Finding the chase and cutting to it

I am not a nationalist, so this is going to be a big disappointment to anyone expecting that kind of rhetoric…

This picture sums it up for me: a lavendar bush we planted in 2022 which is hosting a cabbage white butterfly, several types of bee, and a moth of some kind.

It’s a little blurry because the butterfly mostly had its wings closed.

We started our ecology journey to protect what we love about the UK, it’s countryside. We felt we should do everything we could to make the world better than when we came into it.

Some steps were small (swapping out our halogen bulbs for LED ones), some large (getting the electric vehicle, the solar panels, swapping our gas boiler for the air sourced heat pump, getting the batteries), some in the middle (smart radiators and thermostats).

It wasn’t all done as a big bang, and some results have been a while to realise – the heat pump being a good example of this as we had to wait for winter to be over to see the results.

But on a grey day in July, it is good to see so many insects enjoying some of the planting we did in 2020 is really welcome.

We tend to plant small and let things grow – it reduces the CO₂ footprint of the planting and moving of preniuals. Once a plant has established, we take cuttings or plant seeds from the original plant. It’s not only CO₂ friendly, but cost effective.

That is of course ignoring the beauty of such a traditional and beneficial plant as lavendar. It’s aroma deters many rodents which should form a friendly and natural barrier from some pests.

We can also cook with it. Not only is it flavouring some of the local harvested honey, but we can add it to lamb and chicken.

The other big success we’ve had this year is that the £85 hedge I bought in 2015 is now big enough and mature enough to be a proper barrier. I bought 60-90cm whips and planted as they arrived. They are now 155cm tall!

That initial planting and success in the first two years led to us replacing more of the laurel hedge. Birds nest in it and we work round their breeding season when we prune. The idea is to promote bio-diversity not scarifice it!

We still have a small section of laurel to go, and that provides really good screening for us. Which means we’ll take a different approach.

We’re likely to spend five times as much for that section, as each whip will be 150cm tall from day one and they will need a great deal of care that first couple of years unlike the youngsters I got before.

Outside of the hedging, we have a peach tree, an apple tree, and a load of raspberries. There’s a thorn-free blackberry and this weekend we should have a cooking apple and some blackberries. Then there’s the strawberry patch. I tend this by covering with netting and straw to stop birds and slugs taking advantage.

We have a rose bed with climbers and hybrid teas providing food for us (rose petals are wonderful in salads) and other insects.

We have a small asparagus patch that we enjoy end of May begining of June. Fresh, microwaved asparagus is delicious. That is sharing space with some flowers and parsely, sage, and thyme – just need some rosemary…

We have a big house project this year – replacing our double glazing – hopefully triple glazing in the north facing wall and windows with blinds in them for the south facing aspect. The idea to promote our insulation capability and reduce the need to cool in the summer while benefiting from solar gain in the winter.

Hopefully then we can spend much more time and effort on the garden!