Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Frosty morning 3 - bark and black plastic

A garden is a lovesome thing God wot, but our garden has a fair few unlovely areas, it must be said.  Still, a degree of dishevelment  is good for the wildlife, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.  So the ceanothus which died in the cold winter we had last year mostly still lies where it fell, its bark peeling off, as the frost picks out..  I daresay something is using it for food or shelter, if only micro-organisms.






Black plastic has always played quite a significant role in garden management hereabouts, the heavy duty kind sold for making silage clamps.  Currently its holding the raised vegetable beds in stasis. I can't really claim that it's especially eco-friendly as its main purpose is to stop anything growing, but toad and newts and bugs and snails and such like do live under it, and it does do interesting things when it freezes, and the puddles  which collect in it trap dead leaves and other litter.












It's held down by pieces of old roof slate and rocks, which the thrushes use as anvils to break the snails they find in abundance in the many neglected corners of the garden.  


10 comments:

The Crow said...

More divine photos, Lucy. They are providing a glimpse into the secret life of winter-time plants.

The black plastic looks covered in white fur, a bit.

Elizabeth said...

Beautiful...I wish I had more time to go out and explore my winter world a little bit! Blessings!

Dale said...

(o)

marja-leena said...

Oh, wow!! Amazing and beautiful, another world unto itself! You have such a good eye, Lucy.

Dave said...

One thing about your photos -- they are never cliched! Gorgeous.

Kelly said...

Amazing pictures as always Lucy. I wish I had even a half of your eye for taking these pictures. Sorry I haven't been keeping up lately I have let my poor blog sit with all of the notes from my 1st 2 trips of the malcontent tour project. Hopefully soon I will have something up to share. I hope your new year is off to an amazing start.

zephyr said...

Who knew that black plastic could be so beautiful?
Wonderful captures, Lucy

the polish chick said...

tide pools in plastic! love it!

Dick said...

Such a wonderful sense of absolute intimacy with the subjects here. Beautiful as ever, these and those above.

The Joined up Cook said...

Wow. Simply wonderful.

The first one with the brown wood underneath the frosty bark looks like something hatching.

It even seems to have an eye!