A Year in the Valley

Sometimes, when you’re looking for something new, you see something that’s been there all along.  Brambles are an example, they are rambling through the bank (above the Fernery), and we don’t really like their tenacity, but they are underpinning and fixing the other plants in place, which is good for helping to prevent the bank eroding.  We used to have eight pampas grasses on the bank and the brambles wove around them in a tangled mess, but we removed the pampas grasses last summer and in the craters that were left behind we planted a silver birch and a mountain ash and let the bank itself fill in the gaps.  It did this fairly quickly with grasses, ferns, and flowers.  The brambles could have taken over but haven’t so far and a nice balance has been struck.  We’re aware that this happy situation may not last though as brambles are prolific at sending out runners, which touch down, grow roots, and pop up a new plant.