Neat edges and a bird box

There is a fine line between a wildlife-friendly garden and a total mess. The key differences are neat edges and a bird box.

The bird box can look after itself. I know some people diligently clean them every year but ... that involves ladders. I did try it once. I got three steps up and chickened out. So now the Blue Tits have to sort it out for themselves. They've been looking at the box and got into a right strop when another Blue Tit went near it.

Shaggy Edges.

It has be said though that our grass edges are very shaggy. Really the ground is far too wet to do the edging properly but I've gone round roughly with edging shears and things already look a lot better.

Hooking out mud and moss.

In a few places the edges had become a muddle of mud and moss, so I used a half-moon tool to cut a neater edge and hooked out the carved out muck with a weeding tool. The Lazy Gardener does not worry about having a straight edge. Instead, if it is beginning to look wavy, I exaggerate the bends and dents into graceful curves. No pegging out lines, no fretting over bits that don't line up. Just go with the flow.

Angle-Shades moth caterpillar

Luckily, I was going steady otherwise the Angle-Shades moth caterpillar might have come to a sticky end. I hid it amongst foliage amongst foliage nearby.

Buff-tailed Bumble Bee queen on Winter Heather.

The caterpillar wasn't the only distraction. I had to wait while a Buff-tailed Bumble Bee queen feasted on the Winter Heather and pause while the Robin checked the disturbed soil for worms!

Why a compost heap is the lazy gardener's best friend

I'm sure more diligent gardeners would have finished disposing of their Christmas trees by now.  However, the lazy gardener has to spend time exploring local heritage, rescuing bumble bees, sketching plants, counting birds, and so on.

A mix of Christmas tree clippings and compost from the heap

This time, I'm making an ericaceous mulch for a somewhat underpowered Camelia so I've mixed Christmas tree clippings with compost from the heap. A compost heap is the lazy gardener's best friend. Instead of findings ways to dispose of prunings and vegatable scraps, I just sling them on the heap. A few months later I have a half-way decent mulch. I don't go in for the sophisticated systems that create compost that is so beautiful you could write a poem about it but if that is your thing, go for it.

Robin doing a quality check on the mulch, plus underpowered Camelia

I threw handfulls of the mix round the Camelia and was delighted to see one of our garden Robins. It daintily picked up a worm that must have come from the compost heap. .

The compost heap - do not disturb!

Our compost heap is a very basic pile of prunings and vegetable scraps. In the warmer months, I'll  turn it every now and again but until all chance of injuring hibernating wildlife has passed, I'll just add more material to the top.

A compost caddy just outside the back door saves time!

We keep a compost caddy to save having to keep trudging down to the heap. Lining the bottom with one of those awkward-to-recycle compostable magazine covers saves having to clean the caddy.

Protecting the Rhubarb.

Finally, our Rhubarb is getting a little ahead of itself, so I used a couple of the old Christmas tree branches to protect it from frost.