NikonGear'23
Images => Nature, Flora, Fauna & Landscapes => Topic started by: Frank Fremerey on May 27, 2018, 15:13:15
-
Hi, fellow gardeners and photographers!
Today I aquired a little project of roughly 3 meter * 10 meter size.
It is a little ecosystem now, but not the way it will be accepted by our landlord.
What I plan to do now is to change this little ecosystem within a few years into something that will regulate itself over time and will please out tennets and the bypassers eyes plus be accepted by the landlord.
My first idea was to use the existing green fleshy/leafy plants (pictures) as indicators for nutrients and water / sun exposition and exchange them with compatible flowering plants plus some small fruiting trees or bushes in the sense of an edible garden / edible city.
Here is the current state of the 30 squaremeters with some pictures of "indicator" plants.
Please help me identify the existing plants and tell me:
- Which nutrients, water & sun exposition do these indicate?
- Do you think it is a good idea to plant small fruiting trees or bushes here?
- Which flowering plants could serve as a replacement for the existing green leafy & fleshy plants?
- How do I preserve the nutrients that are stored in the existing plants?
Pictures:
1) the lot
2 & 3) a tad on the chaotoic side currently
4 & 5) very nice high grass
6 - 9) lots of selfseeding fleshy/leafy green
-
Frank, not a direct answer to your request but one of the most important factors is what the compass orientation of the plot? It appears not to be Northerly...
-
Frank, not a direct answer to your request but one of the most important factors is what the compass orientation of the plot? It appears not to be Northerly...
It has a strong afternoon and evening sun exposition, here is the compass and a pic from above with roughly the same framing
-
I identified two grasses Festuca pratensis and Dactylis glomerata, a dock (Rumex sp.), the umbellifers Aegopodium podagraria and Heracleum sphondyllium, on a first browsing of your pictures. Aegopodium is good for salads, by the way.
-
I identified two grasses Festuca pratensis and Dactylis glomerata, a dock (Rumex sp.), the umbellifers Aegopodium podagraria and Heracleum sphondyllium, on a first browsing of your pictures. Aegopodium is good for salads, by the way.
thank you, Birna. "Giersch" is the edible one with the white flowers looking similar to fennel plants in my eyes. Thank you. Gosh the other one you identified looks similar to my eyes but is said to cause skin irritation and seems not to be edible. "Wiesen-Bärenklau"
There is a lot of traffic on the road passing by so I am not so sure if poison from the exhaust fumes will accumulate inside the plants.
is there a DIY plant identification website or youtube channel? I like to learn a lot more...
-
Aegopodium is almost impossible to eradicate, you'll have to deal with it. It was cultivated as a vegetable in Middle Age but was evicted because of its enthusiastic proliferation. Young leaves are also very good cooked like spinach. I find them even better tasting.
-
Sounds like a most interesting project.
Having discovered which way it faces, the next thing is to discover the pH and condition of the soil. Will it need humus or drainage or some new top soil? And how cold does it get in winter?
Low-growing Alpines, small bulbs and a spreading Japanese maple (Acer pamatum dissectum) might be delightful. Alpine strawberries would be much appreciated by birds (and probably by passers-by) but don't expect them to leave many berries for you.
Make sure you show us pictures as the project progresses.
-
Ann: yes, the idea is a photo documentation.
Yesterday I found a lot of my gardening tools, but not my spade and my sickle. I only remember I stored the last item in some child safe place ... too safe for me?
[pictures follow]
OK a PH and drainage diagnosis is not possible on what grows there spontaneuosly? Do I need to run some tests and which?
-
We are I think talking soil samples here, in simple terms dig a hole and get a little 'representative' soil and do a pH test on that, then pour a bucket of water in the hole, if it linger it's poor drainage, it it disappears fairly quickly then it's good drainage. Not exactly scientific but not a bad indicator. You should be able to get a pH tester from a garden centre. These two measurements should give a reasonable indication of which plants will do well and which plants to avoid.
The aspect seems excellent.
