotional attachment to this light though as its modern and plastic – it’s purely for practical safety purposes. 

Lighting up the garden isn’t all about function, style can play a big part although most of the time it’s not the lamps you see as such it’s the light they omit and the mood they set. Unless you have a row of cast iron Victorian street lights in the garden others have very little impact on a design in the daylight. There are modern fittings that hide the cables if not using solar energy and fittings hidden in walls, decking and floors.   

Lighting up a step outside is practical adding to safety when you go outside to the bins and highlighting something as simple as a small evergreen shrub can really make a difference to how the garden looks even if you just catch a glance of it through the window. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate affair.

I’ve also been buying (collecting) 1950’s lampshades, which could make good hanging baskets with a bit of tinkering. Maybe that’s a job for next winter.