Rebuilding a nursery - Copton Ash

[Tim Ingram]

Of course not Maggi - this is what the internet is all about...

[Tim Ingram]

Very busy couple of weeks with the Great Dixter Plant Fair at the beginning of April and opening our garden for the National Gardens Scheme last Sunday. Such a lot happening in the garden now, as well as the weeds gathering pace with everything else! Today we took the day off and went to see the anemones and bluebells at The Blean, near to Canterbury. These are a few pictures but they don't really convey how wonderful the woods are at the moment 😊.

[Tim Ingram]

And after a pit stop... there is little variation in either the bluebells or anemones; in some places they grow beautifully together, in others either predominates, and in still others neither occur - but all in all these woods are completely magical at this time.

[Gabriela]

The enchanted forest! 

[Tim Ingram]

Very much so Gabriela! We don't have the diversity of woodland perennials of many other temperate regions but woodlands are pretty enchanted everywhere I think if you search them out.

[Hoy]

Yes, I like that forest! A place I would love to walk if I got the chance

Seems the trees are mostly maple?

[Tim Ingram]

A whole mix of trees Trond. This is a link to a really good guide on the woods:
http://www.theblean.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/BBW-web-friendly.pdf

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Tim, yes, a great time to be out in the woods, especially if they are on limestone. Chiffchaff and willow warbler are here and I heard the first blackcap in a neighbours garden this afternoon. Perhaps other members would show us their spring wildlife photos.

[Tim Ingram]

Ian - we are pretty fed up that planning permission has just been given to build on the highest grade agricultural land opposite us. If it goes ahead it will alter the character of the town completely - just another commuter corridor into London. Having these woods near to us, and the North Kent Marshes, is a real balance to over-development such as this - though for a younger generation the ability to have your own home is so important. More tightening of belts all round and a greater awareness of the environment could do wonders in a time of continuing austerity. There were warblers in the woods but we are not too good at distinguishing between them all at the moment!

[ian mcdonald]

Tim, chiffchaff, in case you don,t know, gets its name from the call it makes. Willow warbler has a call that descends in tone. Blackcap has a varied melodic call. If you go on to the RSPB site and choose a species you can often get the call it makes as well. Could you rally people to object to "development?" I have tried for more than 30 years and as long as homes or jobs are mentioned a "developer" (another name for destroyer) can do what he wants, including ignoring the law.

[Tim Ingram]

Ian, my feeling is that in many places it is re-development which is important, and development within and associated with present towns where the local population has a proper say and contribution. This way towns can become more autonomous, more vibrant, more individual. I don't know if the decision made about this land can be reversed (I hope it can by Judicial review), but Government itself argues and provides for protection of prime agricultural land - ref: 'Safeguarding our Soils. A Strategy for England', a document prepared by DEFRA.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/69261/pb13297-soil-strategy-090910.pdf

This is an extract from the Foreward written by the Minister, Hilary Benn:

'I am always struck by the words of President Franklin D Roosevelt over 70 years ago when, promoting the first measures in the world to protect soil, he said “The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.” He understood the value of soil and the importance to economies and societies of protecting it.'

And Paragraph 24: We must ensure that planning decisions take sufficient account of soil quality, particularly when significant areas of the best and most versatile agricultural land are involved. Together with Communities and Local Government (CLG), we will review the effectiveness of existing planning policy to protect important soils and consider whether there is a need to update it.

[ian mcdonald]

Tim, no account of the value of soil was taken in our village. The only policy was build at any cost. Legally protected hedges were bulldozed away to give a clear site for building on. Neither the local authority or national government care what happens to land needed for growing food. I complained to the local authority about the destruction of hedges and the local authority told me "the law is not our concern." I was then advised to speak to the local police wildlife officer. He came and looked but did not say anything to the contractor removing hedges. I was asked to go to the local police station to make a statement outlining the legal protection of hedges. When I did my fingerprints were taken. 

[Tim Ingram]

That is dispiriting Ian and may well be the outcome here despite strong and concerted, and informed, opposition by local people. I am at least encouraged by Hilary Benn's words because of his obvious sincerity and statemanship, especially after watching his remarkable speech on the Syrian crisis, which drew applause across parties (including incidentally our local Conservative MP for Faversham and Mid Kent). I think often David is trampled by Goliath. Unfortunately if this development does go ahead it may put pay to our efforts to make a garden and nursery and open it for charity, simply because of greater congestion and restrictions on parking and access.

[Hoy]

A whole mix of trees Trond. This is a link to a really good guide on the woods:
http://www.theblean.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/BBW-web-friendly.pdf

Thanks Tim! Interesting reading

[Tim Ingram]

A lot going on in the garden now as spring really kicks in! These are a few favourite plants: Paeonia tenuifolia just emerging (we haven't had good seed set on this so I shall have to hand pollinate, or is there need of two clones?) - the double flowered plants of this that Billy Carruthers had at Great Dixter were pretty stunning and impressive to produce by division; Tulipa aucheriana, a delightful small tulip which has grown and flowered for many years but not increased significantly - seems to be rarely available (this is nicely pictured on the cover of Jack Elliott's book 'Bulbs for the Rock Garden', a very good read by someone who grew these brilliantly); Helleborus multifidis subsp. hercogovinus, the most striking of all hellebores for foliage that we have - like the peony it just gets better year by year but the mice often snaffle the seed so we must bag the maturing flowers; Trillium, probably kurabayashii (though I'm not sure how you fully distinguish this from chloropetalum?), under the apples; and a bulb bed in the lawn, modelled on the marvellous bulb walk at Sissinghurst but needing more tulips and daffs and pulsatillas (this bed changes tremendously through the year with perennials coming later - would make a good time-lapse film!).