81. After #NoMowMay
In keeping with the #NoMowMay ethos I left the garden to grow freely during May. Everything flourished and the number of birds, insects and other little creatures using the garden increased noticeably. All that extra foliage also gave very good cover for fledging birds (and supervising parents) hiding in the grasses. By the end of the month the garden was quite wild and did need taming, but I really wanted to keep parts of it available for all that wildlife.
The answer is to divide the garden into sections, and leave some of those sections to grow wild. The grass is now divided into long strips: some are left to grow wild, others will be mown on a regular basis. The mown walkways emphasize the wild sections and I have added more wild flower seeds amongst the longer grasses there.
Some of the borders have also been left to grow wild and will now be left undisturbed all year. Interestingly, the roses, lavender, alliums, cherries and Japanese quinces seem to thrive in these more informal beds. And the herbs have gone completely mad.
When I first started work on the garden it was brimming with wildlife but that has reduced over the years as I have done work in each of the areas. I hope to reverse that trend now and will set aside parts and elements of the garden for wildlife. There is a wheelbarrow of strawberry plants for the birds, some small piles of stones and bricks for frogs, toads, newts and other small creatures. And coming soon are small piles of logs, hedgehog houses and a bee hotel.
