It's a Start

MONTH ZERO - February 2015

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One house sale and the purchase are complete, we have moved. Garden development has begun, but it's been a struggle. The move could have been smoother without the gas leak  and with better planning. We've owned the garden for a fortnight and moved in only a week ago. Since then we've both been ill with SCG (serious cough and gunk syndrome) which appears a bit like man-flu, but Ann has needed serious medication and even had time off school.

One big weed and one very desirable tree.
Ones for the chop - One gets companions.
Which?

Despite feeling grotty, we are very pleased with ourselves and very grateful. The cottage and outside are great. The garden is already really good for humans and wildlife with tremendous potential to make it even better. We have done just four things in terms of  moving the garden forward so far. We have set up a bird feeding station, moved a fence and little gate to a temporary position, purchased some native shrub/trees,  and set up a water-butt.

Setting up a bird cafe is particularly easy if the previous owners have left a lot of stuff behind. Even if you are starting from scratch it's pretty easy, very rewarding and cheaper than most pets.

Long tailed tits are a daily joy. Not a great photo I know but maybe I'll improve

The bird feeders have been up nearly a fortnight and we already have nearly as many different visitors as at Ladbroke. We have four different tits, plus some other common visitors. Particularly beautiful I think is a sleek male Blackap (sorry no photo, he's illusive - the link is in case you've never noticed one). To me he looks like a slender Great Tit with most of his markings rubbed out. I've not seen one in our own garden for several years.

Taking a fence. The purpose of this wire fence was I think to keep the dog away from the chickens. Since we have neither but we do have grand children, I move the fence and a little gate to be a temporary barrier to keep the GCs away from where the wildlife ponds will be.

Fish pond seems to be losing water, so I've turned off the pump to see if it's a leak

Water-butt 1. There will be more. The rain-diverter works but the butt needs to be nearly full to top up the fish pond. A lot of pond problems can be avoided by avoiding tap water. 

Cute Little Blighters

Woodmice (I think)

(Written at November 24th 12:30 am)

Well fed woodmouse

In our current house (in Ladbroke) we've had a minor problem with wood mice in previous years.  Usually we've had the odd visits in autumn and once in the very worst of winter snow.  Humane traps* baited with licorice allsorts** dipped in chocolate spread have always proved to be irresistible.  Releasing the captures about 200 yards away at the very end of the garden usually solved the problem of the cute little blighters.

This year Ladbroke has had a minor plague. The woods come right into the village and we have a large copse in the edge of the garden, We've even had them in several cars. Now in fact I've got one in my bedroom.  So I have baited the traps. This time we have used Saint Agur cheese (it was on offer, they had no stilton) and chocolate hazelnut spread.

The photos are the two I caught last night.  I dropped them off in a rich hedge next to Harbury Spoil Bank.

 I'm such a softy. (Not really am just feeding the kestrels.) 

At time of posting we are up to seven caught in the last ten days. I think I have filled all the holes between house and the garage with sand and cement.

Mouse just before it jumps up and out of the bucket

*"Humane" seems an odd word surely it should be mousemane.  Humane traps work pretty well on the mice we get.  One type rocks like a seesaw when the mouse tries to reach the bait at the far end and the gate at the entrance closes.  The other has an internal gate which drops when the trigger is touched near the bait.

** I don't like the licorice allsorts with pink or blue hundreds and thousands, so when they are available I use half of one dipped in hazelnut chocolate spread.  I'm told that peanut butter or anything sticky and smelly works well, but we don't be peanut butter, whereas hazelnut chocolate spread disappears quite quickly in this house.

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Why start a blog now?

Garden for sale. 

Time to say goodbye

It's a new start hopefully. We are selling our garden in Leamington Spa and moving to a new house with opportunity to develop a new garden.

 The house selling and buying is stressful so the thought of a new garden is both a relief and the potential for disappointment.

I love planning gardens and have a track record of garden development. The town garden pictured was a car park when we took it over. The house has been let for quite some time so it's now a bit overgrown now. but at it's peak was a wildlife patio garden with about 3 frogs per square metre.

We don't know when the sale will complete but I think I've got about three weeks to move some of the plants I've nurtured and love.