Tree of Hope and National Tree Week

17000 trees are being given away. Yes, It's National Tree Week and if this weekends closing date is too soon for you to get one, we can at least be aware of the ones in our gardens and see they are doing OK by checking cables and stakes are not too tights and there are no broken branches hanging. The actual Tree Week started on the first of this month by the tree council of Ireland and they go one step further caring for trees on a national level.

What is the Tree Council?

The Tree Council is an umbrella body for organisations involved in tree planting, management and conservation. The main role of the Tree Council is to promote the planting, care and enjoyment of trees. It does this through networking with its members and friends, the organisation of events and tree related activities, the publication of literature, and the management of national tree records and through the provision of an information service to the public.

The heritage trees register is an important resource that the Tree Council is involved in creating and maintaining. The heritage and ancient trees to survive as long as possible and the Tree Council help protect them. They find the trees, map them, photograph and record them.

More than just trees planting

As well as tree planting ceremonies, the range of events this year will include: forest and woodland walks, nature trails, tree climbing, poetry readings, exhibitions competitions, tree plantations (where communities are challenged to plant a target number of trees on a designated local site over a fixed time period) and of course the week wouldn’t be complete without a tree hugging session.

 What can we do to celebrate Tree Week?

As I mentioned, we have until this coming Sunday to take part in something. So if there isn’t time for this year then maybe think longer term and organise something for next year.

A few suggestions would be for schools to have planting days, do an environmental play with the children, get Tidy Towns groups involved in cleaning up wooded areas and planting. Then there’s always organising walking days with a tree expert.

For more information on what’s available and what you can do in the future check out the Tree Councils website. http://treecouncil.ie/initiatives/tree-week/

Tree of Hope

One date for the diary in Donegal this weekend is a tree planting day organised by the Tree of Hope. The Tree of Hope is a voluntary group set up recently by Noeleen Fulham who wanted to provide a place of comfort where survivors can memorialise their loved ones lost to suicide or living with depression by planting a tree in their memory.

I asked Noeleen how the idea came about.  “I had sadly lost loved ones to suicide and found myself in a dark place; I just couldn’t get my head around the Whys? The What if? The loss? And the anger. I wasn’t in a space to go into a help centre or call a help line so I walked and I would walk for miles just trying to clear my head.  Then last March 2014 I saw an advert from the National Tree Council Of Ireland asking people to plant a Tree for Tree Week.”

Noeleen continues “Then the idea came to me...to get a tree and call the tree the “Tree of Hope” The tree will be a focal point in the community as a symbol to all affected by a suicide or living with mental health issues to show our Support. 

The Tree Plantings are really taking off and my dream is for everyone nationwide/worldwide to plant a Tree of Hope in their own Community.

The Trees are always being visited by people and young children leave items under the Tree's for their Mam or Dad who may have sadly gone too soon. It's great healing for the children too. ...I wish there was a Tree Of Hope near me when I was walking along feeling so low. I know I would have stopped, took time out there and knew someone cared.”

Noeleen has set up a Facebook page until their website is up and running. The page gives details about where the tree are being planted and how to set up and plant a tree in your own community.

This week’s event on Sunday, 8th March starts at 12 noon on the Gwedore Road, Letterkenny. For more details visit Noeleen Fulham on 0863672209 email her at noeleenfulham1@yahoo.ie or go into the Facebook page facebook.com/TreesOfHope

Collecting Junk and Saved by the Dog....

I’ve been adding to my “Items of Interest” in the garden this week. Some might call it a collection of old rubbish, but not me. 

It all started a couple of years ago when I impulsively bought some old Irish galvanized red fire buckets at auction and it’s carried on from there. I now have old stoneware jugs, rusty metal containers, brass buckets, aluminium fixings and pipes, metal fan blades, old pressure gauges (brass and rust), canvas bags, glass bottles with taps and more.

All of these delights are sitting around happily with the terracotta pots and hypertufa containers I made last year. Although you might think (and many do) that I have just given you the stock list of an old scrapyard, they all have a purpose. Firstly they mostly have the ability to hold plants in them although I do have to watch the drainage in some of them as they fill up with water, secondly I think most of them stand up on their own as works of art that. To me embellish the look and interest of the garden as much as plants, trees and shrubs. They also require less maintenance and as I am presently laid up with a sore back, that’s a good thing.

Now to my latest acquisition. I came across four beautiful Victorian cast iron window frames complete with most of the glass. Some of it coloured along the edges.  They reflect the light beautifully and to me they were a “Must Have” as soon I saw them. They needed to be collected immediately so I managed to get them all into the car in one go and soon got them home and into place in the garden. The problem was that they weigh in at well over 50kg each and because I am not the best delegator or person that asks for help very often I decided to do everything myself. All seemed well until the following day when I was doing my usual routine of picking up the dog poo from the garden. I went over on my hands and knees as my back gave way and was stuck there unable to move.

Lassie Come Home
After a couple of minutes Bo, my faithful dog came up to me and slowly slid underneath my arched body. He licked my face and for a moment I got the feeling I was taking part in a Lassie film. “Good dog” I said. “Now go and tell momma that Timmy has fallen down the well”
My impression was short lived as I released pretty soon that his actions we not to save me but to get an old tennis ball that my arched body was covering.  He grabbed it in his mouth and enthusiastically put it down in front of me again and again on the floor for a good half an hour before Julie came home and spotted me “Just contemplating the day” laying on the path.

