Autumn proper has arrived, it barged its way through my wild garden on gale strong winds ripping the leaves from the trees. Nature knows that winter is on its way, the number of extra blackbirds make me think they are recently arrived migrants, poking and rustling about in the undergrowth, hunting for tasty snacks, and the ducks have returned to their cold weather home too, floating sedately on the pond
The garden paths and steps have disappeared beneath the flurry of fallen leaves and on the paving around the house, little mossy cushions have suddenly appeared .They squatted on the north facing slopes of the roof all year, fattening up nicely in the shade, drinking in rainfall. But the recent heavy downpours have dislodged them. and losing their grip of the slates, they have fallen to land bottom side up exposing their shallow hair like rhizoids which anchored them.
I read an interesting phrase in a WWT magazine in which the term ‘management’ was replaced by ‘support’ which I highly approve of, so in that life saving spirit of support I mounted a little mission to rescue those mossy clumps not already shrivelled up by the day’s bright sunshine.
I placed some deep in bedraggled vegetation where I hoped they would find a humid atmosphere and some in the shade of trees where their fellow species of moss thrive.
Near the hive a honey bee was wandering over a deluxe deep carpet of moss which has laid itself over a rough stone where water collects and I wondered briefly if she was ill before I realised that she was actually drinking water from the saturated leaves.
Our garden ecosystems function on so may levels and scales. From their relationships with the larger landscape to the microscopic, and down there in the world of small but still visible things, we have a window onto a wilder world and can begin to see how important plant and animal relationships are.
I’m so pleased that a charity as influential as WWT has made an important change of emphasis to looking after their reserves, it might only be an exchange of one word, but they are words which we interpret very differently and if we gardeners follow the sentiments they embody, they could make a very big change.
My wild garden and I sincerely hope so.
