by Emma | Mar 21, 2018 | citizen science, environment, What can I do?, wildlife
Since we started feeding the birds in this garden, Ryan and I have been peacefully co-existing with a squirrel, who managed to find a (very entertaining) way to help himself to the bird seed. He is bold as brass, and we enjoy watching his antics. He’s easily...
by Emma | Jan 8, 2018 | citizen science, wildlife
A note caught my eye the other day that now is a good time to think about adding nest boxes to your garden, if you want to offer accommodation to garden birds this year! Ryan and I were doing a bit of bird watching in the garden today and it’s clear that the...
by Emma | Sep 21, 2017 | pests, science, What can I do?, wildlife
The morning after last week’s storms, our morning walk was littered with ‘conkers’, the large and shiny seeds of the Horse Chesnut (Aesculus hippocastanum). Ryan started picking some of the nicer ones up. “The people at work”, he said, “have been discussing whether or...
by Emma | Jul 12, 2017 | gardens, wildlife
I’ve wanted a bird bath for the garden for a long time, but I’ve never found one I liked. They’re usually great gothic monstrosities, or horribly twee, or just plain ugly. But last year we had an unfortunate incident where a fledgling got stuck in a collection of...
by Emma | Jun 14, 2017 | allotment, competitions, gardens, wildlife
It seems like the gardening season is one long whirlwind of garden shows. With the Malvern spring show, Chelsea and the new Chatsworth out of the way, garden designers and their teams are ramping up for Hampton Court. Their show gardens may offer up the best and...
by Emma | May 19, 2017 | citizen science, environment, ethnobotany, food, pests, tendrils, unusual, veg, wildlife
Hello! Welcome to Tendrils. We’ve had some proper rain here at last. The wild strawberries are flowering and beginning to fruit in the fruit garden, which is starting to look very lush. There’s some clover competing with the wild strawberries for ground cover space;...