Hazel (Corylus avellana) or Coll in Irish is displaying its catkins to the wind so that when they open pollen from the dangling, yellow male catkins will fall on the short, stubby female flowers and so start the lengthy process of producing hazel nuts (1) The female flowers have red styles emerging in short spikes…
Now is a good time to start chitting first early new potatoes so that they can be harvested in June (1). Chitting potatoes gives them a head start so that they can be planted around St. Patrick’s Day and harvested about 80 days later. Make sure your seed potatoes are certified which means they are…
On a bleak winter’s day in the garden, it can be a pleasant surprise to turn a corner and experience a sweet scent wafting in the cold air. An inconspicuous shrub called Sarcococca confusa or Sweet box could be the provenance of the unusual fragrance hanging in the air. This evergreen shrub with glossy green ovate…
Heralds of spring; heralds of hope. The Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) or Plúirín sneachta in Irish appears in January and blooms until March (1). It is one of the first flowers of the year to appear in gardens, semi-shaded places, old graveyards and hedgerows (2). Its drooping white flowers are a cheerful sight in a time…
Common Yew (Taxus baccata) or Iúr/Eo in Irish is an evergreen conifer which like another conifer, the Scot’s pine, is native to Ireland (1a). A mutant, upright, fastigate form of the yew is the Irish yew (Taxus baccata ‘Fastiagata’) the original of which was discovered in Florencecourt, Co. Fermanagh in 1767 (1b). The man who…
Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) or Giúis in Irish is an evergreen conifer which is native to Ireland. It colonised the country about 12,000 years ago but was thought to have become extinct because of wetter climatic conditions about 1500 years ago (1a:1b). This theory, however, was never proven and occasional mention of this tree occurs…
Holly (Ilex aquifolium) or Cuileann in Irish was classified by the 8th century Laws of Neighbourhood as one of the seven ‘nobles of the wood’ (1). These included as well oak, ash, yew, Scots pine, crab apple, hazel. It had a high ranking because it was a most useful tree for war (making chariot shafts…
We can help garden birds survive the winter by providing them with food and clean water (1). This must be done on a consistent basis and strict hygienic standards must be observed. More harm than good can be done by not being consistent and hygienic in our approach. A bird table is a must. Ones…
Even though native hedgerows are excellent for enhancing biodiversity some people are reluctant to plant them because they mistakenly think they are difficult to create (1)Their creation does require some careful planning but when species are selected, and an order of planting decided the planting itself is very straightforward. Plant in any month with an…
Native hedgerows consisting of a wide variety of trees, shrubs and wildflowers are sometimes all that remains of ancient woodland. Most, however, are field boundaries that were planted in the last couple of centuries when enclosure of fields occurred (1). They are often referred to as “corridors for wildlife” and indeed this phrase aptly describes…
Animals that obtain nutrients by eating detritus which is dead animal and plant parts are called detritivores (1). They ingest the nutrients. Examples of detritivores are earthworms, slugs and snails, millipedes, dung beetles and the larvae of beetles and flies.On the other hand, organisms that break down dead plants and animals into substances that plants…
The European larch (Larix decidua) or Learóg in Irish is unique amongst conifers in this part of the world because it sheds its needle shaped leaves in autumn. Conifers are usually evergreen. It is a native of mountainous regions in Central Europe and the Pyrenees. The drooping twigs from the flexible side branches give this…