Nature,Plants and Facts

Letting nature back into your garden is always a great reward for the work you put in to attract them. There are many things you can do but like nature itself you have to plan ahead, how did nature do it ?

When it comes to plant origins they evolved with a purpose, an end product.

The first forests evolved about 380 million years ago, followed by seeds and cone bearing plants 350 million years ago

Then came the first flowering plants, 150 million years ago, BUT,

The Grasses on which we rely on for food such as Wheat, Corn, Rice, Sugar etc only arrived 60 million years ago, WHY ?

Was it because the forests had to clean the air, the flowering plants multiply long before we came along, millions of years of adaptation and change in response to moving continents, changing climates all to prepare for human life.

The fundamental role that plants play and have always played in under-pinning life on earth is they -

Regulate the air we breathe, They provide the food we eat and the clothes we wear, Timber and fuel, Medicines and perfume

We often see the beauty but fail to see the reason

Many people think of hedging as a long stretch of plants to form a boundary around the perimeter of the garden, often to hide a wall or fence or privacy from a neighbours structure maybe. But hedging also means protection, safe avenues for birds and other wildlife to move through safely even in bad weather. They are also a feature that can separate easily various features within your garden, solid features, flower beds, water areas etc.

Sorbus ( Rowan ) or Mountain Ash, whatever you call it there are advantages of planting one. * besides cleaning the air for us *

Leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of Moths including the larger Welsh Wave Moth and Autumn Green Carpet Moth which arrives in Autumn to over Winter. caterpillars of the Apple Fruit Moth feed on the berries. Flowers provide pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinating insects, while the berries are a rich source of Autumn food for birds, especially Blackbirds, Mistle Thrush, Redstarts, SongThrush, Fieldfare and Waxwing.

The wood was once used as a pocket charm against rheumatism, and they were once planted as protection from witches, cutting one down in Scotland was taboo.

Strawberry is the only fruit to bear its seeds on the outside

Gas plants produce a clear gas at night if warm and humid that can be ignited with a match ( Dictamnus Albus )

Ghost plant, Monotropa Uniflora lacks chlorophyll and doesn’t need to photosynthesize

Human hair will decompose when mixed with moisture and certain elements in the soil in just a couple of months

providing a protein rich plant nutrient which is 16% nitrogen

Larch is the only deciduous conifer, transpires a lot more water than evergreens, takes in 20% more Co2 than Pine

Plants use less than 5% of the water they take from the soil, the rest evaporates from the surface of the leaves into the surrounding air

( Transpiration )

Yew trees are hard to age as they don’t have rings

Most slug proof plants have hairy stems

New book by Mark Rice Dip GD(Inst GD) - GARDENING Time Patience, Common Sense

Available direct and if local Uphill Wharf Cafe, ( Uphill,Weston-Super-Mare) Good Food,Good Service

e-mail - inspiregardenarchitects@gmail.com