At the end of one of the driest Springs in the UK on record, we are now very glad that our tree planting did not get delayed until after the heavy rains of February and March. Planted back in January, at least the young whips had a very good soaking at the start of their lives. Writing this at the end of May, with at least another week of warm, dry weather forecast, we - like anyone growing almost anything at the moment - are looking forward to a return to the traditional English summer!
We have been watering some of the trees - the Oaks and Beech whips in particular were knocked back by three nights of very severe, late frost around two weeks ago just at the time they were putting forward their soft new leaves. The others - Hazel, Holly, Rowan, Field Maple and shrubs like Dog Rose, Guelder Rose and Spindle seem quite happy - so far - and growing well!
Since the trees are well away from the house and the hosepipe, we are having to resort to the use of a battery of water bottles and buckets and probably not able to give them as many litres as we should (around 15L per plant has been recommended), but we are doing what we can.
After days of high temperatures and little rain for some weeks, the anthill tumps, like some of the other steep, thin-soiled, South-facing banks in our valley, are looking distinctly parched and crisp. Even the buttercups are withering away in places. What is flowering is very short stemmed this year such as the Birds Foot Trefoil (below), which must be on of my most favourite flowers!
On the positive side, the small test pond, dug out in December to see if it would hold water through the year, is still around 2 feet deep (it has lost around half of its original water), and is now host to a fascinating array of pond creatures (Tadpoles - now mini froglets, Pond Skaters, Diving Beetles, Back Swimmers and the ever-circling Whirly Gig Beetles - fairly standard dramatis personae, but their daily dramas and skirmishes have been compelling to watch). The pond is now attracting the attention of damselflies and dragonflies including a dashing bright blue Broad Bodied Chaser and (for a minute or so) his yellow female consort. I noticed some opportunistic spiders have been weaving their webs at strategic points around the pond to catch the Mayflies and other insects dancing above the water!
The pond is not yet a thing of aesthetic beauty; the water in it has remained steadfastly brown and murky since it filled up (naturally) in the winter (no pond liner) and we have not yet planted, nor has it yet attracted, much pond vegetation either in or around it. However, I put in some dried up Willow rods which are now sprouting leaves and handfuls of Watercress from the stream nearby as cover and floating rafts. Dozens of froglets have been boldly leaping out of the pond onto the deeply cracked mud of the pond shoreline. They like hiding in these damp crevasses and I have several times spotted several of them peeping out of the cracks surveying the pond from above. We may need to use a pond liner in future to reduce water leakage, although I have read that even seasonal ponds (those that dry up) can still be good habitats for some animals. We have been putting rocks, branches and other cover around part of the pond for the froglets to hide under for now.
In the damper ground around the watering hole, Brooklime, Crowsfoot, Spearwort, Cuckoo Flower and Watercress have been flowering for some time. Since sheep have been excluded from this area now, prior to the wet woodland creation, Meadowsweet, Greater Stitchwort and Purple Vetch are also edging in from the laneside verge through the fence.
The proposed deculverting at the bottom of the field (ie taking out of the big land drain allowing the rushy area to properly re-wet) and associated groundworks are due to take place in July. We are hoping the Covid19 restrictions may have been eased enough by then to allow work to take place in the dry months so we'll be ready to plant Alder and Willow to create some wet woodland on the site in the Autumn. At least these trees should not suffer from droughty conditions if all goes to plan!
Incredible after the very long exceedingly wet winter/early spring how it was possible for everything to dry out so much, here in West Penwith the hedges an fields are rapidly browning off and look like high summer in a very dry year but hopefully it will all recover, keep up the good work!
Isn't it amazing how putting in a pond will attract the creatures that inhabit it? How do frogs get there, for example? The joys and miracles of the natural world.
When I was a small child many years ago my father had a shallow pond at the bottom of the garden, I wasn’t allowed near it on my own but whenever I could I would sit at the pond side for hours, the little world in and around that pond fascinated me, your description above has bought it all back to me. Thank you Sarah