I’ve lived in this house for six years now. On day one, I climbed out on the flat room outside my bedroom and admired the impossibly overgrown garden that had been ignored, it looked, for years. It was a tangle of brambles, nettles and roses with very sharp thorns – presumably thorns are good defences if you’re running a bank. Sadly the garden belonged to the freeholder, so I had to watch it become wilder as each summer passed. One year a problem with the drains meant we could send a plumber over the wall and, once he had opened the locked gate from inside, we could at least chop the greenery that was encroaching on the building itself.
Fast-forward four years and I am finally the owner of the freehold and the garden. Oh.
My vision obviously runs far ahead of my abilities, so after an attempt at clearing the brambles, I once again climbed on to the flat roof to look down on… a jungle. I was going to need some help.
I’ve always believed that anything worth owning is worth sharing, so I’ve given the garden to the town.
Well, I’ve given it to Cadernid Resilience, the organisation that operates the Community Fridge and Library of Things, and they have exciting plans.
The intention is that Ty Rebecca Garden will become a community space accessible to everyone from 9am until sunset. After clearing the space, they will add a series of raised beds to grow food and pollinator plants, a pergola to provide a shady space to meet on a hot day, a small pond to encourage wildlife and additional storage for the Library of Things.
I think these kind of spaces – somewhere you can go where you’re not expected to spend money – are a vital addition to any town. An application to the Carmarthenshire Green and Blue Infrastructure Scheme has been submitted to support some of the build costs, but the plan is likely to require a volunteer force too.
Hopefully, this is the first of many garden updates to come.
Microponds
One of the things I’ve done on my flat roof is to create a micropond. Obviously being on the roof, it’s not going to attract many mammals, but it has become a popular spot for lots of different birds – including a few jackdaws this morning – and bees. It is very enjoyable watching a big fat bumblebee sitting on a rock drinking from the pool.
I’ve used the bottom of an old rat cage for mine, half-filled it with gravel and made sure there’s plenty of ways to approach the water. Most mornings, I can hear the small birds having a meeting at the pool and splashing around. I plan on adding some pond plants too, to create a more inviting environment.
Here’s a great tutorial on making a micropond.