One thing to consider is some plant roots are invasive, your landlord may not be happy if they invade the drains or undermine the foundations. A VERY rough guide is there is usually as much root system below ground as the plant is above ground. Partly as anchorage, partly for supply of nutrients.
-
so: PH = 6.5, which is OK.
I cut down half of the shrubs with my Japanese style saw, cutting wood like cutting warm Butter with a cold knife.
more pictures on my fuji
Another App, another Opinion:
-
Looking at the man's shadow, assuming to took the compass reading about 13:00hrs with 1 hr daylight saving? That would be about right, I think. I find mobile phone compasses a bit variable too.
-
It will take more than persistent motivation to clear this patch of the 'weeds' and turn it into a culture garden, especially Aegopodium podagraria, an old gardener's friend, no need to worry about the mentioned ph of 6,5 at this moment.
-
Fons would certainly have a better opinion but looking at the picture, you seem to have a fairly "normal" ground from a PH perspective, at least if I compare with what I see in my own garden. One specificity though is with the aegopodium, which you seem to have a lot. It is normally indicative of a certain level of moisture. It means also it will be a pain to replace with something else, unless you spend a good amount of time removing all the roots by hand.
Additional information that would be useful:
- pictures of the neighbouring plots
- what is the white rectangle on the last picture? A gutter? If yes, it would explain the aegopodium with, maybe, the location at the corner if water flows this way
- how much time do you want to put in caring for the ground?
- for my own information, I’d like to understand what animal is making the tracks in the aegopodium?
A few advices anyway:
- Your Heracleum is different from those in my garden but I pay attention to cut the seeds before maturity. It can be really invasive, although aegopodium is a tough competitor
- Get the “How to Make a Wildlife garden”, from Chris Baines. Lots of very useful information for such projects.
- At home, I’ve chosen for the “wildlife feeding station concept” which I got from Chris Baines. On 30 square meters, you can implement it for birds, bees, butterflies…
- I would personally go for a meadow (which one is open to discussion: floral, dry, wet, calcareous, …) or for a wood edge. Both as a feeding station.
- You could also have a few bushes, carefully selected for pollen, nectar and fruits accross the year. It would feed insects in spring and automn and birds in winter, for exemple Lonicera fragantissima, Buxus, Rosa canina, Sambucus nigra, Hedera helix arborescens. Except Sambucus, which is very easily pruned yearly, they all stay under 2 meter height.
- If you have a gutter, you could do a great wet meadow by keeping it as it is and introducing Valeriana officinalis, Symphytum, Filipendula ulmaria, Lythrum salicaria, Alium ursinum ... and have a bee paradise
-
Japanese Saws!
Wonderful tools: they cut on the pull-stroke while western saws cut on the push which is far less efficient.
It only seems to have taken the West about three millennia to have discovered the secret.
We had a client who imported fine woodworking tools from both Europe and Japan (and for whom I photographed and produced his catalogues) which is why I have some of these Japanese saws.
-
It will take more than persistent motivation to clear this patch of the 'weeds' and turn it into a culture garden, especially Aegopodium podagraria, an old gardener's friend, no need to worry about the mentioned ph of 6,5 at this moment.
I love gardening. I worked on a farm for quite some time. As soon as I can afford a farm near my city I will probably buy one to turn it into a productive ecosystem.
Here is the PH test:
1) tools
2) cut free a path, dig out a piece of rootlevel
3) mix soil below rootlevel with ph=5.8 water, test with a stripe
-
Japanese Saws!
Wonderful tools: they cut on the pull-stroke while western saws cut on the push which is far less efficient.
It only seems to have taken the West about three millennia to have discovered the secret.
We had a client who imported fine woodworking tools from both Europe and Japan (and for whom I photographed and produced his catalogues) which is why I have some of these Japanese saws.
great tools can help with the work, yes. A lot so. I wait for the direct sunlight to disappear behin the neighbours house in the west, then my saw will show the big bush home...
-
Before cutting it, are you sure it could not be part of your next set up?
-
Bruno!!!!
Wow.That is a lot of advice and questions.
