At this time of year there are parts of my garden which are almost inaccessible. Weeds and wayward perennials have tangled themselves together in a jumble of lush growth over paths and around the pond and while my feet become ensnared, overhanging twigs and branches catch in my hair and make me stoop to avoid them.
To push through I bend almost double as if in homage to their dominance, but there is method in my seeming madness. Here within and beneath this dense growth there is cover and safety for the small creatures living out their life cycles in privacy. Where the sunlight filters through and leaves are illuminated, insects like butterflies can warm up ready for flight and down in the dark leaf litter below are the tiny things I know are there but are too small or well hidden for me to see, springtails, beetles, worms, centipedes and small snails.
I feel like an intrepid explorer, just meters from my door discovering the wild world my garden is becoming. Peeping out from the dense ivy hedge a baby robin is hiding, a pair of holly blue butterflies are mating on the edge of a leaf and are interrupted by another butterfly, perhaps looking for a piece of the action, and a yellow legged insect I don’t know, either a solitary bee or wasp, flies in to forage on a knapweed flower.
As I straighten up to leave the embrace of my secret garden, around me are meadow lawn flowers basking in the sun and I look up to see a greenfinch perched right at the top of a wayward piece of hedge. I can hear the swifts screaming as they swoop and swirl above me, I do hope they’re finding enough to eat, they’re especially welcome to the midges I realise have just made a meal of me!
