Sun

I’m thinking that spring is in the air. There is a scent to it that makes me want to plant and dig and get closer to nature. Around where we live, we are blessed with a couple of acres out the back, common land that it has been left fallow, with just some horses on it. Now I do love to see horses running but without management the land has become poached and lacking biodiversity until you get into areas the horses don’t like, either through bogginess or stones.

These areas have long grass and scrub amongst the trees – and with a conservationist’s eye, you can see that they would support a variety of wildlife. Up near us, it is full of rubble and neglect. I know people have dumped their rubbish out there because we have cleared ten-year-old nappies from the land. Those things really don’t rot and I want to look out of the studio onto a section of loveliness, not rubbish. We have a fair way to go but I am hoping that we will be installing bird boxes, a bat box and habitat for snakes, hedgehogs and toads.

I guess we are doing this knowing that it is for everyone’s use, rather than just ours, although we will need to discourage the completely destructive and hungry horses from coming into the area. The grass they have access to is in a poor state and the animals themselves are not in great shape either. Is it mean to improve a little bit of land and bring in wildlife? I don’t think so.

We may even chuck a few vegetables out there to go with the fruit trees. Maybe some flowers, especially those that bring insects in. There is a lovely amount of solitary bees in the area, so I’m thinking a sprinkling of meadow flowers and some wood stacks will really work.