My current plan is to eradicate the bush and plant raspberries, medlar and gooseberry there. To work the ground into nutrient rich deeply crumbly soil, I plan to cut down the existing biology, chop down the woody parts and distribute them.
Then throw in potatoes and radish seeds plus a thick bed of hey to help rot the stuff. The idea stems from the P A Yeoman book: "Water for every farm" and the main concept is to keep existing nutrients on site and then use the root system of radishes and others to do the groundwork and suppress the weeds.
Next step would be to eat the potatoes, cut the radish green just before flowering amd let the rest of the radish rot underground to encourage a deep airification and microorganisms that foster soil fertility.
This is a book. I believe the authorn knows what he is talking about. but it is my first practical test
that process of biologicak soil preparation needs one year, in the meantime I want to decide what to plant. Only the fruiting bushes are set for me, I will buy them now and plant them.
-
Before cutting it, are you sure it could not be part of your next set up?
I will leave half of the bush to the neighbours
-
Japanese Saws!
Wonderful tools: they cut on the pull-stroke while western saws cut on the push which is far less efficient.
It only seems to have taken the West about three millennia to have discovered the secret.
Japanese planes works the same way. :) I was surprised when I had realized for the first time that the western saws and planes works the other way around! :o
-
I started in 94 to adapt my garden to increase and support wildlife. First for butterfly, then birds, solitary bees, insects in general and some plants that have been wiped out by herbicides. Then, I naturally started macro …
A very different approach than yours.
Let me know how it works with Aegopodium, I know many people who would be very interested in an efficient way of getting rid of it.
-
I started in 94 to adapt my garden to increase and support wildlife. First for butterfly, then birds, solitary bees, insects in general and some plants that have been wiped out by herbicides. Then, I naturally started macro …
A very different approach than yours.
Let me know how it works with Aegopodium, I know many people who would be very interested in an efficient way of getting rid of it.
no. The idea is to support wildlife. Bumblebees, Bees, Buttelflies, Birds, Neighbour's kids. But first I want to use this method I described for soil fertility and restortation. The old bush does not flower, does not fruit and no birds build their nest in it. Same with the grasses, although some of them are quite decorative.
In some years we see temperatures below -20°C here, a regular winter barely sees -10°C. We have snow about every trird year, most of the time only Rain.
The trails are children trails probably and could be cat trails. There are some cats reducing the singbird population, although there are still a lot of them. I can hear at least five different species sing at this very moment plus the swifts
-
Question: What would be a good mixture of flowering plants to begin with? I would like a high biodiversity to check for soil characteristics. After one year I should see which of the plants thrive and which suffer. So I'd like some water loving, some drought resistant, some John Doe in that respect.
sure all have to bear some wind from time to time and a fierce bite of direct and reflected sun in the summer +30°C in the shadows yesterday plus light frost every year and hard frost every five or ten years
-
These plants are typical wet meadows and like moist soil: Valeriana officinalis, Symphytum, Filipendula ulmaria, Lythrum salicaria, Alium ursinum . They are fairly robust and with a little care should survive Aegopodium. It should be fairly easy to collect seeds in nature end of the summer, a bit earlier for Alium ursinum, or look for a plant shop specialized in indigeneous species. You can also try Ficaria verna by spreading some tubers collected in nature, Alliaria petiolata, whose seeds should be mature soon, but it flowers the second year only.
You can try Dipsacus fullonum and Oenothera biennis for dry land but honestly, looking at your Aegopodium, I would definitely bet on a wet soil.
Check also which birds you do have around. Some feed on seeds, others on insects which should influence your planting.
Do not discard the grasses too fast: they are host plants for the caterpillars of a bunch of butterflies, mostly brown, you will start seeing in early summer
-
Bruno: thank you for the buying & collecting list. I will try my best, online or offline.
The concept I have in mind might be flawed, so please point me to mistakes it contains: I want to keep soil layering and all nutrients local to the site plus give the flowering and fruiting plants a head start with my mulching and raddish effort. In the second year I will see wich of the weeds have survived the treatment and if they behave, I will leave some but cut them down before they set seeds.
