A Year in the Valley

Pretty waterlogged.  But if you think this is bad, just look at yesterday…

This is the highest I’ve ever seen it.  The three streams had all burst their banks and merged into a flood plain.  I think this is supposed to happen, though.  It is a wetland, after all, so always a bit damp.  The extreme flooding yesterday was caused by rain falling on already saturated farmland and wetland and running down the surrounding hills and valley towards the sea.  The cove in Portmellon, where this valley water runs, out was brown for a long way out.  Our top garden was saturated and squidgy underfoot but is very dry and stony most of the time, so I imagine the soil on the hillsides is very fragile and washes away easily, which is why the water is so brown.

Over Christmas the water meadow had started to dry out and we could see muddy paths for a few days.  The forecast is for a high, with cold and dry weather, so perhaps our pathways will be visible again next week!

The watermeadow is living up to its name, still flooded after over a month.  I feel it’s unlikely that it will dry out now till the spring unless we get a prolonged dry spell over the winter.  Much like the rest of the valley, our patch is mainly green foliage topped with dried Reed Canary Grass.  The foliage that is thriving includes dock, nettles, buttercup, and bedstraw.  Also, there is the suggestion of pussy willow buds forming along the greeny-orange stems of our ‘tall’ willow (left of picture).

Below I have pasted June, September, and December pictures to compare.

It’s a dull day today.  Heavily overcast, but the grass and nettles are bright green clumps, cut through with swathes of pale dried grass and bright orange and dark green of bare branches.

Below you can see June, September and December side-by-side.

The valley is waterlogged, but you can’t see it.  Our watermeadow and our neighbours’ gardens are under up to a welly boot’s height of water, which is obvious where the grass is short.  Below are some photos that I took on Saturday. There were stretches of water in Diagon Alley, Little Venice and the main paths on either side.  The only bits properly above water were Alder Corner, the mound on which the weeping willow stands, and Hard Knot Pass.  (See Map)

The stream burst its banks on both sides and was lapping up at the back fence, soaking the alder saplings.  The current was faster than usual.  In fact, the entire watermeadow has a current as any floodwater flows across from right to left on its way towards the sea.  We planted the alders and dug drainage channels to facilitate the drying up of the watermeadow after flash floods.  This winter flooding will likely hang around for days or weeks at a time till March.  We accept that as it we know it happens every winter.

Plant-wise, our patch is pretty much the same as the rest of the valley – the bindweed is dead, the nettles are slowly dying.  The alders have lost their leaves.  Only the grass looks fresh – and a clump of dock in the foreground. (see top picture)

The valley is full of texture.  Dark green patches over the far side where the nettles are still flourishing.  Brown tufts of dead willowherb and loosestrife are standing strong after the storm.  And knitting it all together are brighter green strokes of fresh reed canary grass lying low across the valley.  Whereas the shoots that emerged in the spring shot up and flowered, those that emerge in the autumn will overwinter and have a growth spurt in the spring.

There are three parallel streams running down towards the sea, sometimes in the winter the low-lying sun lights them up and they glint like mercury, but not today.  Only our stream is visible – but more of that tomorrow…

The orange pops of montbretia have finished; and purple loosestrife is crisp and brown.  The alder leaves are turning brown and curling up.  The young alder whose still green leaves you can see in the foreground is at the foot of the bank.  It has grown over a metre this year.

The general look of the valley hasn’t changed a great deal in the last month.  It generally looks a bit less lush, with the grass blown down a bit more.  The pop of colour that was the purple loosestrife has finished flowering, but the ivy in the top right of the picture is in flower giving a bit of texture to the hedge over the other side.