I first learned the fundamentals of kitchen gardening from my mother, who learned it from her father, a passing-on of traditional skills repeated down through countless generations.
25.09.2023 - 16:09 / theenglishgarden.co.uk / The English Garden
From the curious Magpie to the majestic Sparrowhawk, the RSPB helps us identify what garden birds will be paying a visit to our gardens now the autumn leaves are falling.
As the temperature drops, more birds may be visiting our gardens in search of food. One of these is the greenfinch. The males are easily identifiable: as their name suggests, they are olive green, and have a yellow flash on the wing. Females and young birds are more brown, but still have that yellow streak.
Greenfinches have a delightful song, which includes a distinctive “wheezing” note that makes them easy to pick out from others trilling and warbling in the hedgerows. These birds have evolved a chunky beak for crunching seeds, and while they’ll happily pick these up from bird feeders it’s also nice to be able to grow a food supply for them. We grew borage in our garden for insects – the bright blue flowers also looked great in summery drinks. As the seeds were ripening a greenfinch spent a while perched among the plants enthusiastically devouring them. They also like to pick seeds from fleshy fruit like haws, rosehips and blackberries.
Greenfinch numbers in gardens have dropped in recent years. How has this happened? Greenfinches have been affected badly by trichomonosis, a disease spread by a parasite. This occurs naturally in the wild but if you see affected birds it’s a good idea to remove your bird feeders for a while. This stops the parasite spreading between finches on busy bird feeders. You can read more about trichomonosis, and how to spot signs of it, here: bird diseases in garden birds.
The dunnock is a common garden bird throughout much of UK, but it looks so similar to the house sparrow that people often mistake it as one. It even has the
I first learned the fundamentals of kitchen gardening from my mother, who learned it from her father, a passing-on of traditional skills repeated down through countless generations.
Multiseason Garden Bed with Hesse Cotoneaster Get fall garden interest that lasts into winter with this easy-care plant combination featuring a Hesse cotoneaster shrub. Fall into winter with multiseason plants
Vote now, and pick the garden you’d like to win this year’s People’s Choice award for the Gardens of the Year Competition 2023, sponsored by Yeo Valley. Take a look at this year’s finalists, and vote for your favourite below. Voting closes at noon on Monday 6 November.
While bird feeders are common in Britain’s gardens, bird baths are less so. Bird baths are a brilliant way of providing birds with a regular supply of clean water for both drinking and bathing. Bird baths become even more essential in the colder months when natural sources may be frozen or in the height of summer when water can be hard to come by.
It’s always a pleasure to speak with our neighbors in Canada, and it’s clear the community garden movement there is alive and thriving. Judy Stafford and Naomi Kulhawy are two of Kin Park Community Garden’s biggest supporters, with Judy as executive director and Naomi as the farm director.
Herefordshire forms part of the Marches, the ancient border territories straddling England and Wales. To the east lie the majestic Malvern Hills, and winding through the centre is the great River Wye, the valley of which is burnished with colour in October and November.
Boglarka Zilla Gulyas, University of Sheffield and Jill Edmondson, University of Sheffield
Here are key autumn garden tips plus 7 top suggestions of plants to plant now.
Denmark continues to rank as one of the happiest nations on earth. If you want what they have, it’s time to learn about hygge garden ideas. Hygge is a concept that seems to escape Americans with our hustle and bustle and “go get ‘em” attitude, but it seems we could learn a thing or two from our Danish friends. They celebrate the concept of hygge outdoors or inside. A hygge outdoor space may include a hygge patio and hygge backyard, but don’t misconstrue the idea behind hygge — it belongs with you wherever you go. Keep reading to learn about hygge and how you can incorporate it into your lifestyle.
It was in The Pickwick Papers that Dickens wrote the often quoted line: “Kent, sir. Everybody knows Kent – apples, cherries, hops, and women.” The county is still referred to as the Garden of England, even though the amount of fruit traditionally farmed there has declined over the decades. Perhaps it’s still used so widely because some of the country’s most celebrated properties and gardens are to be found in Kent.
One of the most picturesque parts of England, the Yorkshire Dales have a reputation for bearing their own, distinctive character. Lying north-west of York, the region is defined by the Yorkshire Dales National Park, established in 1954. This striking landscape is overseen by three peaks, Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside. In summer, its steep-sided glacial valleys are filled with wildflower meadows, notably at Muker, a small village popular with hill walkers. Valleys are the defining feature here, and the term dale stems from the Old English for valley, but it is also similar to the Nordic term, dal. The Norsemen controlled much of this region in the 10th century, and their footprint lingers in local dialect: ‘beck’, from bekkr, meaning stream, and ‘fell’, from fjall, meaning hill, are just two examples.
It was in The Pickwick Papers that Dickens wrote the often quoted line: “Kent, sir. Everybody knows Kent – apples, cherries, hops, and women.” The county is still referred to as the Garden of England, even though the amount of fruit traditionally farmed there has declined over the decades. Perhaps it’s still used so widely because some of the country’s most celebrated properties and gardens are to be found in Kent.