PS a few days of quiet, my virus infect got worse, I will check into a hospital for further examination tomorrow morning.
-
obsolete
-
Can someone please tell me what I see growing here?
Thank you!
-
rocket, lupinus, serradele, phacelia?
-
phacelia and lupinus I did plant. Rucola, ah, interesting. Sandklee? Auch gut. Danke. I was hoping for the raddish to appear, but I do not see any
-
phacelia and lupinus I did plant. Rucola, ah, interesting. Sandklee? Auch gut. Danke. I was hoping for the raddish to appear, but I do not see any
the first looks like radish?
-
the first looks like radish?
I did a raddish picture search in google and to my eyes the last of the pictures could be raddish
-
It's often hard to recognise seedling leaves, (cotyledons) the plants may need to mature a bit maybe for positive ID?
-
Frank, I can't help with the plant IDs, but I like to follow your ecological adventure.
-
It's often hard to recognise seedling leaves, (cotyledons) the plants may need to mature a bit maybe for positive ID?
Yes, it is an adventure to wait and see what grows. It is already clear that parts on the lot receive significantly more light than others which is one argument for growth.
It is also clear to me to weed out the stuff that grows in the parts of the lot I did not seed anything into, which is probably also not what I want.
Fons' plant IDs show me that some of the seeds I sew seem to set root, exciting.
I guess it needs two years before I can definitly say it did work out the way I intened it too
-
there are different patches in the small lot where the growth is very different from other parts. In some patches there is only new stuff sown by me in others the former plants came through strongly in others the did grow nothing. Some are thin, some are thick. others are 100% Aegopodium. Here is now:
-
it greens so green
-
two shots of today. Some plants seem grown up now. The wind makes base ISO shooting really difficult. I also shot a series at 1250 ISO and I did not like the result very much. I also edited the shots shown here.
first picture looks like Daikon Raddish to me
second picture is buckwheat I guess
-
After the winter mustard survived unexpectedly, phacelia prospers, raddish flourishes, clover, deadnettle also and lupine, but many others are not to be seem, some parts are a thicket, some are next to bare earth. Of the more than 80 species I sew only a small fraction grew...
-
Nice selection Frank
But it’s still not too late to sow some Fenugreek seeds.
You’ll have a wonderful crop of Methi by summer. Wonderful side dish for your favourite Octopus Vindaloo with buckwheat rotis!!!
-
On the cooking side, Aegopodium is a really good vegetable, sautéed in a pan with butter, a bit of garlic and nutmeg. Pick the young shoots without hesitation, it will regrow enthusiastically. I think I said it already earlier in the thread but it was banned from the vegetable garden a few centuries ago because it would take over everything else. The only way to keep it under control is to eat it continuously :)
-
On the cooking side, Aegopodium is a really good vegetable, sautéed in a pan with butter, a bit of garlic and nutmeg. Pick the young shoots without hesitation, it will regrow enthusiastically. I think I said it already earlier in the thread but it was banned from the vegetable garden a few centuries ago because it would take over everything else. The only way to keep it under control is to eat it continuously :)
This garden is intended to become a decorative Permaculture within a few years. It lays just next to a busy road and I am not sure if I want to eat the stuff. I try to keep the biodiversity high and Aegopodium has therefore to be suppressed in the beginning for the others to get a chance to grow. Mustard and Raddish and Lupine and Buckwheat seem to do a good job in that respect, I will see how the other 80 species I have sown will enter theit territorry. Raddish will be cut down before it sets seeds, but there are enough Raddishe seeds in the ground for a few years anyway.
phacelia & mustard (I guess)
-
Nice selection Frank. But it’s still not too late to sow some Fenugreek seeds. You’ll have a wonderful crop of Methi by summer. Wonderful side dish for your favourite Octopus Vindaloo with buckwheat rotis!!!
There are a lot of Clover species seeds in the ground already, Colin. I guess there is Fenugreek seeds in the mix too, We will see how they will develop...
daikon raddish & lupine (IIRC)
-
OK, some more pics, the first set with 2/200VR on extension:
-
second set, 2/200VO EXT (2) & 2.8/60G Micro (2)
There were also some bees, but for bees the 4/300PF on extension is much better!