If anyone asks how I did my back say that Lassie and I were wrestling a bear in the woods. It sounds better than picking up dog poo in the garden.

Although I was stuck in one place for a while, I was thankfully facing the beautiful stained glass windows and in between the dogs slobbery ball being put in my way the time did give me some great ideas on what to do with them.

Two of the frames are arched and gothic looking which makes me think they could all have come either from a church or church hall. These would look lovely back in place in a building but they could also have the glass removed and turned into a mirror. This type of window would really be a great focal point for a smaller garden as the reflection would draw the eyes away from the boundary. They would look just as good inside the house too with the mirror and could be used as a piece of functional art. The rectangular windows are just as impressive but for now I think they can just be lovely features near the garage and wheelie bins. If I do nothing with them apart from appreciate their beauty for the next ten years then they will have served a great purpose.
Just as long as I don’t have to move them for a while.

Raised Vegetable Beds on Facebook

I take them for two walks a day, have them in the best seats in the house and feed them (what I think) is good food. So why do the dogs repay me in the garden by chewing anything that is within range of their mouth?  Maybe it’s the same principal as a cat bringing home a dead mouse and plonking it on the worktops as a gift. I doubt it though as I’m sure cats don’t look guilty when you ask them “who did this” which is what I have to say to both my dogs every day. They both always look guilty though but I do know that it’s Chips (the spaniel) that does most of the damage.

This week she’s eaten the plastic pots from my chamomile plants and worked her way through the Christmas rose plants that I put outside to harden off. Most of the time it’s just the post she eats leaving the roots of the plants open to the elements. I suppose she has to do something as most of the ground is too wet to dig holes in at the moment, which is something else I can look forward to in the spring.

Raised vegetable beds

I have had an interest in raised vegetable beds for a few years now and built them in the last three gardens I have had. I even wrote an ebook about them. I think it’s still for sale on Amazon, but not sure. When I put it on a while ago there were only two other raised vegetable beds information books on there. Now you have to set aside half an hour to scroll down them all. I’m sure mine is there somewhere but I haven’t sold a copy for over a year, so the time has come to give it away for free I think. As soon as I find it on my computer I’ll let you know.

I did set up a Facebook page called “Raised Vegetable Beds” and for ages it sat there with only one or two contributors, I only looked at the page once or twice a month to make sure it was still there. Over that last few weeks though there has been a renewed interest on the page and everyday there are at least 20 people joining. I know that isn’t nearly the same amount that looks at Ruairi McSorleys “Frostbit” video but it’s good for a start.  For some reason the good folk in America have taken over the site as word seems to spread. Most of the information coming on the page is relating to the US but raised beds as we are finding out are not governed by location. It’s fun to read and I only very occasionally get someone trying to sell counterfeit Ray Ban sunglasses or clickbaiting onto their own sites. Up to writing this there are over 2000 people signed up. Here is just one topic raised this week.

Can I?

“Can I put tea bags in my compost bin?”

“Yup and coffee grounds, egg shells, banana peels”

“Yes!! I have composted for years and I do not have a rodent or pest problem. I just create "black gold!" Your entire kitchen scraps such as potato peels, strawberry hulls, banana peels, coffee grounds AND filter, complete tea bag with string, egg shells, squash skin and seeds, citrus peels and much, much more are compostable. And then, when you start gardening all of your garden scraps should be added. (I exclude evasive weeds and any diseases plants that I have removed from my garden. I have these into a separate pile which I burn.) I have 3 separate compost piles going at all times which are all at different stages ….you can never have too much compost. It is your most valuable contribution to your garden.”

“I don't put potato peels or onion peels in my compost, they spread disease and it irritates the worms.”

“Yes you can. Just make sure they don't have the string and tag if it's herbal tea.”

“Tea bags will go great in the compost bin..... But before that there is another use for them. They can help to reduce sweaty palms. If your hands start to drip when you are nervous then hold the wet tea bag in your hands for 10-15 minutes. The tannin in the tea (regular, not herbal) is an astringent, which has the ability to shrink the pores. If you are shaking hands with someone important, do it a few times over a week or so before the event. There could be a side effect though; your hands might get a bit stained. (Old tea bags have been used to create fake tans!)”

Top tips indeed!

Postcrete No-No....

I had this great idea to make some more pots this week. I wasn’t going to bother with the hypertufa pots, they just disintegrate when you pick them up. This time I was going to make them to last. I went to the local DIY place and found something called Postcrete, which is a ready mixed bag of material that you would normally put into a hole around a wooden post. It says on the bag that it sets within minutes. Just the job I thought.

Panic

I got a bucket and mixed the contents of the bag with water. All seemed to go well as I put the mix into the first pot mould. Then disaster struck, the mix was hardening faster than I could pour it so I panicked, added more water and then mixed it with my hands, so vigorously that the gloves I was wearing tore. I was only filling the remaining moulds for a few minutes but this was enough for the mix to take off several layers of skin and fingerprints from my hands. I should imagine the reason for this to go solid so quickly is that it has a really high lime content, so high in fact that it shouldn’t be touched, just poured directly into a hole. I’ve spent the last few days wearing rubber gloves full of cream to try and grow the skin back. I should have read the label. My lad was unsympathetic as I ran into the house screaming in pain. 

 “This is what happens when you mess around with chemicals” he dryly told me. It’s back to hypertufa for me in future, or shop bought cardboard pots.