Summer in the Garden
An update by Caerlaverock Reserve Warden Rhiannon Hatfield, on the highlights of the wildlife garden this summer
The decision was made early on in the season to help planting choice by installing another tractor tyre in the Perfect for Pollinators area (we are up to three now for that area and four in total for the garden!). Into this so far has gone an Erysimum “Bowle’s Mauve”, an exceptionally long flowering plant that will help bridge some of the periods with less flowers on offer for insects and a great one to consider for your own gardens as it is beautiful as well as useful. We have also added a Campanula and a Geranium to give a variety of different types of flower structure to suit a variety of insects. Further developments for this area are planned for the Autumn so watch this space.
An unexpected set of visitors have made themselves at home in the Garden this year. Several Leafcutter Bees have taken up residence in our rotten logs that form one of our piles for minibeasts. This has entailed the closure of this area temporarily for minibeast hunts but it is a small price to pay for the presence of these enchanting little bees. Further evidence of their presence has been observed in the form of cut out sections in the leaves of the Wild Strawberry plants and one of our roses.
On the planting front, the section of the garden given over to the wildflower meadow has had some Meadowsweet and Purple Loosestrife added into it. A welcome surprise was the spike of Evening Primrose that seemed to appear out of nowhere. A few more of these would be welcome for our moths! We have also purchased some Geraniums for the banking, perfect for coping with the shady conditions and loved by the Bumblebees. More Comfrey has been added and the Bistort has started to further colonise areas of soil that have become exposed.
The area of the garden that has been the real start of the show this year has been the Sensory Flowerbed. The mints now include Apple Mint, Spearmint, Common Mint, Chocolate Mint, Pineapple Mint, Eau de Cologne Mint, Pineapple Mint and Black Peppermint! These have been used as part of the Wetland Explorers event run through the summer holidays for visiting children. The Chives are bulking up nicely and the flowers proved a draw to Tree Bumblebees. The yellow Inula daisies have been flowering over a long period which has proved a boon for the many Hoverflies, Bumblebees and Butterflies visiting them.
To finish, one cheeky chappie put a smile on our faces with their acrobatics around the Red Campion plants. A Bank Vole decided to get adventurous clambering along slender stems in the hunt for food.
