MY WILD LIFE
Kevin Line
Kevin is the head gardener/plantsperson at the Ryebeck Hotel garden, Bowness-on-Windermere, and a writer for specialist horticultural journals. Here, he shares his reflections on wildlife gardening and offers some useful tips…
What sparked your love of wildlife gardening? I started gardening at the age of seven. Walking across open
fields and absorbing the sights and sounds of wildlife and plant life, I always knew where I wanted to be, where I was heading.
Any moments that stay with you? A grey heron was an unexpected visitor in the meadow area last winter, looking for worms, a valuable food source. Always expect the unexpected – what a joy!
What should we be thinking of at this time of year? Planting a holly (Ilex), such as the hedge at the Ryebeck Hotel garden, is a positive way to encourage birds into the garden. The hedging matures aſter a few years to produce berries. Hollies are not self-fertile and need to cross-pollinate. I have planted Blue Prince, Golden King and Argentea Marginata (the last two are variegated). Ironically, Golden King is a female holly,
40 Cumbrian Wildlife | September 2019
just to baffle one’s horticultural mind. Even just a small secluded area in your garden could be used to plant a small group of hollies to atract a variety of birds.
How do you care for other wildlife in the garden? I minimise the use of strimmers for fear of nasty accidents with creatures such as frogs and toads. With any strimming that is undertaken, the machine is kept to a height about 15cm from ground level to avoid injuring these important amphibians. I enjoyed using an old English scythe last autumn/winter in the wild grass areas. Grasses, such as red fescue and common bent, abound in the summer breezes. I read with interest in the British Wildlife Journal how grasses of different heights are home to different species of spiders.
Tell us about the bog garden The soil in this area is quite claggy. I hand- dug a small area of the garden into an oval
shape, about half a metre in depth. On days of heavy rainfall it fills to create a type of mini dew pond, which is also fed from a naturally occurring spring. On sunny days when the pond is still holding water, I have spoted dragonflies and frogs.
Finally, the flowers – what do you recommend for wildlife? Open structured flowers, such as heleniums, rudbeckia, echinacea, and earlier flowering foxglove like Digitalis purpurea, provide excellent landing pads for pollinating insects. Sedum spectabile is always a winner with buterflies.
Visit the Ryebeck Hotel garden as part of the National Garden Scheme
Open Gardens on 27 October, 10.00am– 4.00pm. Admission: Adults £5.00; Children free. Visit
www.ngs.org.uk
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