A frog does not drink up..

.. the pond in which it lives.

Attributed to a North American  Indian proverb, possibly from the Sioux.

Over the weekend the garden group moved their attention away from the Jurassic garden paved area and started clearing the large amount of branches and other garden green waste.  It was piled up and fed into the shredder.  The shredder was busy for several hours and we eventually recycled the garden waste into ten large sacks of wood chips. These have been distributed along the path alongside the fence with Highclere House.

The pile of branches and sticks

Feeding the shredder!

Nearly there!

Ready for planting up

This area will be a link between the Jurassic Garden and the main garden.  It will be planted with large leaved plants which will have magnificent structure and large flower heads.  We have ordered Ligularia (The Joker); Rodgersia aesculifolia and Eupatorium maculatum.  The plants have been ordered and will hopefully be put in place next weekend.

Under the Sycamore tree which is the centre-piece of the ammonite shell hundreds and hundreds of lady bird larvae were busy.  They were feasting on the green aphids which had dropped down from the Sycamore leaves.

Close up of the ladybird larvae- you can see the aphids

There are at least seven larvae in this picture. (click to enlarge)

We have details of the spider hunting wasp reported in the last blog. A colleague has identified it as being Anoplius infuscatus. A species which is found along the coast of Southern Britain. A couple of  pictures from the internet.

Anoplius infuscatus with prey

Anoplius infuscatus

Elsewhere the garden group started tidying up and trimming back.  The work on the Jurassic area has turned time away from the garden itself but once the path materials have been delivered work in the garden will be resumed.

The garden club beds have been tidied

The curly Kale is just ready for picking

The Sedum provides late flowers for bees and butterflies

We hope that the first load of  material for the Jurassic area will be delivered at the end of this week.

Finally at the end of the day there is nothing better than tea!