-
Can I judge that your ecosystem has started to work as planned? Nice to see the small lives starting to grow. :)
-
Most of the species documented so nicely from this patch are annuals or short-lived perennials. Ecosystems move towards a "climax stage" if external conditions are approx. steady state. In this case the climax probably is a low-diversity vegetation cover in which Aegopodium predominates. Enhanced occurrence of many insects butterflies and snails is likely.
-
I hope snails will be in shorter supply and my effort to supress Aegopodium is successful. I'd like to encourage a balance of perennials and self seeding annuals with a higher diversity to attract bees and butterflies and birds nesting in the neighboring trees. Bushes are not a great idea because the high population of cats will probably kill all birds trying to nest there. I will also add an espalier of fruit on the south end to attract more birds and bees.
-
Can I judge that your ecosystem has started to work as planned? Nice to see the small lives starting to grow. :)
ants and bees and butterflies and some beetles are starting to appear. My guess is that of the 80+ species I have sown only 15 to 20 have yet appeared, but many are later blooming, like summer or autumn
-
two additiond from the frog perspective with a wide angle:
-
Dandelions are a certain sign of an ecosystem with latent instability .... The Northern Dead-Nettle likewise.
-
Dandelions are a certain sign of an ecosystem with latent instability .... The Northern Dead-Nettle likewise.
My current task is to stabilize the system.
What would you recommend?
PS: My goal is to attract insects and birds
-
Put a goat into the system.
-
Put a goat into the system.
ok. I try to find a "rent a goat" and fence the animal into my 30sqm. How long should it stay there?
-
Until you eat it? The point is that a functional ecosystem needs a flow of energy and material through it with feedback loops. It cannot be stagnant. The arrow of time has to be unidirectional.
-
Until you eat it? The point is that a functional ecosystem needs a flow of energy and material through it with feedback loops. It cannot be stagnant. The arrow of time has to be unidirectional.
I do not think I will get a permit to keep a goat in the front garden...
-
You can mow it, whatever you do the vegetation will change into a monoculture, unless you culture your patch into a vegetable garden for instance.
-
You can mow it, whatever you do the vegetation will change into a monoculture, unless you culture your patch into a vegetable garden for instance.
mow & mulch
or
mow & take away the nutrients?
it has not been a monoculture before I took over and I did sow the seeds of 80+ species, why should a monoculture be set?
-
Mow and remove. Once or twice a year.
You'll probably end up in a monooculture of Aegropodium anyway.
-
Mow and remove. Once or twice a year.
You'll probably end up in a monooculture of Aegropodium anyway.
currently Aegopodium is a minority. Esp where mustard is predominant. I plan to selectively uproot Aegopodium whenever I see it.
Mow an remove? good.
-
Do *not* uproot it -- it'll just disperse even faster from the cut rhizome parts.
-
Do *not* uproot it -- it'll just disperse even faster from the cut rhizome parts.
in the well suppressed parts, where Aegopodium is now minority, I uprooted and removed the Aegopodium and immeriately sew mustard and watered the piece. No Aegopodium came back after now half a year. In parts with bare soild Aegopodium came back strongly and I am set to throw it our and add more mustard...
-
A little inventory control.
Some parts are heavily infested by Aegopodium, but I still see a lot of different species.
We cannot bring a goat into the picture for many reasons, not even an electrical one.
What to do in April 2019? What to do in May?
-
These pictures show Cuckoo Flower Cardamine pratensis being quite frequent. Cannot remember whether this crucifer has been listed before in your patch?
-
These pictures show Cuckoo Flower Cardamine pratensis being quite frequent. Cannot remember whether this crucifer has been listed before in your patch?
is is a good sign or a bad sign???
I read on the web about the ecology. It seems to be a nectar rich perennial that attracts a lot of insects. Very nice. That is what I want all year round.
-
Cardamine is a typical meadow species. so on its own a good sign. Whether it will persevere on the patch is an open question though. This is not a very competitive species.
