Chewbacca..

Day 248 #365DaysWild

The Woodland Garden is at its best in spring. We’re working through, weeding, trimming and mulching.

Although there are trees that were planted seventy years ago, the garden itself is only eleven years old. Young for a garden.

When we came here it wasn’t a garden at all but a stand of horse chestnuts and sycamores planted far too closely together. Little light reached the ground. Straggling brambles and nettles eked out a living. Surprisingly a small patch of violets (viola odorata) hung on.

The garden is dedicated to that least celebrated of woodland features - dead wood and the life that thrives in dead wood. Saproxylic organisms.

We have removed some trees to allow light in and planted hazel, silver birch, beech and Japanese maples to create a mix of ages with the trees.

Here you’ll find log-edged woodchip paths, dead trees left to stand and branches and twigs lying on the surface. We use leaves and welll-rotted wood chippings as a mulch.

All to feed soil invertebrates and mycology. My helper today was a robin who seemed to find plenty of interest. Blackbirds too. A blackbird shriek towards the end of the afternoon alerted us all to a male sparrowhawk who arrowed through.

Small ponds have been created for wildlife.

This bed is the ‘Chewbacca bed’. We planted ivy cultivar ‘Tripod’ up a decaying tree stump and the shagginess of the cloaking foliage suggested to us the Star Wars favourite. The host stump will crumble soon. As I trimmed some of the ivy, little rivers of sawdust trickled out of the rotten stump. Invertebrates had been busy.

Snowdrops are finishing now. They will be followed by sweet violets, dog violets, honesty, bergenia, aquilegia and foxgloves. Plenty to interest pollinators.