Pollinators and wildflowers: a timely reminder from Sarah Raven

For some time now there has been increasing concern about the plight of the Bumblebee but this extends further to include pollinators in general, wildflowers and the insects that rely on these flowers.  Sarah Raven’s BBC2 programme ‘Bees, Butterflies and Blooms,’ the first episode of which aired last night, is a timely and important reminder of the swathes of wildflower habitats that have been lost in this country during the course of the last century and the detrimental impact that this has had on pollinators and other insects, let alone the survival of wildflower species and the landscape as a whole.

As with so many environmental catastrophes created by mankind, it is only when we are at a state of crisis that we begin to try and repair the damage.  It can only be hoped that campaigns such as Sarah Raven’s and others start to really get into the public consciousness and cause a change in the general attitude towards how we manage our environments, both urban and rural.

It is shocking to think that it is in rural areas where the problem is greatest; monoculture farming, the removal of hedgerows, and the use of pesticides is nothing but destructive and it is time that such practices were addressed more forcefully than they currently are.  We can no longer plead ignorance about their impact.

Of course there needs to be some sort of economic benefit for farmers, otherwise they just won’t get on with planting wildflower strips on the margins of their fields to increase biodiversity (this is a reality that unfortunately can’t be escaped; money seems always to trump any environmental concern); education on the subject, at all levels, doubtless needs to be improved also.

The other despairing thing about the programme was the palpable reluctance of many of the folk of Creaton, Northamptonshire to give over even a small part of the vast village green to wildflowers (should a Parish Council really be able to delay or even completely reject a plan of this kind?).  It seems that unless a TV camera is on-hand such things are easily swept under the carpet.  The old photograph of the green full and alive was far more appealing to my mind than the perfectly clipped state the village green currently exists in.  Hopefully the villagers will now press forward and do more and be a beacon to others to do the same.

So there we have it.  Simple really: learn, campaign and practice what you preach and maybe attitudes and practices will change.  The RHS has developed the ‘Perfect for Pollinators’ label after being approached by Sarah Raven to support her campaign.  A full list of these plants is available as a PDF.

Other sites to look at:

Bumblebee Conservation Trust

National Hedgelaying Society

Plantlife

Article on Biodiversity and Agriculture from Global Food Security

Broadwater Warren RSPB Reserve

Broadwater Warren sits in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), close to the village of Groombridge, and for many years has been the site of a large conifer plantation with only a few pockets of the natural heathland remaining.

 

Grasses at Broadwater Warren

 

In the 1990s it was proposed that a substantial landfill site should be built at Broadwater Warren but, thanks to the tireless efforts of the community group Groombridge and Eridge Alternatives to Rubbish (GEAR), this was rebuffed and the site remained a place for both wildlife and walkers.

In 2007 the RSPB acquired the site with the aim, over a 10 year period, of ‘restor[ing] the area to its original habitat of a wildlife-rich mosaic of heathland and native woodland species with some clumps of pines, a wet woodland, a rare woodland mire and forest ponds.’

To get an idea of what the Warren may look like in years to come and what wildlife and wild plants one might hope to find, we can compare it to the Ashdown Forest, set further south and in the heart of the High Weald AONB, the two main ecological habitats of which are heathland and woodland.  It is home to a variety of birds, mammals, insects, plants, and more and I, for one, am greatly looking forward to seeing Broadwater Warren grow into something similar.

 

Formerly either side of the path was enclosed by conifers, now the view goes on and on.

 

The work to restore a such habitats to Broadwater Warren has begun in earnest and much of the site looks drastically different today to a year or so ago; vast swathes of conifers have been removed to give the heathland and other woodland species the conditions necessary to take hold.  This does mean that in the short term much of the Warren looks akin to no-man’s-land but this is a temporary state and it will not take long for the scene to change.

 

Where once there were only conifers ...

 

Should anyone question what the RSPB are doing it is best to imagine what the site would have been like if the landfill bid had been successful.  Thankfully we can look forward to a restored heathland, a cornucopia of wildlife and wild plants, and the comfort of knowing that this land has been saved in perpetuity.

Liebster Blog Award

Liebster Blog Award

From time-to-time you see other bloggers posting about an award that they’ve received; well today it is my turn and I have to thank Karen over at The Garden Smallholder for her kindness in bestowing upon me the Liebster Blog Award (from what I can fathom Liebster is German for dearest, beloved or favourite), an award given by bloggers to up and coming blogs with less than 200 followers.

I’ve been blogging for about a year now and if I ever hit 200 followers I think I’d fall over, get back up, then fall over again!  This is my first award and I suspect my last so I will enjoy it.  As with many things in life, however, there are conditions; nothing too onerous, I just need to do the following:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog. (As seen above)

2. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them. Tick.

