There seems to be a new trend in environmental management in Richmond Park and on Wimbledon Common.
The chronology so far as I remember is that dead wood was cleared up. Then it was left lying around to provide a habitat beneficial to flora and fauna, albeit it often looked messy. The latest development is to build wigwams; beetle bivouacs, of dead wood.
Closer to home the council invite residents to initiate “base planting”.
“We are inviting residents to plant flowers, herbs and shrubs – anything you like really – at the base of trees across the borough as part of our campaign to make streets greener and more pleasant. What can I plant?
Whatever you fancy. We just have a few guidelines for safety and to ensure we keep the road looking tidy:
- Avoid planting spiky plants, or plants which can sting, or plants which are toxic.
- Avoid planting anything that will grow too large, could block the pavement, or cause a trip hazard for pedestrians. A small shrub should be fine – you can see some examples here.
- Please don’t plant any invasive species, such as Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam, or giant hogweed.
- Please avoid using any chemical pesticides to maintain your tree base.
- If you plant herbs, we would not recommend eating them if the tree base is by a busy roadside.
- Try not to dig too deeply to avoid disturbing or damaging the tree’s roots.”
I have only seen one example so far.
Even closer to home, outside a window, this handsome spider was disturbed when I was watering the geraniums.
