Imagine me, reader with a very smug expression on my face. Today, I am vindicated.

Each Autumn, I grit my teeth and withstand the overwhelming urge to tidy the garden up as it slowly lapses into tatty grey winteriness. I grit my teeth even harder at the occasional disapproving glances received from passers-by looking over the garden fence... I imagine their thoughts - "Bit of a mess, eh? I would have cut those perennials…

Well, it seems that our mild autumn has come to an end, and the chill of winter has firmly settled upon us. At this time of year plenty of garden birds can be seen rummaging around looking for food, both on the ground and in the bare branched trees. Blackbirds (Turdus merula) are one the most familiar sights in the winter British garden, and didn’t choose make themselves scarce last week while Shirley and myself were…

With the chilly weather of late, the birds are our constant companions as we go about our gardening business. There are always one or two robins with a serious case of cupboard love about, keeping a sharp eye on what the spade turns up… We’re noticing increasing numbers of blackbirds ferreting around in the base of the ‘dead hedge’ we laid last winter, so I suppose they’re finding insects and earthworms in the leaf litter…

The Flatford Wildlife Garden gets more than its share of colourful and interesting insects, and with a shady, overgrown ditch at the bottom of the slope, it’s no surprise that we regularly see dragonflies and damselflies hunting in the garden during warm weather. What is surprising is the abundance of an unusual and strikingly beautiful species of damselfly that seems to have found a stronghold in the garden; the Willow…

Envision me grinning from ear to ear, reader, if you please. You see, yesterday at the prestigious annual Biffa Awards Ceremony, our lovely wildlife garden project was awarded first prize in the Recreation Category. I had been pleased enough to be nominated, and had not expected to win against some very worthy competition, so imagine my delight when the category Judge, Nathan Williams of the Ingleby Foundation, announced…

 

(A quick word from Becky, a new volunteer)

I've just got back from spending some time in the RSPB Flatford Wildlife Garden, re-acquainting myself with some ancient and unconscious knowledge and soaking as much new detail as I could. I say ancient because I think that deep down in our bones we know that we have a responsibility to look after all life - and unconscious, because I'm not quite sure exactly what it was…

Brace yourselves, I am going to talk to you about all things rotten. Namely, compost heaps, leafmould and habitat piles!

Firstly - compost heaps. I was tutting to myself as I removed a pile of freshly-cut grass from the top of the completely-rotten bay of the compost heap, when I was suddenly silenced by the slither of a snake beneath the grass.... Imagine my delight as I identified the mesmerising yellow chevrons…

It a crazy time of year in the garden - what with the alternating periods of warmth and rain, it's always a struggle to keep up with the weeds, but it has meant that the garden has really burgeoned this summer.... And it's alive with bees, which is pleasing! At the moment they're particularly enjoying the ornamental thistle, Cirsium rivulare 'Atropurpureum', the foxgloves and blue Salvia 'Mainacht'.…

I’m happy to say the garden has come a long way in the last month – back in March I was resigning myself to another desperately dry spring, but then the rain arrived, thankfully! Prior to that, it was clear to see that the plants (and the weeds!) were poised and waiting to grow, but the dry dusty conditions were threatening to stunt their spring exuberance. 

Since the rain, everything has romped away, and…

It's that magical time of year when every fresh day brings new surprises in the garden... The first sharp purple spikes of Iris reticulata emerging from the earth, the sunny yellow crocuses suddenly opening and becoming visiable on a warm, springlike day... and a few days ago, the first of our tiny wild daffodils flowering in the orchard! I don't know why each and every little flower seems like such a surprise - after…

Jon and Rick, assisted by Jacob for the first half, spent a soggy day digging 'oles in preparation for constructing a new cattle handling facility at the back of the Wildlife Garden (not open to the public). A myriad of different elements will come together to make this essential structure: a post-hole auger borrowed from our Minsmere reserve (the big yellow thing at the back of the tractor); posts made from sweet chestnut…

This Saturday and Sunday are your chance to  contribute to the official Big Garden Birdwatch - and a great opportunity to observe the birds in your garden, park, or other open space. It's also a great time to come down to Flatford Wildlife Garden and get involved.