3. Choose five other blogs to award with less than 200 followers and leave a comment for them.  So, who to choose? There are three blogs that I particularly enjoy and that  I know are still posting regularly (I hope the awards committee won’t punish me for not choosing five!);  what I can’t tell you, however, is if they have less than 200 followers or if they may have received this award before, but never mind that, please have a look and enjoy:

 

Florist in the Forest

The Anxious Gardener

My Hesperides Garden

 

To those who I have nominated for the award please don’t feel obliged to accept or to disperse it further as I know that this is time consuming, but do enjoy your award!!!

New tools … new start?

Now I’m not one for shopping in the sales; past experience has taught me that most of what is on offer is trash and that trying to shop in the sales is to witness human beings very possibly at their worst.  The internet, however, has changed all this and I can now find bargains whilst sitting in the comfort of my own home, looking specifically for what I want rather than through what is piled on tables and racks.

And what did I want? Tools of course! I’ve been after decent hedge shears and lopers for some time and after doing a bit of research decided on some made by Bahco.  Next was to find what I wanted at the right price.  Having looked at a few websites the best price I could get was through My Tool Shed, not a site that I’ve come across before but one that I’ll be using again I’m sure.

New tools ... new start?

And what is the new start I here you ask?  The book might give the game away, Paul Power’s ‘Start & Run a Gardening Business,’ one that I would highly recommend to anyone thinking of setting up for themselves.  I’m not yet up and running, still doing the research and planning to make sure that I start on a sound footing.

The reason for the intended move is twofold: firstly I have felt for sometime that my current career isn’t really going anywhere and that I’d like to be my own boss and to work doing something that I truly enjoy, namely gardening, and work outdoors rather than at a desk; the second thing that has encouraged me is the recent hike in the rail season ticket to London (now just short of £4,000, about 18% of my salary) coupled with a 5% pay decrease that I had to take last year.

Commuting to London to sit at a desk doing something that isn’t really going anywhere becomes senseless.  And so, readers, ‘Crafting Your Garden’ is born (the observant amongst you will have noticed the spin on my surname!) and hopefully in the coming few months we will have lift off, assuming that I don’t lose my nerve or that I’m not talked out of it.   Watch this space.

La Mezquita Catedral, Cordoba

For the final post of my Alhambra photo-series we  move from Granada to Cordoba and La Mezquita Catedral.  Built on a site that was first a pagan temple then a Visigothic Christian church, the Umayyad mosque is regarded as one of the finest monuments of Islamic architecture.

After the Spanish Reconquista the building was converted into a Roman Catholic church.  A cathedral building was built in the centre of the Islamic structure and this forms the source the anger mentioned in my first post of the series; I appreciate that one religion will always seek to erase or absorb the symbols and structures of another, hence the Islamic building being built on a former pagan and then Christian site.  But to see the garish monstrosity of the Roman Catholic cathedral within the surroundings of the former mosque was to my mind appalling and nothing short of an act of vandalism.  The minaret that once existed has also been replaced by a bell-tower which again sits somewhat jarringly within the context of the Islamic architectural surroundings.

Inside La Mesquita courtyard

The archways were bricked in after the Spanish Reconquista; they once would have been completely open allowing light to flood in to the interior of the structure and worshipers to move freely between the courtyard and the prayer hall.

Christian bell-tower at La Mezquita

One of the doorways on the perimeter of La Mezquita

Hypostyle hall in La Mezquita

Detail of the rich decoration surrounding the mihrab of La Mezquita

Highly ornate dome of the mihrab in La Mezquita

Islamic tile work in La Mezquita

Courtyard in the Jewish quarter of Cordoba

Pool and fountain in the Jewish quarter of Cordoba

Islamic architecture at the Alhambra

Having looked at the Alhambra from afar in my first post, followed by examples of the Islamic tile-work found within the palaces in my second and the Generalife in my third, this fourth post in my Alhambra photo-series takes a closer look at the architectural detail of the palace complex.

"Honeycomb," "stalactite," or "mocárabe" vaulting in the Hall of the Abencerrajes

 

The honeycomb architecture is a wonder.  I have seen this previously in pictures only and they really don’t express the intricacy and quality of the work.  To see it up close takes one’s breath away.

 

Honeycomb roof in detail

Honeycomb and carving in close up

Mind bogglingly stunning relief carving

Juxtaposition of tiles, carving and door

Patio de los Arrayanes (Court of the Myrtles)

Cuarto Dorado

 

This was a difficult shot to get as there were so many people packed into the room.  I knelt down on the floor and waited for a gap to emerge, which one eventually did for just  a second, and I was able to get the shot.  The pool looks very serene and the whole room opens up to sky above, particularly impressive when seen at night and I would certainly recommend the night visit aswell as the day visit.

