January 2013

by David Tidmarsh - 17:43 on 03 February 2013

Nature Notes

Well here it is 2013, the day has been sunny but is cold and drab now, so what on earth do I write about? So I thought; usual start for the new year!Happy New Year to everyone, hope you had a peaceful Christmas. I have been enjoying the few rays of sunshine that we have been blessed with to-day, I can hardly wait for the first signs of Spring, at the moment the daylight is still very short to see any new growth.Having said that we have a number of either snowdrops or crocuses popping up in the various pots in the garden, these will give a much sought after splash of colour to the garden. One of the star plants at the moment is the Mahonia with its bright yellow flowers beaming out near its spiky leaves. It should provide any early insects with some nectar .Early primula plants have broken cover to produce some lovely yellow and purple flowers in the borders. Another good plant for this time of year is the Hellebores that have wonderful variations in their flowers, the ones we have are doing extremely well it is just a shame that most of the flowers hang downward concealing the fabulous flower heads.Moss on the greenhouse seems to be exploding in growth, when you think of the rain we have had the moss will have soaked up more than it would need, must get it cleaned off as soon as possible.I passed some honeysuckle which is growing wild in one of our hedgerows and there are signs of new growth, if we start to get some proper winter cold snaps this growth may slow right down.The Lumley Park Burn is almost down to its normal level for the first time in months. The power of the water that has been flowing down to the River Wear will have certainly swept a lot of debris into it. Quite a lot of damage has occurred at the Hairpin Bend with a land slip resulting in what could be a permanent closure of the road from the Smiths Arms to Houghton Gate. We have managed to get some willow work done on the bank sides of the Burn to strengthen them from more erosion, this is done by driving willow stakes into the bank side and weaving further willow around these stakes which eventually root and produce a good resistance to further erosion. Hopefully the next notes will have more new growth to shout about.

Take care, Ken.

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