Wanted, dead or alive

The Untamed Gardener

Aisling Blackburn

Samhradh buí na lúi ins na léanái,

thugamar féin a’ samhradh linn

- Traditional collected song

we brought the summer with us; we brought a garland of hawthorn or similar flowering shrub and carried it from house to house. Perhaps the common phrase “you brought the good weather with you” arises from this ancient celebration of Bealtaine?

No matter where you go or what you do, you just can’t get away from nature. She pervades each corner of our lives, naturally, because we are also part of her.

It’s been a glorious few days, still there is no glory in breaking records for the hottest day in May. For now I am staying in the shade with the intention of popping down later to the community garden to check on the poor old plants which may be in danger of wilting in the hot weather. In my garden, the perennial geranium is looking a bit sad, while everything else is bearing up well against the heat so far. It is always at these times I am grateful for the cooling affect of tree cover, abundant in this forest garden.

Not far from here, the walled garden is more conventionally driven and at the moment we are hastily potting up and planting out. Not as frantically busy as the gardeners over in Cornafean Community Garden have been getting ready for Bloom with their tea cup garden. They have done so well, it’s great to see the enthusiasm and excitement generated from potting and planting thanks to founder Therese Johnston.

I am not fond of reality TV but, I’ve been enjoying a show on TG4, - Réabhlóid ar Chúl- Back yard revolution- Sundays at 9.10pm. Each week they go to a new location and install a wild garden there, usually designed by Mary Reynolds of ARK – 'Acts of Restorative Kindness' to the earth. Each episode features a private house, or a school or maybe some other public area that gets transformed into a wilderness where weeds (not all of them though) are treasured as feasting places for birds, flies, bees and bugs. Having a designer ensures the needs of the client are met, including a beautifully mowed meadow soccer pitch!

Mary has introduced a new concept into some of the sites, something called snakes – a pile of rubble and unwanted earth and sand made into a mound with a narrow bit at each end, this is the head and the tail of a snake I suppose. Wildflower seed is then sown onto the mounds, which have the advantage of new weedfree soil in which to grow and get established without competing grasses. Any raised area like this will have various aspects to it, a south facing side or what have you. The plants that need cooler conditions will thrive on one side and the more dry and warm loving ones on the sunnier sides, it’s ingenious.

Apart from including wetlands and ponds, they have also installed a willow tunnel in many of the gardens. These are wonderful for kids but they really only work well in the long-term when all hands are on deck at pruning time.

I love however the inclusion of dead hedges. My neighbour is an excellent gardener. So I was devastated when he took down some of the very large trees in his garden to make way for the excellent view. Now some of them were Leyland cypress and Sitka spruce so no great loss there but it is always sad to see a great big tree down, however this was not to be the end of the story. To be sure, a beautiful vista was unveiled but what was truly amazing was the magnificent dead hedge that was created on the border of the north side of the garden, made from these grand old trunks of trees. This hedge will be a living home for uncountable creatures for many years to come, but as he said “it wasn’t an easy job”. The one you see on the telly looks easy to do but that’s because of preparation behind the scenes, the off camera work.

It’s a very interesting series to watch and not only because Jampa Ling’s wildflower meadow is featured in each episode at the intro. That particular meadow is grazed occasionally by local horses, it supports a wealth of flora and fauna, including yellow rattle, ragged robin and spotted orchid. It’s one of my favourite places to admire damselflies which are on the wing right now.