January 2011 Notes

by David Tidmarsh - 11:35 on 30 January 2011

Ken’s Nature notes.

 What a terrible winter we have had so far. I have never seen our garden so decimated by frosts and snow it never seemed like it was going to end, I know we are not out of the woods yet but at least I can survey the damage. A few plants have managed to survive, these hardy evergreen shrubs thankfully are giving a splash of life to the many pots outside the house. During the year I had a bit of a clearout in the garden, removing an old fence which was part of my compost heap, the compost heap has gone but a large firethorn was relying on this for support. So using some rope and an old cherry tree I managed to prop it up, however when all this snow came it flattened the firethorn and it is looking very sad. I will have to cut it back severely so that it can reinvigorate itself. I feel like I have been hibernating these last couple of months, I managed to pop over to the allotments for the first time since early November. The leeks are a disaster, never before have birds eaten the green leaves from my leeks before, it proves that the pigeons must have been desperate for something to eat. The severe weather certainly put an end to any Christmas wreaths that we were hoping to make as the holly and yew have been either frozen or covered in snow, I am not sure that my wife June was too disappointed as it is always a very cold task to produce these wreaths. A site to always gladden my eyes are the first snow drops in the churchyard, these little beauties give hope to the coming months.

Stay warm, Ken.

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