Start of a new year 2017,
The woods are looking a bit bare after the rooting out of all the rhododendron due to the disease Phytophthora ramorum, this is a disease which has to be destroyed by order of DEFRA.
We have been very busy replanting in the woods with native hedging which will provide colour and berries and cover for the wildlife. It has been a wet winter and the drying weather we have had, has dried the ground nicely but wellies may still be needed to avoid wet feet!
The leaves are now beginning to show and the woodland is getting its green canopy again, the woodpecker has been heard protecting its territory with the constant drumming on tree trunks. The bluebells will be in full flower in the next week, and with all the clear spaces we have now , we are hoping they will spread across and fill the wood with more magnificent blue flowers.
There are a few new surprises in the garden, some I will let you find, but one is a garden chess set where you can while away the time having a game. and on the path leading to the chess board there are some huge bamboo which have grown from ground to 12 foot in the last 2-3 weeks, these are amazing and have developed from the mother plant which I grew from seed 10 years ago, we were told that it would take 10 years for the giant bamboo to appear and it has happened, we are expecting even bigger ones in the years to come.
Our rookery above the car park had three nests last year , we now have 9 nests this year , we are thrilled that they are increasing in numbers.
The swallows are swooping above the water and the tadpoles are out in all ponds .. tom toddies, all heads and no bodies, won’t be long before they are hopping in the grass.