PREPARING FOR THE WINTER FREEZE

Frosts, fog and ice scrapers have been the order of this week, which is why I’m pleased that my garden is ready for winter – and also next spring.

The fallen leaves from a couple of the small trees have provided the borders with a covering of nature’s own fertiliser, while crocus, snowdrop, daffodil and tulip bulbs have been planted in the non-veg areas.

Added to that is the horse manure from a local farm and I’m hoping for a very colourful and early start to spring in the garden.

There is still pruning to do and the dismantling of the temporary greenhouse, but I can do nothing more to help the garden been in the best condition to see it through the coldest season of the year.

One more thing I’ll be doing is fixing the second bird camera to the sparrow nestbox and I hope this is in place by Christmas.

The other camera is still working, well it is at this point of writing, and it’ll be interesting to see when any birds make use of it to roost.

I’ve started to see a couple of blackbirds in the garden and the sparrows, both tree and house have made daily visits, but there’s not been more birds visiting recently.

It’s hard to actually tell to be fair, as most days of the week I’m not here in daylight.

Perhaps a new batch of peanuts will tempt a few more species in, although the fat snacks haven’t had that effect. That said they are being eaten, just not when I’m around.

As we near December and the potential for even colder weather, I suspect the numbers and species of birds will increase – as will my vigilance to the menace of the local cats.