Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
4th July 2020
Walking Back to Happiness
I’m four days into Prostate Cymru’s fabulous renowned ‘Big Walk’, and hoping you will join me (it’s not too late to sign up and make up the miles). Ever resourceful, the fabulous charity team has adapted their annual ‘Big Walk’ to comply with the current social distancing conditions, and are encouraging us all to join them in this years Big Walk … with a difference. Simply walk 26 miles during this month, anywhere (bearing in mind any current restrictions, of course) and any time. Totally to suit yourself.
I think I will have completed my 26 miles in the first week just in work, and my brother in even less time. We worked out that he can walk up to 15 miles behind the mower some days at this time of year.
I’m very proud to be part of the Prostate Cymru Celebrity Team, but we know that you are all the real heroes. Please join us. Pop into www.prostatecymru.com/the-big-walk/home/ and join up (at any time during July), or to donate to the Just Giving page.
A friend says she feels that her diet and exercise routine has resembled a three month Christmas, so as well as being a great cause, it’s also a great motivation to ‘get going’ again.
Gardeners’ Real World
Lots of people have ‘bean’ asking about my runner beans – bless you all for caring. You may recall that I had had a bit of a nightmare getting them established this year. I think they were socially distancing! Anyway, I managed to salvage 8 plants (after sheep and moles intervened) and they are now all in various stages of exploring and clinging to their very rustic bean poles, so fingers crossed I may get a meal or two yet.
My latest garden saga was finding my watering can nozzle blocked last week – by a dead, partly decomposed Rattus rattus. Dad always loved the fact that the Latin name for the black, or common rat, is Rattus Rattus and as a result they have always been known and referred to as such.
Anyway, apparently lots of other gardeners have had similar stomach turning experiences, and that, combined with me pointing out that Monty Don never finds a stone in his garden when he digs a hole, and my ‘half-baked beans’ saga, has lead me to start writing a new book called, “Gardeners’ Real World.”
It is a humorous look at ‘real’ gardening experiences and will have lots of practical tips and design ideas too. If you would like to contribute with any of your own ‘real’ experiences, please get in touch. As the saying goes, “There is nothing funnier than real life!”
Sticky Willy
As a lot more people have been gardening this year, it’s not surprising that ‘allergies’ have become more prolific too. Some plants are notorious for causing nasty reactions – hogweed and giant hogweed probably being the most common at this time of year. But there are many other plants that can cause ‘contact dermatitis’ — skin inflammation and burning or itching cause by an irritant or a substance that produces an allergic reaction.
The milky sap of Euphorbia species can be an irritant to bare skin, as can the pernicious weed cleavers, or ‘sticky willy’. You know the one – it sticks to you and your dog – and that’s not to mention the seeds that follow on and wreak havoc with fur.
I pulled so much ‘sticky willy’ out of a client’s border last week I couldn’t resist adding a bit of cow parsley and turning it into a sculptural sheep (see pic) … who says I need to get out more?
One thing a friend suffered badly with, and that always surprised me, is Gypsophila or ‘Baby’s Breath’. Used copiously by florists but also a good border filler, it isn’t an irritant while it’s still alive, but when it’s dried it can irritate the eyes, nose, and sinuses, as well as the skin. It can also cause asthma in people who touch it frequently, such as floral industry employees – as my florist friend found out.
Not surprisingly, many of these plants can also affect our four-legged friends, especially tender areas like eyes, and muzzles, and skin if their coat is thin or sparse.
Similarly, some pollens can cause problems too and not just as the familiar hay fever. Last year, my brother was cutting back a large Lavatera (mallow family) and his eyes were incredibly sore later. We narrowed it down to the pollen particles, which if looked at under a microscope showed that the grains were actually barbed.
In insect-pollinated species, the pollen is often sticky or barbed to adhere to the insects, whereas wind-pollinated species usually produce light smooth pollen, which is easily carried by the wind. Interestingly a lot of the daisy family, including the taller ox-eyed daisies, have barbed pollen, as do asters and convolvulus species (bindweed family), so be aware if you are working with them or your dog pushes through any of them.
I absolutely adore and revere nature but let’s face it, it can be disturbing. You can’t walk through it for more than 5 minutes without coming across something dead, dying or that has the potential to harm you.
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