nature

Pressing Pause in the Garden

| Gary Webb

During these midwinter weeks here in the UK, the accepted norm is not to head out mowing the lawn each week; indeed trimming, weeding or feeding the garden generally takes a backseat. Contrary to popular belief though, during these colder months gardeners don’t stash away their tools, kick back in the shed whilst drinking hot chocolate and peruse seed catalogues. In fact, for many skilled and professional horticulturalists, easing back isn’t even up for discussion.

Tending larger or public gardens and green spaces does call for year-round activity, and thousands of trained ‘horts’ are directly employed in positions across the country, not to mention thousands more who work in supporting trades feeding into a vibrant plant-based industry. On the ground though,

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A Mist Laden Landscape

| Gary Webb

By late afternoon on Boxing Day and with natural daylight already on the slide, I knew that if I was going to find any time for a fresh air walk, I’d have to lace my boots sharpish and get out there. Once the decision was made then, it took but a few swift minutes to don my boots, zip on a fleece and winter jacket, close the wreath-dressed door behind me and head out in search of refreshment and rejuvenation.

Clean air was needed to clear away the yearly feeling of laziness and over-indulgence, during this self-imposed Christmas lockdown, even if I had tried to steer well clear of excess this year. Just yards from the front door my dreamy festive walk met with reality though, as a freshness nipped at my cheeks and cold air tingled my nostrils. Still, as the first

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The Moon in My Eyes

| Gary Webb

Do you look forward with anticipation as each full moon comes around, is your sleep interrupted or does your mood change? Or are you more casually drawn to the moon’s presence each month, simply catching a glimpse here or there if opportunity presents? I ask all this of course, knowing that here in the UK, the moon is often hidden away due to an almost never-ending blanket of cloud!

If you do find fascination in the moon though you’re certainly not alone, and may charismatically class yourself a selenophile, a name based on a Greek word for moon – Selene. If a selenophile is therefore a person who looks aghast when our nighttime gardens are illuminated by that big old moon, or takes solace from the regularity of its presence, that is me, and it might be you too. Indeed, over the last few nights

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A Winter Walled Garden

| Gary Webb

I find myself sat under a large triangular shelter, built snugly into the southern corner of a three-sided walled garden open to visitors, known as Baddesley Clinton. In their down-season dress, ornamental flower borders line three of the garden’s walls, sprinkled here and there with red bows bringing a little Christmas cheer. The sky is fixed grey and moody, and after warming myself with lunch in the bright bustling café, this spot seemed as good a place as any other to sit awhile and write.

A Box shrub wrapped in a bright red Christmas bow, situated in the walled garden at Baddesley Clinton. Lawns and fruit trees beyond, and a moody clouds up above.
A little Christmas cheer, at Baddesley Clinton. Image: Gary Webb.

Built primarily as a shady summer retreat, I’m certain that in the heat of summer, this shelter offers cool respite for visiting guests, and for working gardeners too. In this shade, time served timbers and darkened joists support a thatched mossy roof, under which a tangled bird’s nest rests in the shadows; just like me. Red bricks line the floor,

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A Talking Tree

| Gary Webb

If you know me you’ll know of my fondness for trees, and even knowing they have turned on me from time to time, I’m unlikely to have anything negative to say about them. This week being National Tree Week then, is a time for me to reflect on the wonder of trees, to celebrate and be thankful for them, and if conditions permit: a time to plant one too. It would be remiss of me therefore not to put pen to paper and fingers to keys in order to show my respect for our woody friends. If you’re here though for the usual ‘love and plant trees’ kind of message, you might just be barking up the wrong tree.

Today I’m not so much going to write about trees, but write as one, and yes you did read that correctly: I’ll be morphing into an actual tree, to present an alternative tree’s-eye view. Should you choose to read on therefore, you’ll find it’s not so much me talking about trees, but talking as one, for a change. Go with it for a while, I dare you!

Now, to a point, I’d consider myself tree-like anyway, my robust trunk having grown incrementally over the years. When puzzled, my furrowed forehead isn’t too far removed from a tree’s fissured bark, and at times I can get a little creaky. Thankfully,

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Ginkgo Moments

| Gary Webb

The presence of trees in our world should never cease to astound. Take a look at this Ginkgo, for example, living its moments peacefully in a Herefordshire garden. Note: This article, previously posted autumn 2023 has been reworked for this autumn, renewed after meeting the tree again recently. I hope it triggers some tree-like exploration…

Standing beneath its mature crown looking up, it was hard not to be impressed by the tree’s volume and its many stems shooting out in different directions. Dare I say, the tree may not have been an artistically formed treasure like the trained fruit in the walled garden nearby, but it did hold a rugged charm. If however the tree lacked any refinement in its structural form, it more than made up for this in style, its many clustered leaves shining en masse with a fiery yellow intensity.

With confidence the tree spoke too, proving it wasn’t all about the frilly foliage display. A soft purposeful sound emanated from its crown, a tune that hushed with each southerly breath of wind. As this cool November breeze blew in from the park, I moved in closer,

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Pulling Pollinators

| Gary Webb

Food plants and flowers aren’t always seen as bed companions, yet there’s so much to gain from squeezing in a few ornamentals, aside from pollination of course! Let me briefly explain…

When first acquiring an allotment plot, an aspect that wasn’t lost to me was the opportunities it presented to support wildlife. As a result, one of the first areas to be established on our Warwickshire plot was a flower-focussed border, or ‘Nectar Bank’ as we call it. Wildlife borders, nectar banks, pollination stations, call them what you will, they’re undeniably valuable, but on an allotment, a space traditionally reserved for food production, should this be the norm?

If you’re familiar with my green gardening ways, I think you’ll know what my answer to that question would be, believing as I do that wildlife supporting elements should be considered in all gardens. Indeed, if you’ve paused your day

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Rain’s Good for the Garden

| Gary Webb

We often hear it said that rain is good for the garden, a typical response meant to lighten the mood of a rainy day. Where though, does a rainy day leave the gardener, is a rainy day good for them too? Well, after years of living and around gardens, here’s my naturally positive take on this situation.

After what seems like days and weeks of rain, autumn’s dampness has well and truly settled in, and it feels like I may not see dry soil in my own garden again for some time. I don’t state that as a complaint though I have to say, as I’m understanding that weather’s balance constantly moves back and forth, some days or weeks sitting wet, some dry, and in between, hopefully, there comes some useful middle ground.

An image of a lake with swans, and autumnal trees in the background. Above is a sunny and dark sky and rainbow.
When the weather turns – Sourlands Pool, nr Farnborough Hall, Warwickshire. Gary Webb.

Where gardening and garden visiting is concerned, striking that perfect balance between weather and conditions can be a fine thing indeed, and most of us do live in hope of this garden idyll. If, however, I’m to wait until the soil is dry, or postpone

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A Dream Garden

| Gary Webb

There is a place, where one glorious garden space after another can be found hidden behind tall foliage covered walls. The garden is the sum of many parts, each one offering a picture-perfect scene: a sunken pool with a cherub here, an ancient cold bath over there, and across the way, beyond an old sundial, old orchard trees grow, and bees float poetically above rich meadow grass.

At its heart and wrapped all around an evocative Tudor house this garden’s presence is delivered, unconditionally, through first-rate cultivation. Traditional flower borders grow deep and delicious, terraces are packed with perennials and tender exotics, and golden grasses gently

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