In the absence of a proper bird table I created this with branches. I was quite pleased, but apart from a small crowd of great tits the other day there has been very little interest from the birds. Perhaps it is too low, or they worry it will fall over if they perch on it! I’ll hopefully get something more attractive to them sorted after Christmas

It has been such a dull wet week and I have hardly been in the garden due to having a cold and the weather being miserable to match. But today I got out and how wonderful it was. So good to get in the open and also to work hard and enjoy it. At 3.00pm the sun was setting but just caught the birch bark and the berries of the guelder rose- lovely.

The clearance after 3 barrow fulls.

Before now I always wondered why people spent so much time clearing up fallen leaves, after all they rot don’t they. However, I noticed the depth and impenetrability of the leaves under the horse chestnut tree and realised that if I didn’t clear them up then the grass would suffer. So I spent an hour moving about a dozen barrow loads to a leaf pile. The leaves were extremely robust and almost waterproof and I realised two things; 1) this garden is going to make me very healthy and slim if I keep up this hard work- better by far than a gym, 2) the amazing cycle of nature- these leaves much have taken so much energy and resource to be made by the tree in Spring only to be shed in autumn so I won’t waste them.

The autumn leaves look beautiful in neat circles under the trees. No mowing means they lie undisturbed

Fungi the size of my tea mug. There are so many different sorts in the garden this autumn.

Spindle berries! Mum was so excited to see these last week. There are at least 4 spindle berry bushes on the right hand side of the garden.

Beech trees and mahonia japonica looking good today. The mahonia smells wonderful too- I didn’t realise until I walked past this afternoon and suddenly caught a sweet smell on the breeze

A temporary bird feeding station! Didn’t realise I had so few bird feeders and that I really need peanuts and also some niger seeds for the goldfinches. Not sure the birds will even bother with this sad effort.

This morning it rained heavily and relentlessly but then at 2.30 the sun came out . Ben and I went for our daily walk in the garden. The birds were making up for lost time. We saw and heard robins,blackbirds and great tits. Country birds seem to keep their distance and the wood at the end of the garden was clearly a sanctuary.

I am going to try to maintain the habit of a daily walk in the garden for two purposes; to observe closely and get to know the garden and to still my mind and connect with nature. Every time I walk in the garden I see something new and find a new plant I didn’t know was there. Soon I will know the garden well and it will become clearer what I can do with the different areas. I remember the permaculture ‘rules’; to observe intensely and often, to make small changes, to work with rather than against nature and to create a garden which is sustainable and easy to manage.

Today I saw a small flock of goldfinches feeding on the teasel seed heads in the wild patch and then the woodland area. I would have taken a picture had I had my phone to hand. There seem to be many teasel seedlings in the woodland so I need to keep some to feed the birds. I am also in the process of identifying the wild flowers we have in the woodland area so that I can preserve them when I establish a path and eradicate some of the stinging nettles which seem to be so prolific.

Walking to the end of the garden we found that the woodland area at the far end was less overgrown and had more potential than I had at first thought. It is less overgrown at this time of year and clearly full of wildlife. I think what I will do is to clear out some of the dead trees and then create a path with a strimmer to make a woodland walk that circuits the area making it accessible whilst keeping the wild character.

The area near the house needs pretty flower beds but I’m unsure how to arrange them. Also the ground here undulates a great deal and so I need to work out a way of working with the contours to avoid the huge ( and probably unnecessary) task of levelling it all. Somehow need to use the irregularities as a guide to the design. I had been thinking of a more formal style with geometric shapes and beds but I think that is unrealistic and probably also not in keeping with the character of the garden anyway.

T

Two trees, larch and alder. Liking the larch very much- creates a lovely silhouette in the view from the house. The alder is very dominant and probably is taking water and nutrition from the orchard area so probably has to go.