Finally finished the front garden path last week - I'm really pleased how it turned out!
We hadn't initially intended to have a proper garden path, as I really like having a mown path through the (ahem) longer grass and wildflowers. But when I saw these amazing ammonite stepping stones on the Dunelm website (from their Natural History Museum collection - which is amazing in itself), sometime back in spring this year, I knew they'd look amazing!
The process started [as always] with cardboard laid over the existing grass. I took advantage of doing this right at the end of the 6 weeks of near drought in June, as the existing grass was practically dead and the turfs (turves?) were easier to remove. We put edging up, to discourage grass from moving in and help contain the additional top soil. FYI the topsoil I used was from Wickes and is really lovely stuff, with sand mixed in, its really good quality, compared to other suppliers which is more like builder's rubble. I've planted creeping thyme plug plants around them, and will possibly reseed the soil with some thyme seeds, if the plug plants aren't taking to the soil.
The stones are level (thanks Matt! - I didn't have the patience to do this) and look absolutely stunning with some soil on them - it really highlights the texture and shape.
Other excitement this week has been the discovery of cinnabar moth caterpillars on some ragwort in the front garden [see below]. For some reason there were lots on this single ragwort, which was looking a little worse for wear. I translocated about 20 individuals round to some healthier plants in the back garden.
An interesting observation was that despite placing them on the leaves of the plants, over the course of the night, they had all climbed their way up to the flowers. Presumably their colouration is enough to discourage birds from eating them, allowing them to bask in this relatively exposed spot. I also noticed that they have extremely long, thin hairs radiating off the length of their bodies - although these were not irritating to the touch.
Another interesting discovery in the front garden was evidence of (what I presume to be) leaf cutter bees [see right] in some dogwood and dog rose plants. Obviously this is really cool - and I'd love to know where they are nesting, but it would be great if they could perhaps leave some leaves untouched?
Leaf-cutter bees are of the solitary nature, and according to the RHS website, will nest in "dry plant stems and cavities in wood, some species will use ‘bee hotels’ and nests are sometimes found in other places such as dry soil in plant pots and in wall cavities". The female bee takes the leaf cuttings and shapes them into a cup shape, leaving a small quantity of nectar and pollen. She then lays a single egg (per 'cup'). It's a very caring approach.
There's still plants popping up that I'm still not completely sure what they are [centre]! (Below left: corncockle (Agrostemma githago); right: musk mallow (Malva sylvestris))
I've no photos of this, but we chucked out some sweetcorn cobs into the back garden, assuming that squirrels and the smaller birds would have a peck at them. Turns out the larger birds properly love them! The baby magpies and jackdaws were kept amused for a while, but the gulls attacked them with considerable ferocity - gouging the kernels out from the cob. I did see one young squirrel carrying off a cob, although it dropped it in the garden next door (sorry!)
Lastly, we've extended the roaming of the local hedgehog population, by cutting a hole between us and our next door neighbours. Literally the night after Matt finished the hole, he witnessed one using it to enter and circumnavigate their garden. Now we just need to encourage more houses in the street to do this - maybe one day we will be awarded a Hedgehog Street sign...
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