Exciting news just in: the next order of plants for the nature garden is on its
way (from Bampton, west of Oxford – we keep it local if we can). This time
it’s a bumper batch of more than 400 perennials, including honeysuckle,
foxgloves, ferns, yarrow, bugloss and meadow crane’s bill.
We’d really appreciate your help getting these lovelies safely stowed in the
soil. You can volunteer on Saturday March 12 and Sunday March 11 from 10
am.
This is the last big push (can you tell I’ve been watching This is going to
hurt) to get the greenery in the garden established, coupled with
wildflower seed-sowing next month.
After that there’s a new gate and a sign to install, and the garden will be
ready to receive visitors! Obviously it’ll take a while for the plants to get
established, but there are already bulbs poking through and buds on the
hedging plants.
Another welcome sighting earlier this month was a mistle thrush chortling in
the chestnut. I’m told one of its nicknames is the ‘stormcock’ because it
starts trying to pair up before winter is properly over. It’s on the British
Trust for Ornithology’s red list of birds of conservation concern, so let’s
hope it finds the food and habitat it needs locally.
Verging on the meticulous
Cutting verges costs a lot of money and turns a potentially productive strip
of land into a desert, albeit a green one.
In recognition of this, miniature roadside nature reserves have been
springing up all over the country, including about a dozen across
Oxfordshire. Have you spotted one? They’re a great way to support
pollinator populations and cut down on the bills we have to pay through our
council tax.
Now our county councillor, Sally Povolotsky, is working to make it easier to
arrange for verge-mowing operations to be suspended, and for local groups
to manage the land in a more sustainable way. Chilton Road is a good
candidate for this in our area. Turning the verge (on the left as you go up
the hill) into a bank of flowers and longer grasses would be relatively
straightforward and safe to do as there’s no longer traffic there.
We’d need to wait until the road closure works are complete before starting
work, but if there’s support for the idea then at least we could kick off a
discussion. If you’re interested in getting involved please let me know at
kieronhumph@gmail.com
Kieron