Wildflower Meadow - Maintained by Hand

Sarah’s wonderful wildflower meadow

Wildflower areas are becoming very popular in gardens.  We realise the importance of biodiversity and helping the nectar gathering insects. 

They don’t have to be huge expanses of ground either, even a square metre of wild flowers will help to bring loads of beneficial creatures into the garden, who will in turn help you keep pests to a minimum. It is possible to have an ecosystem in the garden devoid of any pesticides or chemical feeds.

I was chatting to Sarah in the Isle of Wight this week who has taken the wildflower patch idea to another level and painstakingly worked an acre and a half field into a wildlife paradise. 

How did the meadow idea come about Sarah?

“We had a horse/donkey/goat/sheep field that was no longer being used so I decided to make it into a wildflower meadow six years ago to do my bit for the environment.  I did a lot of research into how best to set the system up beforehand.  I can now say that I now have ignored and adapted to my own rather quirky, but effective land management.”

How does that differ from regular ideas about tending to meadows?

“Most guides suggest you cut the grass once or twice a year to stop trees growing and to deter more prolific weeds from seeding.  I never mow the meadow, as I found that this destroyed a lot of plants I wanted to keep. My way of picking out individual weeds is extremely labour intensive, and involves strange looks from passers-by as I weed by hand!”

What type of seeds did you plant?

“The original seeds came from a company in Liverpool, but I collect my own each year now. I have poppies, cornflowers, corn cockles, corn marigolds, oxeye daisies, foxgloves, flowering chamomile, yellow rattle, yarrow (a bit of a pest), self-sown evening primrose (no idea where that came from), also others such as Californian poppies and, strangely, wallflowers, presumably dropped by birds. There are vetches and a few little broad leaved hellebores (very excited to find them), and loads more that I’ve probably forgotten!”

Was it a big job getting started? You do have over an acre and a half to work on.

“Yes. Our soil is wonderful, sandy loam, and is probably too fertile for wildflowers. It was always used for animal grazing, so had to be cleared of grass and weeds before we began. I hired a local contractor, but as I have a keen eye for detail and put in the time that a contractor couldn’t I’ve done it all myself since the initial clearing.”

Did you add grass seed to the mix?

“The seed did not contain any grasses. We haven’t put animals on there either, because they’d eat a lot of what I want to keep and some flowers, such as the corn cockles, are poisonous. I have a mixture of annual and perennial flowers, surrounded by hazels, beeches, walnuts and sweet chestnuts for our numerous red squirrels. I even have a few buddleia bushes in there to keep the butterflies happy. There’s another acre at the back of the meadow which is left to its own devices, with thistles, nettles and brambles for the caterpillars. I have painstakingly got rid of the weeds and it’s a constant job keeping on top of things. It is time consuming but very rewarding and enjoyable!”

Getting started

Putting in the time to create an area of practical beauty such as this can be daunting, but if you start small and build up slowly at your own pace it will remain manageable. Sarah knew that she had the interest and determination to convert the whole acre and a half but it’s not for everyone and the square metre might be enough. 

Even on small areas it’s important to get out the perennial weeds and reduce the amount of weed seeds in the soil. The first thought is to plough or rotovate the soil. This isn’t always the best solution. Turning the soil will only flip the weeds over and will not kill Nettles, Dock or Couch Grass, no matter how deep you plough. Attention to weed control is the key to helping the wildflowers establish and you need to be very meticulous at the start. 

If you don’t have the time or interest to do this, how about just working with what you have?

Simple method

The simplest route to this is not to abandon your lawn and mower but to learn how to move the mower’s blades up, so the cut is higher than 10cm.Hold out for your first cut until the end of June, then leave a month between each cut until autumn. If you need a route to the washing line or shed, mow just a path. The wildflowers will adapt and bloom to your cutting cycle and as you only cut the grass once a month you can spend more time admiring the flowers and the wildlife they attract.

Garden Magazine Survey Reveals Roses are a Garden Favourite

We have birds nesting in the garden this spring. 

They have arrived about four years after the box was put up, even the housing market in the bird world is running on a go slow. I’m pleased to see the soft fluffy materials being taken into the box. Their beaks are full to bursting with all sorts of materials to make it cosy for the chicks when they come.

Wildlife is important in the garden and a new survey just released has confirmed this. Although it’s not the number one priority for the garden, it comes close.

The survey was conducted by The Irish Garden magazine and Mr. Middleton's Garden Shop this year and they asked customers a few questions about their gardening habits. There were only 1500 people asked in the survey and there were specific questions, so it’s not a huge amount of customers being asked but it’s given the industry a bit of a pointer about where the latest trends are going.

The survey revealed that we are a fairly romantic bunch. Surprisingly for me the rose is still the most popular flower in Irish gardens with 24% giving it their vote. They might have lovely flowers but the thorns jump out at me so they wouldn’t be my first choice.  I prefer to admire them in other people’s gardens or large amenity displays than have them in my own garden. There’s no denying that the colour, shape, long-flowering, fragrance and romance are a bit attraction.  The next most popular is the Sweet Pea (20%) and Daffodil (15%) probably because of their ease of growing. Next came Peony, Lily and Clematis.