-
Cardamine is a typical meadow species. so on its own a good sign. Whether it will persevere on the patch is an open question though. This is not a very competitive species.
I read it builds a Rhizom as Aegopodium does. Aegopodium is well supressed in the parts where Raddish grows. Some gardeners recommend to add potatoes to the mix for Aegipodium supression. In the current mix it is next to impossible to weed Giersch without destroying the competition....
-
[Frank's ecosystem] insects & flowers
-
many more insects in action to follow, all found on my 30sqm in half an hour:
-
next set. I changed earlier from D850/300PF to D500/300PF/TC14E3 which seemed to be a very appropriate choice in stark light!
-
I like the shots featuring the backlit bees most.
-
Nice one, Frank, with the D500/300PF combo. Is this cropped?
-
Nice one, Frank, with the D500/300PF combo. Is this cropped?
Some are cropped, some heavily cropped, some OOC
More from today (300PF & TC14E3 & D500):
-
I like the shots featuring the backlit bees most.
mooooorrrreeee:
-
is there a biologist here, who knows these insects?
As a layman I feel I did find many species but I am far from having documented all of the insects I saw with my bare eyes...
some of them are really small like hover flies in different colors, some are really fast like big bumble bees or some very nervous ones even hard to catch with the bare eye.
-
Precisely identifying a bee, fly, hover fly, etc ... is not easy. The key below (sorry, in French) is a simplified one :) https://typo3.natagora.be/fileadmin/Interreg/Sapoll/pdf/cles_des_genres_SAPOLL_v7.1.pdf
Personally, I’m happy with a broad category and the identification of a few easy to recognize like Bombylius major that you have: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombylius_major
BTW, I’m sure you thought about it already but setting up a few hollow tubes of varying diameters would provide a nesting place for solitary bees.
Youre project is evolving very nicely.
-
Precisely identifying a bee, fly, hover fly, etc ... is not easy. The key below (sorry, in French) is a simplified one :) https://typo3.natagora.be/fileadmin/Interreg/Sapoll/pdf/cles_des_genres_SAPOLL_v7.1.pdf
Personally, I’m happy with a broad category and the identification of a few easy to recognize like Bombylius major that you have: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombylius_major
BTW, I’m sure you thought about it already but setting up a few hollow tubes of varying diameters would provide a nesting place for solitary bees.
Youre project is evolving very nicely.
A bee hotel? I created a natural fence that consits of sticks and straws and hollow blades and provides plenty of nesting opportunities... I will post a picture soon
-
I'm just catching up on these Frank.
What a lovely collection - there's a great sense of "life" about them, over and above pure etymological capture.
The furry hoverfly-type ones have loads of character don't they?
-
I'm just catching up on these Frank.
What a lovely collection - there's a great sense of "life" about them, over and above pure etymological capture.
The furry hoverfly-type ones have loads of character don't they?
these are real assholes with their life style. The Bombylius major shoot their eggs near the nests of solitary bees. Their offspring then eat up the food stored by the bee and later eat their larvae alive.
Also fascinating: they can fly like Hummingbirds and some species can suck the nectare without touching the plant with their landing gear. I got three species of bee flies here, but did not manage to picture them all...
-
I am not impressed with the Canon 500D Diopter...
... it reduces the resolution of the 300PF very much
...glassless extension or teleconverter are the way to go: very flexible & high resolution
This batch is Canon 500 Diopter Nikon D500 Nikkor 300PF
-
some nice extended shots:
-
My stay in Scotland fell into a fast forward warm & wet period. The plants are now breast high and bees are many although we currently caught a cold spell...
This is the power of the D850 from full frame down to 100% crop of the same file:
-
My garden does not really cater to German death & order regime with stones & glyphosat, it is a feast of life & chaos just like me!
-
And some details, also for plant identification (hint: there was not goat in the picture, so stop searching ...):
-
And some MORE details, also for plant identification (hint: there was not goat in the picture, so stop searching ...):
-
The purple flower in the few last photos is Agrostemma githago (Corncocle). An "old-fashioned" weed of agricultural fields. The grass is probably Poa trivialis (Rough Meadow-Grass), which prefers fertile and damp soils.
