National Tree Week

It's National Tree Week, not that I expect most people to notice.  We have four large (over 10m) trees in or on the boundary of our garden, and several medium and small ones, and they provide much of the visual interest and wildlife habitat about the place.  The four biggies - three ash trees and one holly - are all mature and may be reaching the end of their lives, especially the ashes.

The holly tree was mature when we moved here nearly 30 years ago and, although it has some dead branches in it, I'm hoping that it is aging more slowly than the ashes.  It still berries well, not that it has any left this year; we cut several berried stems for Christmas decorations one day, and by afternoon of the next day there were no berries left on the tree.  The redwings and blackbirds which had been gradually stripping the berries were encouraged by a couple of frosty nights to take what was left.

The veg plot ash tree, pruned

I've written before about the big ash at the bottom of the garden (actually just over the fence in the field beyond), which is clearly dying either of ash dieback or old age.  It managed to put out more leaves than we were expecting this year, but it's still on the way out.  The other two ashes - one next to the drive and one, in the neighbours' garden but leaning across over ours, increasingly shading the veg plot - aren't so obviously suffering, but Michael the local tree man advises that they too have the dreaded dieback.  We (and the neighbours) got him to remove some of the lower branches on those two, to reduce the overhang on the drive and veg beds, resulting in a lot more light coming in, especially now that the leaves have fallen.  I hope that next year's veggies will benefit as a result!  However we have heeded Michael's warnings, and have told him to come back in the spring and take out 'our' ash alongside the drive, before it becomes too dangerous.  It would cause a lot of damage if it fell, regardless of where it landed; it would hit either our house or garage, or the neighbours' house or garage, or the overhead electricity wires.  It's sad - but it would open up other opportunities for planting.  That's the natural cycle of things in any garden.

The most prominent of the other trees at the moment is the apple tree, which still has a lot of big apples on it in addition to the windfalls beneath; it's a magnet for the fieldfares, starlings and blackbirds, and I've seen smaller birds, even bluetits, feeding on the apples as well.  We have plenty of apples in store for the coming months for ourselves, and to share with the birds during the cold months.

Speaking of cold, the first snow of the winter is forecast for the end of this week; probably not very much, but after a largely dark and murky November it would be a welcome change.

The winter crew

I know I’ve said this before: winter may not be the most interesting time of year in the garden as far as plants are concerned, but it is the best time for birds.  Maybe it only seems that way because the hustle and bustle of spring and summer activity is followed by a much quieter autumn when birds are moulting and mostly keep themselves to themselves, and then the appearance of the winter crew seems much livelier by comparison; but we do get a wider range of birds in the colder months.

The winter migrants, redwings and fieldfares, were here in October, even though the weather on the Continent (and indeed in the UK) has been mostly mild so far.  October here was very wet, with gales late in the month and into November, and this month has been largely damp and chilly but with only a couple of very light frosts.  Some of our other winter birds may well be incomers, either from the Continent or quite possibly from elsewhere in the UK, though I’m not sure why British birds would choose to migrate to a windy site 260m (about 850ft) above sea level – they must be able to find somewhere more clement, surely? – certainly we see more blackbirds, for example, in winter than in summer, and I suspect that some of them have come from elsewhere.  One influx this year has been collared doves; there were hardly any in the garden over the summer, whereas at the moment there is a huge flock of them around, and at one point we had over 20 sitting in the plum tree alone.

Collared doves in the plum tree

As usual we have at least two, and probably three if not more, robins; lots of sparrows and starlings; several dunnocks; and good numbers of blue and great tits as well as a coal tit.  The goldfinches, which were frequent visitors over the summer, are still around, as is at least one nuthatch.  Woodpeckers (great spots) are still coming to the peanut feeder, and to the fatballs when they feel brave enough, although they are nervous of us.  There are a great many woodpigeons in the fields around, and some (including our lame friend Lefty) come to the garden from time to time, although we haven’t had the large numbers that we’ve seen sometimes in the past.  And there is quite often a pheasant or two hanging around; shooting has been suspended at the moment because of the lockdown, so they are safe for the time being.

More noteworthy visitors have included a pied wagtail which called by a few times; they’re not at all uncommon but they rarely come into the garden except in very cold weather.  One day he was accompanied by the rarer grey wagtail, which I’ve only seen in this garden once before; they are birds of fast-flowing streams, and there is no stream of any description (and certainly not a fast-flowing one) anywhere near here.  It was raining at the time, but not enough to attract a water bird!  I’ve also seen the first bullfinch visitor of the winter, a handsome male checking out the winter honeysuckle, which is already in flower (they like to eat the buds).

Admittedly our garden holds a considerable attraction for birds at this time of year.  While I don't keep the feeders full all of the time, there is usually some food put out for them, and the cooking apple tree still has plenty of big apples, both on the tree and windfalls underneath, which the larger birds enjoy.  It has been a very good apple year.  (I haven't seen a green woodpecker on them this autumn, though.)  There are also still quite a few insects on the wing, and seedheads on the plants; and the ivy is starting to produce berries.  The redwings have been working their way down the holly tree, with only the lower branches still showing berries; we cut some today for Christmas decorations, and have put them in a bucket of water in the summerhouse.

