Yesterday, I took deep breath and read through the proofs of my contribution to the Moving Mountains anthology. I've spent the last couple of days trying to get my head around the publication in October of the first piece I've ever written about living with chronic illness. Writing it was a massive challenge for me. … Continue reading Mustering courage
Henry VIII falls face-first in the fen and a lone heron stalks the rooftops in my Guardian Country Diary this morning... (click on image for link). More of my country diaries can be found here.
The towpath beside the River Lee is a study in mauve with sprays of Common Mallow (Malva sylvestris) sprawling along the verge and out over the water. Often reduced to stunted tufts in managed verges, wilder areas that have been spared the mower allow this jaunty perennial to spread luxuriantly, its stems trailing and reaching … Continue reading Mallows in the Meadow
Went for a lovely walk this afternoon that reminded me how vital our wild places are, especially at the moment. This is a piece on the importance of my local patch, first published Friday 9 October in The Guardian Country Diary. There’s a spring-fed sliver of alder carr shaped like a thought bubble near the … Continue reading An Exhalation in the Alder Carr
There is now an updated list with over 70 nurseries across the UK which can be accessed here... This list is no longer updated. While the Amazon rainforest burns, Brexit festers and children all over the world call on adults to join their strike to highlight the climate catastrophe, it can be hard to know … Continue reading Save Our Rainforests: The Peat-Free Nurseries List
Many of us owe our love of plants, gardens and wildlife to early experiences in childhood. Even on a small scale, places that enable young people to connect with the natural environment can begin a relationship that lasts a lifetime. At a time when we need the younger generation to understand, cherish and protect the … Continue reading Year of Green Action Garden at RHS Hampton Court
1. Wildflower Power Everywhere you turn at this year's RHS Chelsea Flower Show, indigenous trees, shrubs and perennials are interpersed with native biennial and annual wildflowers. The gardens are awash with hornbeam, birch, willow, yew, guelder rose, cow parsley, foxglove, ragged robin and sedum. The pinks of red campion and ragged robin are particularly conspicuous … Continue reading 5 Environmentally-Friendly Ideas to Take Home from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show
During the People's Walk for Wildlife and the rewilding conference in Cambridge last year, I learnt in disbelief about the dramatic declines in insect, bird, mammal and wild plant populations since the 1970s - the decade in which I was born. This year I have resolved to put nature at the heart of our garden … Continue reading What Nest Box Where?
Last month I wrote Why Nature Matters: In Our Gardens and Our Countryside exploring the inextricable links between gardens and the wider landscape - with all the benefits and responsibilities this entails. As we become increasingly aware of the direct effect of our collective actions on the environment, complex issues such as the use of plastic, … Continue reading Peat Bog Restoration: Protecting Ecosystems and Limiting Climate Change
in Just- spring when the world is mud- luscious... … Continue reading Why Nature Matters: In Our Gardens and Our Countryside