absolutely key work- well done
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absolutely - I have just discovered that the English Allett cylinder mowers are available in Australia so a new acquisition is on the cards
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The best for a striped lawnâŚ
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yes looking forward to those stripes - front lawn is a tiftuf Bermuda so responds particularly well to a short cut
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Approaching peak tulip territory now, with the colours enhanced by the growing leaf canopy of the birch and lime trees. Offset by bluebells, cow parsley and lady smock - amongst others. The alliums are hidden within but will shoot up through in the next few weeks once the tulips have gone over.
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I find this fascinating. I have a large field, grass meadow really, which Iâd like to enhance. The idea of a large swathe of tulips through it attracts. Can I ask if that tulip field returns to grass or is machine cut at any time in the season?
Hi Bruss â the land is council-owned and the Green used to be mowed each month to an inch of its life. Several years ago neighbours and I asked the Council to cease mowing in an attempt to ârewildâ it â and we planted wildflowers etc.
The problem with that, however, is that it can look scruffy â and some folk donât like it. So we had the idea of planting up the Green with all sort of bulbs â in their thousands. First crocuses, followed by tulips and then alliums. No one notices the grass growing though it and so all the wildflowers are thriving.
The Green is mown in its entirety late summer (by the community). In the months before that, paths are mown through the grass to encourage people to wander â and to show there is some intent rather than neglect. Best of luck with your endeavours.
PS my neighbour wrote a short piece about it earlier this week as the BBC are interestedâŚ.
Little Silver: Exeterâs secret woodland glade
If youâre lucky enough, you may stumble across a magical hidden glade less than half a mile from Exeter City Centre. In April, the leaves are unfurling on the lime and birch trees in Little Silver. Beneath them drifts of tulips provide stunning waves of colour, interspersed with snakes-head fritillaries, Anemone blanda, grape hyacinths, snowbells and bluebells; the bulbs are joined by cowslips, Ladyâs Smock, primroses, and honesty. Later in the season there will be several geranium species, cow parsley, Achillea, love-in-the-mist, mallows, mulleins and much more.
How did this oasis come about? Four years ago, the local community took over management of the area from the council, with a view to expanding their communal gardening activities. They wanted to create a wildlife-friendly space that would also enhance the area for residents and the wider community. Residents clubbed together to finance the project with additional funding from the St Davidâs Neighbourhood Partnership. Volunteers created wildlife meadow areas, sowing meadow and woodland seed mixes and planting hundreds of wildflower plugs; âpictorial meadowâ turf got the project off to a fast start with an abundance of colour from spring right through to autumn. They planted an amazing 12,000 tulips and many other bulbs to create a breath-taking spring colour palette.
All the hard work has paid off. The location has quickly become a destination for those Exeter residents in the know, and it has been a source of solace and well-being during the pandemic. It is also benefiting wildlife in the area with a noticeable uptick in the number of pollinator species (bees, butterflies and hover flies) with various bird species taking up residence in the nest boxes. Occasionally, the area is visited by larger animals such as foxes and badgers; bats flit about on warm evenings.
The name Little Silver is derived from âlitelâ meaning outside and the Latin for a wood, âsilvaâ â so this patch is the âwood outside the walls of the cityâ. A slum-clearance site a mere 60 years ago, Little Silver has returned to its roots.
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fabulous work-great initiative
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Great work and great result.
Can I be extra cheeky and ask who supplied the tulip bulbs?
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Some time ago a small nursery was closing down and i spied a wholesale plant catalogâŚâŚthey essentially bought in bulk , potted up, overwintered and then sold onto the public. The company is J R Parkers they have a dedicated wholesale website as well as a general public oneâŚâŚwe have used them many times.
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Yes, they were purchased from Boston Bulbs, based in Lincolnshire.
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Thanks. Iâve had a quick internet learning session and it seems like I have a new project on hand. I need to get my âse in gear by September/October, choose the right perennial/wild varieties, colours and follow on flowering times March/April/May, planting density, oh, and then get them in the ground. 
That last one is going to be the pitta. Here the ground will be rock hard come Sept/Oct and water will be in short supply for softening it. I may need a bigger dibber.
Iâm pleasantly surprised at the cost of tulip bulbs in quantity.
Planting density seems to be the thing I havenât quite worked out. Recommendation seems to be approx 10-15 cm apart and 15 cm depth, but yours look closer in the pics?
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Yes, I do plant closer together, which is a quirk of my planting technique. Making 10,000 individual holes with a dipper is too daunting to think about. I use a spade and flip the turf, placing multiple bulbs without touching each other, and close the turf over. (The biggest issue is depth - the Green was covered in buildings until the 1960s, so the soil is not particularly deep in most places.)
You can plant tulips right til the end of December so the ground should be fine to dig by them. I put mine in the ground last October, in part because it would be too dark after the working day to dig any later. Took me two weeks to put them in.
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Looking good, now for those stripesâŚ
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Flight control has grounded the bumble bees today due to high gusty winds, and itâs snowing apple blossom.
The pear tree is also looking very blossomy this year.
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Yesterdayâs visit to Quarry Bank Mill, Cheshire, National Trust.
Morello cherry;
Rhododendrons. Some were in full bloom, others had gone over already;
And our next wishlist upgrade;
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Watch for the beer trapâŚ
I thought they were for slugs & snails�?
I always feel sluggish after a few beersâŚ