Some notes from home

[Stuart Philpott]

We've been here along time now.,we have never used much other than nature in our garden,little sprays or chemicals. My garden is what some might call unkempt it's really a mish mash of food plants for us and food for me little mates. We live out a bit surrounded by fields one of four farm workers cottages and have quite a large garden. influenced by Dales wonderful thread I thought I might share some of what we do at home. Ironically I bought a similar builders tray at almost the same time as Dale just to play with reflections,but it 's way to short really. For the mo here's a couple of plants that I think make lovely bkg's and also attract birds or beasties.

The butterfly bush........buddleia is a cracking plant most of you probably know,maybe what not everyone realises is that some many plants come in different sizes and shapes and colours. It struck me that particular cultivars might actually add something to the images we try to make in the wildlife marco sphere, sure there is also a whole sector of garden/ lower togs as well so in part this is about that side to. anyway back to me flutterby bush. This can come in a range of colours from white to dark purple .Jeepers you can even get dwarf plants for a pot on a balcony if that's all you have. This is my fav it's called black knight a really dark purple with big flower heads I think it looks stunning against an admiral or a peacock much nicer than the more soft purple we oft see
image is sooc I didn't want to enhance anything obviously for anyone who shoots canon you'll have a good idea of the colour of the flowers

_70F4970 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr

I've got a couple of cherry trees here,this is a morello a cooking cherry,the birds also love it,not only the actual fruit but also all the aphidsetc it bring to our garden. This is infront of my front door it also acts as a stop off point to feeders and provides some lovely dappled light to the pool and feeding station. i've planted 3 Daviid Austin Roses around it. Stunning plants and basically let it all do it's things. I wanted to show Dale this one has his set up is very young mine is too for photographic purposes,i'm just benefitting from living in the same place and my own personal brand of madness regarding plants. So basically I have a tree that to all intents and purposes has roses and cheeries for fruit. It makes for some interesting images at times.

Here a blue tit he's got all the food in the world right besides him,but not interested.......... this was lovely to watch again sooc

_70F0681 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr

and finally for now a great spotted woodpecker kidlet whom is very tolerent of me well they all are they are my mates, This is full sun but the light is being worked by the cherry tree to me it sort of gives that woodland feel I want to emulate for a woodland bird shot at a feeder set up again sooc conversion in dpp.

_S2I8881 by Stuart Philpott, on Flickr

That's enough for the mo

seeya

stu

 

[Dale.]

Nice to see it Stu. I've often wondered, having read your input in various threads, about things at your place. I love the natural approach you have used and also, the natural look you are getting. My place is still quite sterile, it's still early days but I'm hoping it will evolve into more natural looking backdrops than I currently have. I like my clean backgrounds and space in my images but I'm also partial to getting some softened texture into my backgrounds too, something that will come with time. The top half of my garden will be the 'wild bit' as my little 'un calls it and my hide is suituated on the bottom edge of it. A wild pond is coming too. Those nettles you mentioned a while back, are growing now too, controlled to an extent though.

I once had 2 buddleia, they were thriving, but that hard winter of 2010 put paid to them. There is an old, derelict lace factory nearby, on the school walk as it goes and that has been covered in buddleia over the summer months. I miss my buddleia and the butterflies they brought in.

Keep at it Stu, you will get out what you put in.

 

[Stuart Philpott]

I wanted you to see some of this buddy,obviously I'm benefitting from time and the way we have always approached gardening, But yours will come it's just time My butterfly bush got through last winter ...somehow.but all the flowers were clobbered by the drought this year. My goldie effort has sort of been clobbered by the dropping sun,the exact spot where I feed on the floor gets no sun 24/7 now just bad luck. with trees bushes and sun angle If I had time i'd have gone much further by now. I've got a big greengage at the back which hopefully will get a biggish box at some stage and a sycamore further down again same treatment . I have two targets LO and kez I'll probably draw a blank but ya never know they are both around here,damned if I can find the LO's though,both visit the garden at times,It's a lovely little dream making images at eye level from my bedroom window. In no way am I conventional garden wise Dale but the garden list is pretty amazing when I think about it..... wren.house sparrow dunnock green gold bull and chafffinch. robin great blue marsh coal longtail tits woodwarbler chiffchaff blackcap great lesser (once 100%)) and green woodpeckers sparrowhawk kez LO tawny, hedgehpg brown rat, wood ,house mice...long and short tailed vole smooth palmate GC newts common frog and toad waesel(not for years now sadly) that's off the top of my 'ead I'm sure i've missed stuff.(insect life is jaw dropping) My only sadness is I have never really been able to make the most of it all,but maybe one day. My point in that list is not about bragging tis showing just what can come if the food and shelter is there and we don't bung chemicals all over the shop. Our roses used to get comments but never were they sprayed nature sorts all this bro one just has to leave her chance to get on with it. Just think what it would be like if every garden had so many visitors Ha I forgot our first reed bunting a few weeks back and fieldfare and redwing every winter on the left windfall apples.

cheers for stopping by mate this was in part for you,i've learnt alot about this togging lark talking to you bro So I wanted to try and give a bit back by encouraging you really,because I know first hand where a garden like yours can go for someone who loves wildlife like I do. and gets their head down and grafts a bit

I'll try and add to it as time permits.

seeya