Four-legged life is presumably also around, but less conspicuously.  We had a little harvest mouse come to the patio a few times.  I will need to plug the gaps around the greenhouse glass to keep the place mouse-proof; apparently mice can get through a gap only 6mm (a quarter inch) wide.

Also part of the winter crew, although not actually in the garden, is the little flock of sheep in the field beyond our bottom fence.  Usually this field has been home to horses in the winter, but it has changed hands this year and the new owners are renting it out for the moment.  The sheep are doing a good job of keeping the vegetation down under the big ash tree, which should improve the view a little (fewer nettles in the picture, I hope); the other day a couple of them were eating the ivy from the bottom of the ash tree trunk, precariously standing on their back legs to reach as high as they could.  They’re properly woolly sheep, very appropriate for the winter!

The woolly sheep (in the summer)

My lockdown treat

November already (ooh, rather a long time since my last post!), and we’re back in lockdown.  During the spring lockdown, like many people I got myself a treat.  Nothing frivolous like a new dress or lipstick.

It’s a compost bin 😊.

 40C on the lid thermometer

Not just any old compost bin, but a Hotbin; basically a big polystyrene box with a lid at the top for stuff to go in, a hatch at the bottom for stuff to come out and a drain for removing excess liquid.  It also has a thermometer in the lid, to give an idea of the temperature reached by the contents, for the point of the Hotbin is that it is so well insulated that it allows the waste inside to reach temperatures high enough (40-60C, 104-140F) for it to compost much more quickly than a conventional compost bin.  The heat is generated by naturally-occurring bacteria, and allows you to compost material including weed seeds and, within reason, food waste.  The lid thermometer usually registers a slightly lower temperature than the waste actually reaches; to get an accurate reading you have to insert a separate thermometer, which comes with the Bin, directly into the composting waste.

 waste registering 60C

Over the past few months I’ve been getting to know my Hotbin and its needs.  It needs a certain mix of soft kitchen and garden waste, shredded paper (to absorb excess liquid) and woodchip or similar to keep the mix open and prevent it from turning into a messy lump.  It took me a little time to get it up to temperature and keep it there; like some people I know it likes regular feeding (every couple of days or so), and not too much at once.  I’m coming to realise that the paper has to be shredded small for it to mix properly through the softer contents, otherwise it sticks together and doesn’t break down well, so I’ve reestablished my relationship with our little paper shredder instead of just tearing paper up by hand; soft paper like bits of kitchen roll are reserved for the old, conventional, compost bins.  When you get the mix right, the contents of the Bin get really steamy in a most satisfying way.

The Hotbin doesn’t care for newspaper apparently; it doesn’t break down properly in the bin.  This makes sense to me, as I know only too well that mulching my veg beds with newspapers covered with compost can result in the paper drying out and failing to be absorbed into the soil; some of my beds have ended up covered with bits of newsprint, like some sort of rubbish tip.  It’s surprising how long a sheet of newspaper can last out in the garden.

The idea is that the Bin should generate compost good enough for mulching in 30 days, and proper compost in 90.  I take it that this assumes that good temperatures have been maintained, and so I waited for 3 months before taking any compost out, given that temperatures fluctuated a lot until I got the hang of things; in any case the instructions warn that the first batch may not be all that great.  I got two sackfuls of compost from it, and indeed the quality has left something to be desired (though not bad for only 3 months composting): partly the result of not mixing the paper well enough and partly because the mix was probably too wet.  You’re supposed to be able to tap off about an espresso cupful of liquid every week or so, but I’ve been getting a good mugful more frequently than that, and it has leaked out of the overflow vent at times.  I’ve now started to be more careful about wet material, and am ensuring that plenty of paper goes in, which all seems to be working.

Hatch open, ready for the first batch to be taken out ...

 

... emptying in progress

All seems to go well until you stop feeding the Bin.  Just before lockdown we managed a 10-day trip away (one of the reasons for the hiatus in blog posts), and on our return the thermometer was registering a measly 10C (50F).  I’ve been feeding the Bin again and the temperature is slowly rising; if all else fails, the Bin comes with its own hot-water bottle to heat it up!

The conventional compost bins are still in use, as is the council food waste bin.  The latter is only for things that are (probably) beyond the Hotbin’s capabilities (it's not too good with egg shells and avocado skins - neither are other compost bins, to be honest - and it won't digest an avocado stone, I've tried), while the former is still good for waste that isn’t easy to cut up small (most recently, disintegrating and very slimy rhubarb leaves) and for when there isn’t room in the Hotbin – this garden can generate quite a volume of waste and the Bin fills up quite quickly.

A lady came to give us a quote for some decorating work.  She was barely out of her car when she saw the Bin.  “Oh, a Hotbin” she said.  “I can’t get mine hot enough, how do you do it?  And I get too much liquid out of the bottom ….”  We did eventually get around to discussing the decorating; she’s coming to do it in the spring, by which time both of us will have more experience of our bins to discuss!