The frog croaked

As I write, we look set to move into yet another cold snap, reminding us spring is still a little way around that corner. Saturday was a lovely day and good to get on with some more gardening, but it too had its reminders in store. Before I’d ventured far, I made a grisly discovery floating in my pond. Obviously taken by a couple of mild evenings a frog had decided to ‘cast his clout’ and come out of hibernation. Unfortunately for it, those milder evenings were later turning to frost and the poor unfortunate individual, his body blackened by frost bite, will alas not be making the same mistake again .

It was a productive afternoon in the garden, anticipating some frosty weather to come, I managed to mulch and dig over my vegetable beds and my wildbird cover plot, which I will sow in April. If there’s a tool or machine to make a job easier, why make a meal of it has always been my philosophy. What better and more effective tool can one get other than nature? I’ve left my diggings in clumps for the frost to break it up for me, minimising any effort required on my part to achieve the same effect.

For those of you following my blogs, you’ll be pleased to know I did have some supervision from my friendly robin this week, as I moved from digging to clearing rotten leaves from my patio and adding new plants to my planters, the little chap was never far away watching and waiting to grab a morsel.

Tomorrow I shall be talking at a seminar in London Zoo – no I’m not doing Dr Doolittle impressions! The event has been put on by the Borough of Westminster for its grounds managers to raise awareness on managing their parks for biodiversity. There’s a host of presenters from different organisations, illustrating how serious managers of green space are about making their parks good for people and wildlife.