July 2017
Not that it’s any of our doing, but Gibside’s walled garden
just gets better and better. Over the last few years, the collapsed wall has
been expertly bricklayed back into place, the allotments extended, and the
flowerbeds and fruit trees nurtured into splendour. Currently there is a
sculptural, living willow maze growing on the grassy area previously occupied by
washing lines full of beautifully and wittily stitched and appliqued tea
towels. Head gardener, Debbie, and her team have transformed the place into a
unique, exquisite gem – a people’s garden.
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| The Amazing Maze |
Such an attraction is the walled garden these days that we
seem to have permanently lost at least four of our Wednesday conservation
volunteers to it. Some had always worked the winter months with the rangers,
and gardened through the growing season, but the new, improved garden now gets
year-round attention – and it shows.
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| Walled garden flowers |
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| Another colourful border |
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| Domes |
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| More flowers |
Whilst we
bloggers spend our summer months seeking out grass snakes and collecting
wildlife data, some regular conservation team volunteers take to the lawnmower.
There was a time – a period of eight or nine years – when Wednesdays could be
relied upon to be fine, sunny days whatever the season, but no more. It’s just
as likely to rain on a Wednesday as on any other day of the week – and it does.
The grass cutters, though, are still out there come rain… come rain.
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| John cutting the grass in the rain |
You might
think that pushing a lawnmower all day to be a tedious, torturous pursuit in any
weather, but seemingly not. Apparently it induces relaxation – variously
through daydreaming, or a state akin to meditation. Our nature study
meanderings are a bit like that as well.
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Common centaury
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| Poppy seed head |
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| Shaggy inkcaps |
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| Soldier beetles and a longhorn beetle on an angelica flower head |
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| Small skipper butterfly |
Steve Wootten and Phil Coyne