The survey also revealed that our favourite things about the garden are beautiful flowers and vibrant colours (77%). The second favourite thing was the ability to support wildlife (60%) which I’d put equal top of the list as biodiversity of plants and flowers will attract the wildlife. I think if I was doing the survey I would ask about edibles in the garden as that doesn’t seem to get a mention.

Other favourite things the garden brings are entertaining friends and family, fun for children, somewhere for pets to play and a feeling of satisfaction working in the garden.

‘Sitting relaxing’ came up pretty high too which I totally agree with, emphasising that we truly appreciate the sense of wellness that a garden can provide.

I’ve not been relaxing much this week though. I’m doing my best to dig up the wild garlic in the beds before they set seed. The flowers are out in force and are attractive enough (in a white bluebell sort of way) but the plants are really invasive. I’m still not sure where they came from but it must have been seed. We haven’t introduced the plant into the garden to my knowledge.

They do have their virtues as the whole plant is edible, from the flowers to the bulb. They have a milder taste than conventional garlic and the green shoots can be used like spring onions. I have filled four large compost bags with them so far and as yet none of the remaining ones are setting seed. I doubt I’ll get them all out this year but at least I’ll be on top of them. I’d be a bit wary of even putting small clump in a pot too as the seeds seem to get everywhere. I doubt very much this plant will make it onto the Irish gardens ‘favourite flower’ list anytime soon so I think the rose will stay on top for a few more years.

There are other more relaxing things to be getting on with in the garden this month.

• Plant out summer bedding at the end of the month but watch out for late frosts. The garden centres love a late cold snap as it will mean you buying twice as many plants to replace the ones you lose.
• Regularly hoe off weeds to stay on top of things, catch them before the flower and set seed (I learnt the hard way with my garlic) Maybe put a bit of mulch down too.

• Open greenhouse and polytunnel vents and doors on warm days. Open up propagators too to get some air flowing.

• Mow lawns weekly if possible as this makes it easier throughout the season. The mower is less likely to clog up with wet grass if you are only taking an inch or two off the top each time.

• Check for nesting birds before clipping hedges.

• Lift and divide overcrowded clumps of daffodils and other spring-flowering bulbs.

Comfrey

 Comfrey 

Comfrey is a tall, perennial, herb plant, also known as boneset because it was used to heal broken bones. The word comfrey comes from the Latin word for "grow together". It is a member of the Boraginaceae family, which also include borage, forget-me-nots,

The plant grows well in damp places and can stand full sun.  The common plant can easily get out of control in a garden, so would not normally be deliberately introduced unless it was a really large garden.  In the 1950s the organic pioneer Lawrence Hills (founder of the organisation now known as Garden Organic formerly the Henry Doubleday Research Association (HDRA)) developed a strain of Russian comfrey named Bocking 14 which is sterile and won’t seed itself all around the garden. 

It can be propagated by root cuttings although my patch is spread so well I have never needed to do it.

 What makes it a Good Fertilizer?

Comfrey has deep taproot, and large root system which pulls nutrients from way down in the subsoil, where most other plants can't reach. Comfrey is high in just about every nutrient a plant needs, including the big 3, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, and many trace elements. It can be used as a ‘Mineral Dam’ utilizing minerals that would usually be washed away by storing them in the leaves.

Its high carbon to nitrogen value means that it does not deplete nitrogen from the soil, as it decomposes. In fact, it becomes a good source of nitrogen. And it has more potassium than composted manure.

You can use the leaves in 3 main ways: as a liquid feed, as a compost activator or straight into or on the soil as a plant fertiliser, there are variations on this and here are a few.

Comfrey Uses

Fertilizer - Comfrey leaves contain a great balance of major plant nutrients (N,P,K) and can be feed to plants as powder, direct mulch or by steeping chopped Comfrey leaves in water for several weeks to produce a thick, dark liquid that can be diluted with water and applied to plant roots. I’ve decided to only use this outside this year and not in the tunnel as it can be very smelly.

As a trench fertiliser and as a mulch - Line potato or bean trenches with comfrey leaves and cover with a thin layer of soil. After planting, fill the trench as usual, and the comfrey leaves will be broken down by the soil bacteria to provide a potassium-rich fertiliser. Alternatively place a layer of leaves around the growing plants. This will not only slowly rot down to provide nutrients, but also act as a mulch to help control weeds.

Comfrey compost activator and leaf mould - Place cut or bruised comfrey leaves in alternate layers throughout your compost heap. This will encourage bacterial action causing the heap to heat up and speed up the composting process. This could make a fine medium for growing seeds although small amounts are recommended as it can be a bit strong for seedlings.

Medicinal Use - Comfrey has been cultivated, at least, since 400 BC as a healing herb. The Greeks and Romans commonly used Comfrey to stop heavy bleeding, treat bronchial problems and heal wounds and broken bones.

Biomass - Comfrey produces large amounts of foliage from late May until hard frosts in October or November. The plant is excellent for producing mulch.