 

Arch through to the Patio de los Leones (Court of the Lions)

Patio de los Leones (Court of the Lions)

 

The Court of the Lions was closed for renovation on our visit so we could only see the top part of the court above the boarding which blocked the view.  I was disappointed by this as the Court of the Lions is meant to be the jewel in the crown of the entire palace complex.  We were able to see the lion statutes which had been removed to another room and cleaned up (no photos allowed though) and they did look better for it.  Maybe We’ll have to go back one day to the see the court restored to all its glory.

 

Recess in the Salón de los Embajadores (Hall of the Ambassadors)

 

The Generalife, Granada

Adjacent to the Alhambra is the Generalife, the summer palace of the Nasrid rulers of Al-Andalus with its splendid gardens, and this is the subject of part 3 of my Alhambra photo-series.

The Patio de la Acequia (Court of the Long Pond) at the Generalife

Fountains in the Patio de la Acequia (Court of the Long Pond) at the Generalife

Flowers in the Patio de la Acequia (Court of the Long Pond) at the Generalife

Archway carving at the Generalife

Gallery at the Generalife

Fountain and pool in Patio del Ciprés de la Sultana at the Generalife

Looking out from the Generalife towards the Alhambra

As with the Alhambra palaces, patience is key when visiting the Generalife; it seems near impossible to access it at a quite time so the best advice is to go in (you can only enter once by the way, multiple visits are not permitted) and to simply wait for breaks in the crowd.  In one of these rare moments you can then view and fully appreciate the gardens and buildings without trying to look over or around someone else.

My wife and I used the same trick in the palaces; simply hang back and let the flow of people pass you by.  It amazed my how quickly people moved through the palace complex; a click of the camera here and there and they were off to the next room leaving one to wonder how many visitors to the Alhambra actually see it, rather than just glance, point and shoot?

The palace rooms are places to linger, to allow oneself to be consumed by the detail and exquisiteness of the architecture and craftsmanship and to imagine them as they once were at their most opulent; to move through them in a manner that lacks in focus or concentration and as though one is in a great rush to reach the end is perverse: why bother going at all?

Before I finish I implore you to do one thing should you visit the palaces: sit on the floor and look around you.  You may get some odd looks but who really cares about that?  What you will also get, however, is a great perspective of the buildings; the Nasrid rulers would have filled the floors with cushions and sat on them and so you get to experience the rooms as they may have done, to a degree at least.

Islamic tiles in the Alhambra, Granada

This post forms the second part of the series relating to the Alhambra, Granada, displaying photographs taken by my wife and I during our holidsy there last September; this time we look at Islamic tiles, giving examples of the vibrant tilework that adorns many parts of the the palace complex:

Islamic tiles with inscription above

Stunning, fluid design

Bold colour in this strong design

So which one is the Circle Line then?

Incredible intricacy and precision

Another example of the intricacy and precision achieved in the tilework

Tilework sitting below equally detailed carving

Hypnotic pattern

I find these tiles truly amazing; the quality of the craftsmanship is mind-boggling and can only be aspired to in any work of art or design.  As a gardener I find the geometrical patterns a source of inspiration from a design and layout perspective, as too are the bold colours used throughout.

Alhambra, Granada and the Mezquita-Catedral, Cordoba

There are many places in the world that one would wish to go but that one may never have the opportunity to do so: Persepolis, Sana’a, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan …

Fortunately for my wife and I one of the places we have considered visiting for some time, the Alhambra, can now be removed from the wish list; in September we spent a week in Granada, ostensibly to see the Alhambra, but we did also make the journey to Córdoba and to the Mezquita-Catedral.

This post forms the first of a series displaying a handful of the 600 or so photos that were taken on our visit.  I shall begin with a couple of views of the Alhambra and of the surrounding area that was visible from the roof terrace of the wonderful apartment in which we stayed in Sacromonte; later posts will show some of the amazing tilework and architecture, the gardens, and a few shots of the Mezquita-Catedral in Cordoba, a truly inspiring site but one that left me feeling slightly angry and appalled (all shall be revealed!).  So here we go, the first set of photographs:

A full view of the Alhambra looking across from Sacromonte

A close up view of the Alhambra looking at the Palace of Charles V and the tower within which is the The Hall of the Two Sisters (Sala de Dos Hermanas)

Looking down the valley from Sacromonte towards the centre of Granada and hills beyond

Looking up the valley from our roof terrace

Roof tops of Granada

I think that the next set will be of the tiles, the craftsmanship of which is astonishing and only bettered by the intricacy of the architecture in which I could happily sit and loose myself for many an hour.

Natural Splendour #7

One of my favourite images from the past year:

 

hanging around