We had great fun last weekend and hope to encourage and inspire even more people this week, with activities including a family-friendly bird trail,…

Snowdrops emerge, brushing away the memory of Autumn

This week's work-party gave me a chance to see the very first snowdrops emerging in the garden. Being an Antipodean who frequently struggles with the long dark winter here, I always feel a moment of disproportionate wild joy when the first promises of spring-to-come appear. We have a startling spread of snowdrops here at Flatford, as I discovered last winter…

From Jacob Hunter (Garden Intern)

I thought that the rest provided by the festive period might have proved a good moment for our indefatigable volunteers to write something in reflection on a great year's work. Alas... most of them were too busy enjoying themselves. And so, although I have only been with the team for six months, it falls to me to write something on the volunteers' progress in 2011.

Many of our…

Without the leaves on the trees, the river is visible from the garden.

This week has been national tree week: the annual celebration of trees and a marker of the beginning of the tree planting season. I will admit that although I know the trees at Flatford are integral to the garden's wildlife value, I don't think about them as much as I should - probably because they largely get on with the business of being trees…

 

In winter, plant growth slows as low light levels and cold temperatures enclose them. Many lose their leaves or die back to survive the harsh conditions and at this time, inevitably, the mind of many a gardener turns to spring.

 

 

Not being so different ourselves, we’ve been planting many of the bulbs that will provide much of the early floral interest in the garden – both from our point of view, and that of…

Whilst doing my usual happy rummaging in the garden today, I noticed a large bumblebee with a tail the colour of glowing embers sluggishly clinging to the bark of a field maple. It was quite nippy today, and it seemed that the air temperature was just a little too low for her to be active. She was more than likely a queen red-tailed bumblebee, Bombus lapidarius, searching for a place to sleep away the winter.

Bumblebees…

 

'The marigolds are blurring the boundaries between seasons'

 

The wooded hillsides seemed to move particularly sharply from green to red, yellow and gold this year and like most years, I wish I’d had the foresight to start a nature diary long ago.

Searching around the internet, I came across the Nature's Calendar Website which includes maps of events like ‘first autumn tinting’ for a range of tree…

Today we planted 230 English bluebell bulbs in the woodland garden. Bluebell woods in May (and lately, April) are one of the most romantic and breathtaking sights to be seen in our countryside, and I am very excited to see the results of our work in springs to come….

Many people are not aware of the threat which faces our bluebells. Over the years, gardeners planting imported Spanish bluebells have unwittingly…

Asters in the Entrance Garden 

 

We are coming to the end of our first year at the Flatford Wildlife Garden, but we remain open throughout October on weekends, Thursdays, and the school half-term (24-28th). There’s still a lot to see as late-season flowers like Aster and Ceratostigma continue to provide visual interest and food for visiting insects. I’m also looking forward to some of the foliage colour-transitions…

A view across the Stour towards Mistley

My recollection of this last week has been dominated by a Greenshank count. Mark Nowers, the Warden for Stour Estuary and Wolves Wood, was kind enough to invite me along. By counting the birds at the end of August, between official Wetland Bird Survey dates, we hoped to better appreciate the numbers using the Stour on their migration south, back to African wintering grounds.

…

 

The stand just before the gates opened

 

Another exciting week as the intern - The inaugural Wildlife Fair at the Beth Chatto Gardens, a garden of great renown just outside Elmstead Market, provided ample opportunity to get out and about. We and other local wildlife and conservation organisations, set up stands and gave talks and demonstrations, sharing our work and enthusiasm with an excellent crowd.

Mark Nowers…

So here we are, a week after the official opening of the garden and - importantly for me - five weeks since I joined the RSPB team at Stour Estuary. I’m the new intern, and over the next eight months I will be working with the staff and volunteers to make the garden as good and as relevant as it can be, while learning all I can.

 
As time passes, plants grow. Even within the five weeks I’ve been here I’ve noticed…

 

The combination of warmth and rain of late seems to have been fantastic for the butterflies, on warm days we have been seeing good numbers of red admirals, commas, and small whites, as well as the occasional peacock and gatekeeper…. One morning a few weeks ago, I was pleased to see four different species – large skipper, red admiral, comma and meadow brown simultaneously - over one flowerbed, feasting on the hebes…

We hosted a guided walk starting at the garden on Sunday evening a week ago, walking downstream from Flatford to 56 Gates, part way to Manningtree. After a weekend characterised by torrential showers, it was a beautiful sunny evening, with picturesque cloud formations worthy of one of Constable’s masterpieces. The wind had dropped, and the graceful old buildings of Flatford were reflected in the tranquil surface…