Although the established garden was already rich with spring plants, bluebells, primroses, lilac and apple blossom, there were many non-native species which don’t provide enough food for local wildlife.
Another issue was the lack of sustained pollen throughout the year. Once the spring blossoms had fallen that was about it. Something more was needed.
Tiny saplings were often found in crevices between flagstones, and at the base of fences. It seemed nature was trying to tell us something… the trees wanted to come back!
A bit of research revealed that the native forests in this area would originally have been mainly Ash and Beech forests with an ‘understory’ (a layer of trees that thrive under the main canopy of taller trees in a forest) of Hazel and Hawthorn.
So Mother Nature seemed to already be planting a woodland garden here!
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