Home & Gardens

Gardening...

...with botanist Dr Dave Aplin

POND LIFE: A liner of some kind is essential

Pictures: DAVE APLIN

Develop a passion for ‘pond-peering’

One of my favourite places to unwind is peering over the edge of our pond to observe what is happening... there is always something new to fascinate. Water is a vital element for humans and wildlife, so having some in the garden can be rewarding on many fronts. When our decade-old pond liner sprung a leak, I re-dug the pond, increasing its size before replacing the liner. Within weeks newts and pond skaters, absent before, colonised these waters. Key to creating a wildlife haven is to avoid the temptation to add fish, because they predate on most aquatic insect larvae. In a fish-free pond, animal visitors both big and small will find their way drawn by primitive instincts. The plants will take much longer and require your assistance. When digging a new pond, it is important to provide variation in depth. This provides different habitats increasing the diversity of plants and animals living in the pond. Ideally, the deepest spot should be at least 46cm (18 inches) with a range of shallow, underwater shelves at varying depths. The pond should include a gradual slope to one edge, allowing larger animals that fall in an opportunity to clamber out, because there is a limit to how long a hedgehog can perform breaststroke. After excavating the pond, ensure the sides are level. Place a board with a spiritlevel across the pond and raise or lower the sides accordingly. Then, cover the area with soft sand, old carpets or similar, to prevent sharp stones puncturing the pond liner from the weight of water. Pond liners come in various qualities, materials and thicknesses, with prices that match. I tend to opt for a ‘middleof-the-range’ sheet. Sizing the liner is important to get right, and there are various calculators on the internet to guide you. Place the liner over the area (above the sand or old carpet) and add water. Practically, tap water is used to fill ponds, then left to stand for a few days to allow the chlorine to dissipate. As it fills, gently fold creases neatly as levels rise. Once full, trim generously around the edges, cut a vertical slot into the soil around the pond’s edge then push the cut end of the liner into it to hold. If a lawn surrounds part or all of the pond, lay turf so that it just dips into the water. This will create a naturallooking edge to the pond in next to no time. Finally, place a layer of subsoil at the bottom of the pond. Subsoil has less nutrients than topsoil and therefore, less likely to turn your water green. The plants will grow into this layer, while insect larvae seek shelter there. Finally, the pond is ready to plant, a subject we will continue next time.

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Beams CladdingBoards Sleepers Posts Wood Chip Council crackdown on empty homes

By Faith Eckersall

A new council crackdown is designed to bring long-term empty houses or flats in Dorset or the western New Forest back into use. Dorset Council is currently pursuing 80 cases against the owners of empty properties and won’t hesitate to look at more. Apart from the waste of a potential home (there are more than 6,000 people on Dorset’s waiting list) the properties can spark anti-social behaviour, attract fly-tippers and even cause pest infestations. Now a series of Government rule changes have meant that not only are councils incentivised to bring empty properties back into use, it’s a whole lot easier, too. “Where empty homeowners don’t want to work with us, we won’t shy away from taking action,” a spokesman said. And they’ve been as good as their word. From April 2021, houses empty for 10 years or more have been slapped with a 400 per cent Council Tax increase. Properties left empty for two years or more attract 200 per cent of the normal band levy. The council has also warned that enforcement action will be taken if an empty home is affecting the local community. Meanwhile, New Forest District Council has announced it ‘will not hesitate’ to use new powers to crack down on empty housing in its area and earlier this month voted in tough new policies. To report a long-term empty home, visit dorsetcouncil.gov. uk/housing/empty-properties.

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Jo Green is a former allotmenteer, forager, amateur herbalist, pickler and jam maker who squeezed her allotment greenery into her tiny garden

March and April have historically been the busy months in most people’s gardening calendar for planting seeds. If you are anything like me a planting fever comes upon you towards the end of February and you dig out all the seeds you have bought or saved from last year. Not having a greenhouse sometimes our house becomes comandeered by seed trays, and the odd pot or two finds its way into the shower or even in the boot of the car if I am really running out of space! This flurry of activity and lack of space often ends in a lot of frustration and confusion as I just save the seedlings that are thriving and focus on them. In other words, when it comes to seeds, (to throw in a few cliches), I have bitten off more than I can chew and my eyes are bigger than my belly! Most of my family think – as you will probably agree –that seedlings in pots in the shower (even when not in use) is taking things a bit far! RealiSing that many seeds can be planted in September has been a ‘game changer’ for me. Understanding that many plants even do better when planted in late summer/early winter is very exciting and, for me, stops that bur-out of energy in the early spring. Seeds which can be planted in September include flowers like California Poppies, Love in the Mist, Delphiniums and Ammi Majus to name but a few. For vegetables, broad beans and peas, spinach and garlic spring to mind. This September I am trying my hand at growing Babbingtons leek seeds/bulbs which are pictured above with pears and figs from our garden.

Planting September seeds

County’s waste service feels the strain

By Faith Eckersill

newsdesk@stourandavon.net The national HGV driver shortage, housing costs and people working from and staying home are the reasons why Dorset Council’s waste collection service is ‘feeling the strain’. The council cited a number of reasons for the interruption to garden waste and other collections and admitted it has met with local MPs to discuss the issue. A spokesman said: “In Dorset, some crews are regularly having to work overtime and often at weekends, which is not sustainable. “These pressures also come on the back of a year of increased household waste amounts as more people stay and work from home.” The council said that driver recruitment in Dorset ‘has always been challenging’ due to high local housing costs, but the current widescale staff shortages across all depots were ‘unprecedented’. There are multiple vacancies for drivers and loaders across the council’s waste services team and it has already suspended or delayed some garden waste collections. However, it admitted it was now emptying some and new bin deliveries were delayed. The council asks residents to report a missed collection, even if their whole street is affected so they can inform residents on what to do next. People are asked to put out their bins by 6am on collection day because rounds are being carried out differently – and not to dump litter beside overflowing bins.

PRAISE: Hard-working staff

Portfolio Holder for Customer and Community Services, Cllr Jill Haynes, said: “Emptying the bins for almost 380,000 residents will obviously present many challenges, and we are proud to provide one of the best kerbside collection services in the country under normal circumstances.” She thanked Dorset residents for their patience and praised the county’s ‘hard-working waste services crews and admin staff’.

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