Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
1st March 2025
Lots to Do
Thankfully, we’re in March – only just, but it’s a step in the right direction. Possibly the most well-known weather folklore associated with the beginning of March is, “In like a lion, out like a lamb”, which reflects the fact that the beginning of the month was traditionally stormy with the weather calming down towards April. This weekend’s forecast is more ‘lamb-like’ so maybe it will go out like a lion.
There’s still a lot to do in the garden. As snowdrop blooms start to fade, it’s a good time to lift up large clumps, divide them and replant to increase your ‘lovely white carpets’. Most recommendations are to wait until the flowers have gone altogether and replant the bulb ‘in the green’ whilst you can still see their leaves, but I like to do it as the flowers fade, as it gives you a better visual guide to where they are. They spread quickly and I love dividing and replanting them now and then being pleasantly surprised next year as they flower in places I had forgotten I had put them.
Now is the time to prune buddleias to keep them ‘well behaved’. If you have buddleia(s) in areas where they can be left to their own devices, then that’s OK but otherwise, it is best to cut them back hard now so they can produce fresh new growth and bloom enthusiastically whilst remaining at a manageable size.
Whilst you’ve got the secateurs out, cut back wisteria shoots to three buds to get a good show of flowers in May and June. I have mixed feelings about wisteria. It is said that it is a shrub that you should only give to an enemy as it’s hard work to maintain properly, and it can actually provide a good ’ladder’ for scallywags to access upper windows. Something often not considered about ‘strong’ climbing plants. But every time I see a happy, healthy wisteria in full bloom I can’t help but feel some love and admiration for it.
Swapping secateurs for a spade, large clumps of herbaceous plants can also be lifted, divided and replanted now too, or swap a clump of yours with a friend or neighbour for something you haven’t got.
Endeavour to complete winter pruning of fruit trees and autumn flowering raspberries early this month and when no frost is forecast.
If you have a greenhouse or spare room in a conservatory or on a windowsill , you can get ease those green fingers back into action by sowing sweet peas, cosmos, nasturtiums and other annuals. This will give them a good head start and make you feel like spring is on its way.
Nest Flix
I am slowly working my way through a hefty ‘to do’ list, optimistically compiled during the long, cold, dark winter months. One of the things I’ve yet to sort out is to get a camera set up in a nesting box in my garden. I have recommended them for years but I have always been a bit put off by the tech side of a ‘nest cam’.
There is a huge choice on the market now though, including an extensive range of Wi-Fi, wireless and wired connections, and even a solar powered WiFi Bird Box Camera. You can install a bird box camera into an existing nest box or buy a nest box with a camera in it, and have the feathered families displayed on a TV, a monitor or your phone.
And now I have pledged to sort one out for my garden in this column I feel I have made myself ‘accountable’, so I’ll let you know as soon as I am set up with Nest Flix.
Heartfelt Gratitude
Thank you for all the lovely, kind messages Ian and I have received following Mum’s death.
We have given her the best and most fitting send off that we could and we couldn’t have done it without the help of lots of wonderful people. Generally I find it quite difficult to ask for help, preferring to find a way through (or around) myself, but I have learned that people like to be asked and like to contribute. If you ask someone for help, you are in effect saying, “You can do something that I can’t (maybe just at this moment) and I trust you, so please could you help me with ….” It is therefore a compliment as well as a request.
Ian and I have leaned lightly on many a shoulder in the last few weeks and have found people to be kind, helpful and empathic. It reminds me of why I love living where I do, and the absolute privilege of living in a strong community and having ‘history’ within that community. Ian and I still live in the village that Dad was born in and lived in for his entire life, with Mum joining him in their late teens. It is an absolute gift to live where we do.
As I mentioned in my Eulogy, on the front of Mum’s Order of Service, the little dash between 1945 and 2025 is a slightly strange representation of Mum’s life – the time between her arriving in 1945 and her leaving just a few weeks ago. A little line that represents a large life – a large, colourful, characterful life packed with all sorts of people, events, emotions, challenges, triumphs, stories and memories. And a life that so many people contributed to. Even the people who never met her but have sent condolences are now all part of that ‘little dash’. Thank you.
There are obviously so many people who I would love to mention, but mindful of column space, have chosen the following. I hope no one is offended.
Firstly, Ian and I would like to thank everyone for all the messages, cards, thoughts and support we have received. It has been overwhelming.
Also, heartfelt gratitude goes to all the fabulous carers at Oakland’s Care Home in Llangynidr for their outstanding care and friendship for Mum for the past 6 years; to Nell Cawley and the Anna Chaplancy Team; to organist, Sophie Philips and to Reverend Annabelle Elletson for leading both Services beautifully.
Thank you too, to Diana Williams for reading so passionately at both Services and bringing Mum’s poem to life, also to her and Lizzie for ‘commandeering the catering’; to Owen Hart for his uplifting tribute to Mum and to Geoff Davies for his gentle guidance.
And finally we are so incredibly grateful to Luke at Shephard Funeral Directors in Ebbw Vale for indeed softly ‘shepherding’ us through Mum’s cremation on the 21st, for his unequivocal availability and reassurance and for his overall ‘professionalism with a personal touch’ throughout such a tough and vulnerable time.
Death may take a life but it can’t take away memories, and all these people have ensured that the final memories made of Mum were as special as all the ones that went before.
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