Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
31st July 2021
Eye Was Lucky
I had a really narrow ‘escape’ this week. One of my big things in gardening is to be very careful around the use of bamboos as plant supports. I always recommend (and usually insist) that people put something like old wine corks, spent shotgun cartridges or even empty vitamin or Yakult bottles over the tops of their bamboos or similar single plant supports.
In my own garden I have a 3ft rebar post at the corner of each raised bed supporting chicken wire to keep the rabbits out of the beds. I have put a plastic ball on the top of every post. (See photo). A friend rather magnanimously insists it looks like an art installation – and it does add a bit of colour and interest in the bleaker winter months – but it is predominantly for safety reasons. It is just too easy to bend over when you’re working and simply ‘not see’ the cane. They are so dangerous.
And guess what I did last week?
Yup, a client had bought a new plant with a bamboo in the pot as (unnecessary) support. I bent down to pick the pot up and the tip of the bamboo stabbed the corner of my eye. Thankfully I move a bit slower these days so wasn’t hurtling toward the bamboo as I would have done years ago and was able to pull back quickly as soon as I realised what I had done. My eye is bloodshot and sore but at least I still have it.
It was scary – it happened so quickly and could have changed my life in an instant.
If you only do one thing in the garden this weekend, please either remove any bamboo canes you have as supports or put something over the tops of them – and ask your friends, family and neighbours to do the same.
Please Paws and Think
Three years ago – after the hottest July on record in Wales – I mentioned that in 1969 Jim Morrison wrote in The Lords and the New Creatures, ‘There may be a time where we have to visit Weather Theatres to recall the sensation of rain.’ The idea still fascinates me but after several soakings this week, I don’t think ‘Weather Theatres’ will be necessary in my lifetime.
I’m really not a fan of ‘hot’ any more. As soon as the heat-wave was forecast, my first thoughts were of concern for all the poor dogs with owners who have a casual relationship with common sense.
All the barefoot training and running I did for my barefoot run across Wales heightened my awareness of the temperatures of various surfaces under foot. Obviously tarmac is the big heat source (and yes, I really did train over freshly laid tarmac to harden my feet up) – but did you know that astro-turf is another scorcher under bare feet and paws. Artificial grass in the sun recently was recorded as reaching a staggering 62.3C.
And although it seems a nice thing to do to take your four-legged friend to a beach to cool off, please remember how hot the sand can get for them.
If you are in any doubt as to the temperature of any surface, kick off your shoes and walk barefoot on it yourself. If it’s too hot for your feet, it’ll be too hot for paws.
I have written a lot about spending time barefoot engages another ‘sense’ – but still wish I could find a way of spreading common sense.
Dog Days
As I am always very vocal about my concerns for dogs in the hot weather, I find it a little ironic that the period between 3rd of July and the 11th August is known as the Dog Days of Summer.
The seemingly inappropriate name given to the hottest and muggiest days of the year refers to the days when Sirius – the Dog Star – rises at the same time as the Sun.
The Dog Days of Summer are traditionally the hottest and steamiest part of summer and often result in a period of drought and powerful thunderstorms.
Wild Side
Please don’t forget the importance of putting out water for birds, bees and hedgehogs too. Despite some heavy downpours, puddles, shallow streams and other natural water sources for our wildlife will dry up again quickly.
Something that does thrive in the hot weather is the wildflower meadows. And at this time of year I always get a lot of emails asking the best way to create them. It’s not quite as straight forward as most people think. I had a big fat frustrating fail a few years ago when I cleared a patch of ground elder and sowed wild flowers only to find the ground elder came back with a vengeance and swamped the wild flowers. It was an expensive learning curve. Thankfully I have had better results since.
The secret of success lies largely in two things – preparation of the ground (wild flowers prefer poor soil) – and secondly, the choice of seed.
Topically, I had a huge amount of wild flower meadow enquiries at the time of the last Olympics, as the grounds of London’s Olympic Park boasted huge swathes of stunning wildflowers. The seed supplier was Rigby Taylor, who has also supplied seed for the ‘better’ displays that used to be on a lot of local roundabouts. They offer some of the most stunning seed mixes – the Euroflor Ground Cover mix is particularly useful – and I’ll bet that any wildflower display that has taken your breath away will be from Rigby Taylor seed, available from www.rigbytaylor.com/flower-seed/
The price might take your breath away too, although I encourage people to club together to share the costs – 1kg will cover approx 3-400 square metres. You have to decide if it is worth it, but from experience the only thing you’ll get from cheap seed is disappointment, and I have yet to hear anyone say the investment in Rigby Taylor seed wasn’t worth it.
Most people think wild flowers are free flowers, which can be the case if Mother Nature is kind, but even if she is generous, she is unlikely to put them where you want them.
As I sign all of my books … ‘May all your weeds be wild flowers.’
Ta xxx