A member of the Daisy family early in the series with blue or purple flower heads is Centarurea cyanus (Cornflower). The clover with a long dark red inflorescence is Trifolium incarnatum (Crimson Clover).
All except perhaps the Poa are likely only temporary members of your little ecosystem.
-
the long term goal of my project is a set of perennial plants who will stabilize as an ecosystem in a damp fertile environment. The 80+, mostly annuals you see here in the first season are chosen as diagnostic species. The "Wiesenschaumkraut" is a perennial that creates, just like the Adipidium not only a plethora of seeds but also a mycel. The soil is heavily overseeded with annuals that last long in the ground. All that has not come this year has a chance to come later. Now I have to dig into resesrch which perennials are good candidates for a damp nutrient rich sun bathed lot...
When will be the right time to mow and is it a good idea to pyrolyze the Stuff and dig it in for year two?
I do want to encourage the biodiversity of soil organisms
Agepodium still has to be further discouraged.
Should I bring in flowering cabbage or mushrooms?
-
https://www.google.com/search?q=ecosystem+restoration+in+damp+fertile+environments&oq=ecosystem+restoration+in+damp+fertile+environments&aqs=chrome..69i57.19802j0j4&client=ms-android-huawei-rev1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
for further reference...
... on global impact of the concept
-
Frank, you are creating an amazing ecosystem out there. The small precious visitors seem to prove that the environment is healthy and natural.
-
Frank, you are creating an amazing ecosystem out there. The small precious visitors seem to prove that the environment is healthy and natural.
thx, Akira.
As humans are part of nature, every Ecosystem is "natural" in a way ... Also the Androidecosystem or the Bayer-Monsanto-GEO-Monoculture-Ecosystem ... "natural" in the common sense is but: grown without human intervention, not intended by humans ... in that sense my project is not "natural" but "planned and designed" ...
-
Very nice; what we call Bolderik, (Agrostemma) in Netherlands, eliminated from cereal fields nowadays since its seeds are poisonous for humans.
-
thx, Akira.
As humans are part of nature, every Ecosystem is "natural" in a way ... Also the Androidecosystem or the Bayer-Monsanto-GEO-Monoculture-Ecosystem ... "natural" in the common sense is but: grown without human intervention, not intended by humans ... in that sense my project is not "natural" but "planned and designed" ...
Frank, I would agree. But at least the insets are "naturally" attracted to your ecosystem thanks to the absence of the lack of bug killer.
-
Frank, I would agree. But at least the insets are "naturally" attracted to your ecosystem thanks to the absence of the lack of bug killer.
mainly due to the presence of a selection of rare local species feeding wild bees. Thus my selection of these species.
most of the species are self seeding annuals. My aim is to shift the meadow towards perennial species adapted to moist nutrient rich soil. Why? Becsuse the soil here is moist and nutrient rich obviously and because my meadow is destined to become a means of pumping carbon from the air to the soil
http://www.perennialmeadows.com/
-
It's good to see the progress you're achieving Frank.
I tried some transplanting recently. There's a herb called "Jack by the Hedge" in the UK, which I believe is Alliara petiolata
I've never had any luck getting the seeds to germinate, so when I found a big patch of it, dug up a plant to bring home
It has an unusual taste - both garlic and (sometimes hot) mustard
-
It's good to see the progress you're achieving Frank.
I tried some transplanting recently. There's a herb called "Jack by the Hedge" in the UK, which I believe is Alliara petiolata
I've never had any luck getting the seeds to germinate, so when I found a big patch of it, dug up a plant to bring home
It has an usual taste - both garlic and (sometimes hot) mustard
https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/new-un-decade-ecosystem-restoration-offers-unparalleled-opportunity
we are on the right track obviously
-
They get a bit hysterical about Garlic Mustard (which they call an invasive!) around here:
http://nyis.info/invasive_species/garlic-mustard/
I have plenty of it and I find it pretty so I mostly just let it do its thing!
