Category: Wildlife and Nature


Picture via North Norfolk Radio

Picture by Helen Storer via North Norfolk Radio

beech tree clumber park woodland trust

Beech Tree, Clumber Park via Woodland Trust

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Old School Gardener

Large-trees-HD-picture-5-44992A few more clippings from a book I bought in a charity shop last summer ….

Celsius Curse:

Anything that survives the coldest, wettest summer since records began will perish during the mildest winter on record.

First Law of Arboriculture:

The magnificent mature tree you spotted in the National Trust garden and a similar sapling bought later at your local nursery at great expense take a hundred years to mature. no one told you this. Even if you did live to see it, the full-grown tree wouldn’t look the same in your garden.

Au Soleil:

The carefully selected, ideal situation chosen for the specimen, shade-loving shrub in November will get the full force of the sun all summer.

Law of Planters Can’t Be Choosers:

A gardener who is hunting for shrubs or trees looks first at the specimens suitable for his land, then at the substitutes on his list, and finally buys the one he can afford.

Incredible-Flowering-Shrubs-Design-ideas-for-pretty-Landscape-Traditional-design-ideas-with-columns-flowers-grass-hosta-landscape-design-Porch-shade-garden-shrubs-turf-vineFrom : ‘Mrs. Murphy’s Laws of Gardening’ – Faith Hines (Temple House books, 1992)

Old School Gardener

 

Branching Out?

branches ident

Get the Woodland Trust’s Winter Tree identification sheet here

Old School Gardener

greenflyA few more clippings from a book I bought in a charity shop last summer ….

Altruism Truism:

A garden is an area of land devoted to growing fruit, flowers and vegetables, which in turn are dedicated to insect rearing.

corollaries;

1. The earth is alive to the sound of mastication.

2. Healthy plants breed healthy bugs.

Law of the vegetable patch:

A dose of insecticide whch would wipe out a medium-size town will do no more than temporarily stun a cabbage white. You can fool all of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool the caterpillars.

Law of Killing Generosity:

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but if it comes from a garden centre, do check for trojan aphids somewhere in its anatomy.

A Winning Aside:

In the fight between you, the world and blight, back the blight.

PotatoLateCycleFrom : ‘Mrs. Murphy’s Laws of Gardening’ – Faith Hines (Temple House books, 1992)

Old School Gardener

 

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Old School Gardener

nature playHere’s a final extract from the book ‘Noah’s Children’ by Sara Stein. This piece reflects on how as adults we are in danger of losing our ability to play and that this is part of a wider disconnect between humans (especially children) and the natural world about us:

‘One of the nicest things about the human race is our abiding juvenility….We’re fun; we’re funny. There is probably no species, not even chimps or wolves, in which there is as much behavioural congruence between adults and children.

Yet how ‘unfun’ we’ve gotten! Biking has gone pro; it is to be performed seriously (exhaustingly!) and properly attired. Even taking a walk has been transformed into walking – stylishly, with striped sweats and weighted mannerisms, to the purpose of fitness- and without an eye for what might be of interest along the way. In an article I read about dismantling playgrounds and abandoning school recess, a principal was quoted on the subject of improving academic performance. ” You can’t do that”, he said, “by having kids hanging on monkey bars.”…’

Coincidentally I’ve just come an interesting review of a new book about children, learning, play and nature. Here’s a quote from that:

‘Children play, and used to play ‘in nature’, outdoors. To some extent they still do, but probably not nearly enough. We inhibit their explorations, creativity, and self-testing. And the same goes for adults.’

You might like to take a look at the review here: ‘Learning with Nature and the Nature of Play’

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this series of extracts. I certainly found the book very stimulating and am currently enjoying Stein’s follow up to ‘Noah’s Garden’, all about natural plant communities and the like.

Old School Gardener

Thyme we thought differently about roadsides?
Old School Gardener

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