Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
29th March 2025
Marching Out
We are in the denouement of March. Full disclosure, I had to look ‘denoument’ up, and it seemed a good alternative to ‘the last few days’. It appears that in a film, the denouement is ‘the final scene or sequence of a story. It occurs after the climax when all conflicts are resolved and all questions answered to bring about a sense of resolution for the audience.’
That about sums up my March – and February.
Last week was the spring equinox, and tonight (29th) the clocks go forward an hour, so we really are into spring with both feet. Which reminds me of the saying, ‘It is only spring when you can put your foot on 12 daisies simultaneously’, and which I did last week.
Gardeners are grateful for Jack Frost’s visits as it means there should be far less pests, especially slugs, to contend with this summer. I have already seen a few ladybirds – although I don’t think there were enough to be classed as a ‘Loveliness’, the collective term for a group of ladybirds, and possibly one of the best collective nouns.
Whilst the cold days have been beneficial, March has also been exceptionally dry in Wales, seeing only 15% of the 1991-2020 average rainfall for the month compared to 18% in England and 36% in Scotland. It has been noticeably dry in garden beds and borders but possibly the most indicative signs are sadly the mountain and moorland fires that have been burning angrily throughout Wales. A staggering 120 fires were reported in just 48 hours in mid and south Wales. Causes vary with whoever you talk to, but please, no matter what time of the year, or the weather conditions, please be responsible and act accordingly when out in our beautiful countryside.
Dry Stone Dogs
I am back in full swing with maintenance now, looking after 12 gardens of all shapes, sizes and varying degrees of demands, but I have enjoyed a bit of dry stone walling during the winter ‘dormancy’.
I built these three Labradors into a dry stone wall for a lovely client who (unsurprisingly) has three labs of her own. I absolutely loved the creative and the practical side of dry stone walling and will be doing more when I can snaffle the time to do so.
It is said that creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties, and it’s lovely when a client allows you to do just that – and is thrilled with the results. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could all just ‘lighten up a bit’ and indulge in a bit of ‘unconditional creativity’.
After all as Albert Einstein said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.”
Eggs-ceptional Easter
With Easter being a bit later this year, it gives you plenty of time to plan some creative projects outdoors – in the garden or the countryside. A friend is already planning to turn a small raised area next to her patio into a ‘cocktail garden’, and planting herbs like mint, basil and sage, as well as strawberries which can be used in cocktails. You could do the same in a large container or even an old wheelbarrow.
There are lost of ideas on line for making fab’luss plant markers, hanging containers, reviving and painting old garden furniture, creating the most brilliant dividers and trellis panels and vertical gardens, ands lots of other things too. If you are new to growing veggies, why not try ‘square foot gardening’, typically set up in a small garden bed divided into 1-foot squares, they make for an easy, neat and efficient way to start off.
Have a think, make a list and start gathering what you need for an eggs-tremely creative Easter holiday.
Blind Faith – Water Well
I’m enjoying the long blooming time of the daffodils this year. I’ve got daffodils out in full bloom and some still tightly in bud meaning they’ll last well into April – after starting to flower at the beginning of March. But a lot of daffs this year have come up ‘blind’, which is always horribly disappointing. Being ‘blind’ means clumps of foliage without flowerheads. There can be a number of reasons for clumps of flowerless foliage including cutting back spent foliage too early after flowering, or before it’s dead and dried, so not allowing the goodness to go back into the bulb, ‘knotting’ the foliage after flowering, which can also hamper the return of nutrition, and overcrowded bulbs in well established clumps. But I think the main reason for this spring’s blindness is a lack of water after last year’s displays.
Last years daffodils dried and died back quickly during dry conditions, whereas normally after flowering, ‘growth activity’ should actually continue for several weeks, allowing food reserves in the bulb to be replenished before the following season’s flower. Dry conditions at the end of the flowering period will restrict the reserves made by the bulbs.
This can be remedied by watering your daffodils well when they finish flowering, especially if they’re in containers, which will dry out even quicker than daffodil bulbs in the ground.
Cat Nip or Nap
I’m sure most of you will be familiar with ‘cat nip’ the herbal stimulant for cats, but did you know that you can easily grow the plant in your own garden? Cat nip is made from drying the herb Nepeta cataria, or cat mint, which as the name suggests, is a member of the mint family. It’s not that fussy about conditions and when grown in the garden it can also affect a cat’s behaviour (without being dried), and they will often be seen rolling in it. The fascinating thing is that it can either act as a stimulant or a sedative, depending on the mood of your cat. The effects wear off in around 10 minutes and apparently it will affect around 70% of cats. It can also be used as a tea as a sedative for humans but do check side effects and contraindications first.
I often get asked what plants will help to deter cats from a garden. They dislike strong, pungent scents, such as lavender, rue, rosemary, lemon thyme, and of course, Coleus caninus, also appropriately called the ‘scaredy cat plant’.
I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the resident cat at Abergavenny Garden Centre who, maybe after visiting the cat mint, had fallen asleep in the Begonia box. Purr-fect.
A fabulous read as always Lynne. Loving the Labrador Wall.