We are currently renovating a beautiful, if a little wild, area in front of the main farmhouse into our very own Bird Garden. It is a wonderful spot - looking down the valley to the sea, with some flower beds, pretty shrubs, a pond full of newts and plenty of quiet spots to sit.
View from the Bird Garden:
A colourful visitor:
A lot of the planting in the flower beds was replaced last year, but has suffered rather from the Great Sheep Invasion of 2023, so may need to be added to this year. The bushes in this area are a favourite hangout for our five beautiful chickens, so if you hear a bush gently clucking, you will know why!
One project that we have just completed within the Bird Garden is the planting and landscaping of a small boggy area. We've carved out two tiny trickling streams, lining them with rocks and giving them a gravel bed. We've also planted some water-loving perennials which will hopefully thrive in our soggy ground.
It was muddy work (well, for the husband - I stood holding the baby and 'directing'...)!
Red-stemmed dogwoods are now dotted about, which will be leafy bushes in the summer months but give winter colour when the leaves drop. Between the dogwoods are some statuesque ostrich ferns (well, they will be statuesque, but are currently babies, with just a few tiny tightly-curled fronds!). Around these larger plants, we have dotted pops of colour, from candlestick primulas and purple loosestrife, as well as some elegant arum lilies and bright orange globe flowers. All of these plants enjoy slightly soggy feet, so I am hopeful it will flourish!
Along the streams, we have planted a beautiful little groundcover plant called 'chameleon plant' (houttuynia cordata) which has bright red, yellow and green patterned leaves and is a marginal plant so happy with its roots completely submerged. Already present around this area are some native irises which track the stream down into the fields below, and some magnificent bullrushes for that classic bog garden look. Finally, there are some well-established clumps of gunnera which give a lot of structure round the looser planting.
It doesn't look much right now - mostly mud and newly settled rocks - but here and there there are a few hopeful shoots and leaves emerging! Let's see how it looks in midsummer and in the years to come. Given that we are very much novice gardeners, I will be very proud if it actually works out!
Our happy free-range hens poking about whilst we were planting:
One of the most exciting additions to the Bird Garden is our newly built gazebo. Nestled in the bog garden and accessed via a newly paved garden path and boardwalk over the streams, it is the perfect place to birdwatch or enjoy a spot of afternoon tea. Still needing to be painted (in cream and soft grey, to match our chicken house...) , but already a wonderful place to sit and relax for a moment and listen to the birdsong! We will soon kit it out with some binoculars and a few bird books too so we can identify the feathery friends visiting the Bird Garden. A few bird feeders and a bird bath nestled amongst the bushes should tempt them out!
Here are some photos of its construction, over a rather cold wet March weekend:
And how it looks currently, being inspected by the little ones; waiting for a table and chairs and its paint job!
We are looking forward to seeing how the Bird Garden develops as we move towards summer, and opening it up to our holiday cottage guests to enjoy!
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