Biodiversity  - The bell shaped flowers provide nectar and pollen to many species of bees and other insects from late May until the first frosts in late Autumn. Lacewings are said to lay eggs on Comfrey and Spiders overwinter on the plant. Parasitic Wasps and Spiders will hunt on and around Comfrey.

Pest and Disease Prevention and Control - Research indicates that a comfrey solution can be used to prevent powdery mildew. Pest predators such as spiders, lacewings and parasitic wasps associate with this plant. Its best to leave some plants alone in order to sustain pest predator relationships.

Ground Cover – Some species can quickly spread to form a thick ground cover and work particularly well for ground cover on the sunny side under shrubs and trees. Symphytum tuberosum - Tuberous Comfrey is a great ground cover option. 

Animal Fodder - Comfrey has a long history for use as an animal feed. Fresh leaves can be eaten by pigs, sheep, and poultry but cattle, rabbits and horses will usually only consume wilted leaves.

Human Consumption - Symphytum officianale  and Symphytum x uplandicum are both reported to be used for salad and potherb and are best when cooked. I won’t be trying it myself though. I’ll stick to nettles.

The Virtues of Cucumbers

 Cucumber Uses?

Can you eat cucumbers? I know a lot of people who turn down the offer of a sandwich if they see even the thinnest slice of the gourd sticking out from the bread as they can produce wind and indigestion. Although they are about 98% water there’s something in them that just doesn’t agree with a lot of people. 

It could be one of a load of trace elements like vitamin B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, Folate (naturally occurring folic acid), Vitamin C, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Iron, Zinc and Phosphorus, but it’s more likely to be something in the skin called Cucurbitacin, which acts as a deterrent for plants in the gourd family keeping pests from nibbling and breaking the skin of the vegetable.  Cucurbitacin is an excellent natural pest control substance and widely used,  but might not agree with your insides.

I called the cucumber a vegetable, but is it? Carrying on from my question last week about if an onion is a root vegetable or not, I’ll ask you this: “Is a cucumber a fruit or vegetable”. It turns out it depends who you talk to.

In horticulture: cucumber is a vegetable.

 The division of vegetable and fruit cultivation in horticulture is that everything that grows on herbaceous plants is a vegetable and everything that grows on a woody plant is a fruit.

Cucumbers don’t grow on a woody plant, but on an herbaceous plant. Therefore the cucumber is seen as a vegetable.

Botany:  Vegetable or fruit?

Neither ‘vegetable’ nor ‘fruit’ is a botanical term. Vegetables are all the edible parts of the plant. In botany, fruits, flowers, leaves and stems can all be seen as vegetables. According to botanists a fruit is the part of the plant that develops from a flower. It’s also the section of the plant that contains the seeds. Therefor a cucumber is most likely a fruit although I wouldn’t like then with custard.

Growing Cucumbers

I’ve had a few great cucumber climbers in my tunnel in the past. They are not too hard to grow if you get the right varieties. . There are two distinct types for growing and it’s worth checking if you are planning to grow them outside.

Outdoor cucumbers are referred to as ‘ridge cucumbers’ and will tolerate cooler climates like ours. They are often spiny or rough to the touch. Greenhouse cucumbers form smoother fruits but do need that extra warmth for success. Some varieties will happily grow inside or out, in a sunny, sheltered spot in the garden. 

Cucumber seeds can be sown in a propagator around now and in May to June if you plan to sow the seeds directly outdoors.

Sow the cucumber seeds on their sides at a depth of 1cm in 7.5cm pots of free-draining, seed sowing compost. Place the pots in a propagator or seal them inside a plastic bag at a temperature of 20°C until they germinate. This usually only takes 7-10 days.

Once they’ve germinated, you can move them to a bright windowsill and grow them there until they’re big enough to be transplanted into their final growing place.

There are a lot of claims about the virtues of cucumbers. I’ve listed a few more believable ones here. Take them all with a pinch of salt I’ve only tested the one that claims it shines shoes (it doesn’t) The rest I’ll probably never get around to testing. As long as the cucumbers liven up my cheese sandwich I’m a happy man.

The Apparent Virtues of Cucumbers

If you tend to get chronic constipation, cucumbers can get things moving again. Cucumbers contain an enzyme called erepsin, which helps the body digest protein.

Cucumber contains a touch of silicon, sulphur sodium, calcium, and phosphorus, which are the vital ingredients for long, beautiful hair. So you can eat it, wash in it, and drink it.

If you want to stop your bathroom mirror from fogging up while you shower, simply rub a cucumber over it before you hop in the shower. It’s cleaner than soap.

You can polish shoes by rubbing a cucumber slice over them. Polish with a soft, dry cloth.

Could help ease sunburn.

Although it won’t last as long as the real thing, if you need something lubricated and you are out of WD-40, you can rub a slice of cucumber on the area.

Remove most crayons, markers, and pen marks by rubbing them with the outside of a cucumber.

Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean. Not only will it remove years’ worth of undesirable stains, but it will bring back the shine without leaving streaks.