Untamed Gardener: Hole in the bog

Well, in the hole there was a tree

A rare tree, a rattling tree. Tree in the hole.

And the hole in the bog

And the bog down in the valley o...

It is said that nature abhorrers a vacuum. When you or I dig over a piece of ground we know what’s going to happen. After a short length of time, seeds lying dormant in the soil germinate and a new crop of weeds take over what will never be a patch of bare ground. That is unless we are living in a desert or a dust bowl where plants have to be coaxed into life.

So the aforementioned tree is only natures way of keeping balance. Carbon should not be dumped or let go freely, but captured in the soil and not allowed to float around causing climate issues. A tree captures a whack of carbon but the sight of trees in a bog is not a good one; for a bog in good health is effortlessly doing the job of storing carbon and a mighty load of it at that. A bog can be described as – an expanse of shin-height, moisture loving vegetation- and any holes there really should be full of water and lovely watery creatures and mosses but never trees.

The substrate of a bog is peat, which we have in the past cut to burn, buy in bags, to grow rhododendron, heathers and so on. Most gardens are on mineral soil or sometimes on old dried out bog soil (peat).I like to observe what the soil produces initially, rather than to annihilate all but the intended crop. It is interesting to see what emerges , for example:- Here are two plants of the same name that I no longer sow , simply because they do that for themselves and at exactly the right time and in the right place, so what more could you ask for. Purslane, both winter and summer, Montis perfoliate(miners lettuce) and Postulator saliva(golden purslane) respectively, are such a plant. Both are delicious and healthful in salads. Simple to sow in plug trays for planting out into a raised bed and when allowed to go to seed, they will eventually resow themselves the following season. Presently, golden purslane is popping up in the poly tunnel and the ones we won’t grow on, can simply be lifted out, roots and all, washed and included in salads. Many self sown edibles such as:- beetroot; broccoli; kale; chard; lettuce; onions; leeks; rocket– whatever has been allowed to go to seed are good to eat and full of vitamins but please do not eat young seedlings of the nightshade family such as tomato, chilly or aubergine. Spend a little time getting to know seedlings.

While trees growing in a bog foretell the dissolution of a wetland, a reduction of a variety of weeds germinating in our soil may also signal a loss of fertility and vitality – its life-force. Soil and the land around us have a language that we can learn to read. Understanding it requires serious observation and patience and so it is a kind of science which can be fun to do.

What other bits and bobs can we get for free? Seeds are an obvious choice. Wild garlic seed is ripe enough to collect and grass seeds from a variety of meadow grasses will be ready soon, for anyone with a bare patch of land with an eye for a wildflower meadow..

Cuttings are a great way to increase your plant collection. Rosemary and many evergreen herbs are good candidates. Its a little late for dividing perennials, but there is still time to take basal cuttings around the base of plants. You will have tomato plants coming up in your greenhouse(unless you are extremely tidy), it’s unlikely that you will know what variety they are but they are well worth growing on. Kale plants volunteer themselves liberally, no need to sow Russian kale as it pops up in handy places. Transplant some as decoys, as the cabbage white butterfly will only go for plants in this family. You may ask why not just spray them? I always say that birds need the caterpillars to feed their young. Anyway its a fascinating sight watching the cycle of the butterfly, it’s arrival in the garden, then , under the leaf,eggs evolve to tiny threadlike rows of mini-caterpillars. Large holes in the leaf mean caterpillars are getting bigger, then it’s the survival of the fittest as they leave the host plant to get to the pupa stage before becoming someone’s lunch, and the sturdy kale plants having been rightly munched, make a full recovery.