-
They get a bit hysterical about Garlic Mustard (which they call an invasive!) around here:
Thanks for this link Ann, I’m quite surprised and wonder if this is a slightly different variant or if conditions in the area they talk are much more suitable for it to grow then here?
Whenever I’ve encountered it in the UK, it forms a small percentage of the wider range of species growing in hedges and roadside verges.
Have you ever eaten it (eg. in salads? It can be pungent, but I like it)
-
I am fairly certain that the Mustard, like a number of other British wild flowers, came here originally in farm seed and those species which could survive our rather harsh winters went forth and multiplied.
This was a farm until the 1950s so I always have a goodly crop of "Invaders" including Dandelions, Celandines and Coltsfoot among others.
-
The yellow persistant stuff is mustard, the fleshy white ones are raddish.
Instead of a goat I tend to add humans to the ecosystem and plant a variety of nutrient sucking cabbage, which will obviously be harvested before setting flower, taking away the overdose of fertility bad for biodiversity in wildflowers. If humans do not harvest the cabbage, it will bloom and make for nice photos
-
New entry today, the only one in my garden yet. Please id plant and super small bee. Diameter of the white flower is roughly 2 or 3 centimeters across...
Thank You!!!
-
another new entry to my garden, possibly a thistle?
-
1. a first poppy and another new entry to the garden ...
2. several states of trifolium incarnatum
-
dramatic edit of wild bee on trifolium incarnatum
-
more shots of today, esp a new insect species I did not see before...
-
yet another kind of bee ...
-
and a super heavy collector on a "Kornblume" (possibly Centaurea cyanus) as we cann them here ...
-
and one in flight of my black Bombadillas on a bush of Phaceliae (whacky edit , YES!)
Gosh, I just see the details on the legs, this might even be a bee ...
-
sweeter, not so aggressive edit ... of yet another bumble bee
-
And another shot of a very nice "Kornblumenblau" in my meadow
-
And another shot of a very nice "Kornblumenblau" in my meadow
The overall feel of this shot shows a lovely variety & diversity
-
a quick snapshot of my bee meadow today
finished work on the neighbouring lot
-
The overall feel of this shot shows a lovely variety & diversity
yes it is divers and colorful and it makes many people, insects and birds very happy
-
The creation of your Bee Meadow has obviously involved a lot of work but you must be thrilled with the beautiful way in which it has all worked out.
-
The creation of your Bee Meadow has obviously involved a lot of work but you must be thrilled with the beautiful way in which it has all worked out.
Most of all I enjoy learning a lot. In the original mix I put to many raddish seeds. The raddish fell on the other plants because it overshot, did not create a deep root but shiploads of stems and leaves which made it unstable ....
the second lot is now seeded without raddish and I also did not put any mustard into the mix ...
-
another poetic shot with the X100T
-
more from my egosystem. A quarter of it received a close shave and I will transplant some wonderful flowers and grasses from my building lot into that part soon....
-
more from todays dive into the windy meadow:
-
and a comparison f/2 vs f/5.6 (D850 & 2/200VR)
-
I had to mow at least part of the garden, because things got too much out of hand (I was the goat ;-)
The other part is still dominated by Clover with a lot of Aegopodium underneath. I will leave it for the time being
Now I want to transplant the nice stuff from my building lot into the "goat" part, yet, I do not have the right vehicle to transport it...
-
1. The seeds of the raddish are almost ripe
2. all colors of "Kornblumen"
3. after the red trifolium now the white one!
-
Getting proper names on your species continues to be problematic. From the last series, three different grass species (Dactylitis glomerata and Lolium perenne, the third uncertain), and probably Alsike Clover Trifolium hybridum. There is a member of the Rubiaceae (Bedstraw Family) as well, but not identifiable as to genus yet. This family is the fourth largest one of vascular plants, thus lots of alternatives for your plant :D
-
Thank you, Birna. I will post a list of seeds I put into this lot
-
planting perennial edibles ...
-
today
-
....
-
....