The Plot

2002 incursion

The garden faces southeast. The woodland at the end, and the boundary to the south side contain many mature sycamore trees. Great for the squirrels to have fun in but not so brilliant when it comes to letting sun into the garden. It is on the side of a hill with the southwest side ground level probably around 1.5m higher than the opposite side. The soil is good old London clay with all the joys of ground movement and impossible digging conditions that that brings.

The section of the garden furthest from the house borders on to a local play area and in 2002 that border was breached and damage done to the fence and to the fledgling pond. For years therafter we did nothing to this part of the garden, concentrating our efforts on the bit nearest the house and letting the wilderness take over instead.

2014

By 2014 the two boughs of the aged apple tree had also collapsed. On the plus side, the woodpile formed a perfect environment for the stag beetles that frequent the garden on an annual basis. On the negative side, it looked a mess. It was also dangerous. The concrete paths laid by a former owner of the property had cracked and moved and were now covered in moss and ivy. During the 2002 incursion the fledgling pond that we had laboriously dug was filled with rubble and the lining was breached. However, it clearly retained enough water to enable a small  population of toads to survive. It was still damp, and there was sufficient undergrowth to hide under during the day. And my goodness, was there a fantastic food supply. In fact, how have I got this far without mentioning SLUGS.  Everywhere. Eating everything I planted. In fact it was only after years of concluding that I was a really rubbish gardner that I realised I'd actually been spending hundreds of pounds feeding lovely delicate plants to the slugs and snails.

Anyhow, I digress. Back to the "wilderness". That's where we were back in 2014, occasionally finding toads overwintering in the outside loo!