To the right of the polytunnels, between us and the road we have a 45ft length of Laurel hedging and in front of that the trees, Rowans and Whitebeams, that we had to plant to comply with the planning permission, which was necessary in order for us to be able to erect the two tunnels.
It used to just be grass around the trees and up to the path, then we decided to make a small flower bed using the old sleepers that had been formerly used to hold back the hillside where the garage/workshop now stands. I love old sleepers and great big chunks of old wood and to be able to re-use these where I would see them every day was just too good an opportunity to pass by.
Then one day without telling me Alan decided to level the area to the left between the paddock fence and the flower bed. Why anyone in their right mind would try to 'level' a hillside that slopes gently down to the road defeated me then ... and still does. Anyway level it he did, ignoring jobs that needed to be done and instead barrowing load after load of topsoil and spreading it on top of the grass until he got the left hand side as level as he wanted it, half killing himself in the process. He sowed grass seed early last year, and then again late last year and not much of it took, instead the wildflowers moved in and set seed.
This year he sowed some more grass seed, just before the drought at the start of lockdown and with some care it did start to come up, albeit rather patchily. And then after the grass started growing the Poppies came. Small delicate wild poppies germinated from originals that used to live all over the patio and pathways around our land before the tarmac went down.
They've been joined by the buttercups now, and tiny little blue flowered 'weeds' whose name always escapes me, I love the delicate wild beauty of this area and watching the bees and butterflies flitting from each flower as it opens fresh in the morning and gets past it's best in less than 24 hours.
All this wildness is helping the grass to grow beneath too, but nothing will be mown ... unless Alan has another moment of madness!!
Sue xx
🥀
Your tiny blue flowers sound like they could be one of the Speedwell family.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, quite possibly. Thank you :-)
DeleteOr Blue Pimpernel
DeleteHere's hoping for no more madness on allen's part!
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed ... lol
DeleteWonderful wildflower assortment, sometimes people just have a mad moment that takes them over. :)
ReplyDeleteAlan has rather a lot of them ;-)
DeleteBeautiful wild flowers, wonderful for attracting butterflies and bees.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Yes, it's a buzzy haven at the moment.
DeleteI love that at night they close up and then open afresh in the morning :-)
Sorry Alan, but all those wildflowers are a much better result than boring green sward. Just think of all the lovely pollinators will be attracted to the tunnels :-).
ReplyDeleteIt looks lovely, but it was so much more practical, balanced and nicer before when it was grass. We have more than enough wild areas around the tunnels, in Nut Wood and in the woodland. I guess this will always be a mini wildflower area now as we are leaving it to set seed ... if it's not too messy for the viewings.
Delete