2024-03-28 12:08
Weirdly we've had a few days walking on Dartmoor. "Weirdly" as this fascinating landscape is only 2 hours down the road. We had a great time, with almost the full Dartmoor weather experienc… Read More
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Habitat Aid | Saving Native Habitats & Promoting Uk Biodiversity Blog
habitataid.co.uk/blog
The Habitat Aid Blog…
is set in a rural idyll in Somerset. It is mostly about conservation, social responsibility, plants and small things.
2024-03-17 20:39
I do love a bit of GQT.* I was toddling back from a site visit on Friday afternoon and caught last week's episode, from Solihull. The last question was "how can we get the young more in… Read More
2024-03-10 12:11
I've been having a bit of a sort out over the weekend and shredding lots of old invoices - from 2012.
It's amazing how much paper we were still using in those days, and how clunky our… Read More
2024-02-16 18:25
We have been blessed to have lived here for over 20 years. Tucked right in the southeasternmost corner of Somerset we're surrounded by gently folding hills and valleys, streams and hedges.
I… Read More
2024-02-05 21:32
The Wild service tree has - confusingly - changed its botanical name. It used to be a Sorbus, like Whitebeam or Rowan, but apparently now it isn't. It has its very own genus, and instead of… Read More
2024-01-19 22:39
Biodiversity Net Gain ("BNG") is upon us. As usual with these schemes it's been subect to revision and, even now, there are areas of uncertainty about it. Will the metric used to measur… Read More
2024-01-11 19:49
There are supposedly only 30 trees and shrubs native to the UK, so it's always surprising when folk aren't familiar with one of them - or, in the case of Buckthorn, two.*
A healthy lo… Read More
2024-01-09 20:22
We had a lovely but soggy New Year in Brecon, one of my favourite places. Great walking, ancient and brooding scenery, Butty Bach.
Things got even wetter by the end of the week, which finis… Read More
2023-11-24 15:35
I have a pathological dislike of the Snowberry. Wikipedia tells me there are 15 different species of the wretched things, native to the Americas and China. BUT NOT THE UK.
Its defenders tel… Read More
2023-10-29 20:39
I went on a wet farm walk the other day with uber-enthusiast Derek Gow to see what the most recent arrivals were doing to the local landscape. The beavers had been busy, and in a goo… Read More
2023-10-02 18:38
I'm knackered. Danny and I have just planted 2,000 bulbs. I try and add more bulbs every year, but this planting season has been a bit of a blow out. You can plant some "in the green", like… Read More
2023-09-01 11:42
As frustrated customers might have realised, I've been away in France for a couple of weeks and tried not to answer the phone. It's been a great break, idling down to Provence via Bordeaux… Read More
2023-08-07 17:30
The other day I was glumly wading through the increasingly bizarre and fetid swamp that's Twitter, under a fantastical sky full of chemtrails and UFOs. It's an increasing challenge to m… Read More
2023-07-04 16:24
What a great end to last week I had. A visit to Groundswell - the regenerative farming festival - followed by a day off at the Chalk Valley History Festival - and then an inspiring visit to… Read More
2023-05-29 19:08
What a lovely week I've had. Two days at the Floodplain Meadows Partnership Conference in Oxford based at the wonderful Pitt Rivers Museum, followed by a day at Chelsea with the Bumblebee Co… Read More
2023-05-15 19:14
Why don't we talk more about blossom as a resource for wildlife? Every one of our fruit trees has thousands and thousands of flowers for pollinating insects to enjoy. It's not like they're u… Read More
2023-03-30 09:00
Ray Jenkins is a man in a hurry, and he needs his pick-up mended. When we visited his new native plant nursery on the Welsh border last week things were winding down after his… Read More
2023-03-15 08:02
I watch the wonderful Wild Isles with mixed emotions. I was very lucky to meet David Attenborough back in the noughties when we sold some wildflower seed packets to raise money for Butterfly… Read More
2023-02-28 21:29
Regular readers wlll know how keen I am on hedgelaying. It's one of those bits of rural management much misunderstood by some, particularly nowadays. Like cutting a meadow there are tho… Read More
2023-02-13 21:28
We've had a fab weekend visiting family in West Sussex, featuring some lovely walks in the Greensand Ridge of the Sussex Weald.
The woods where we walked are largely a monocultur… Read More
2023-01-19 11:22
David Patch writes regularly for Kitchen Garden magazine and works at one of our main suppliers - fruit tree specialist RV Roger. We thought his piece on growing fruit trees in difficult sit… Read More
2023-01-10 19:34
We need to improve vetting of plant imports, and it's great that we have a new Plant Biosecurity Strategy.
Ben Goldsmith commented on it:
Planting non-native, exotic plants in the back garde… Read More
2023-01-07 11:19
People have bought seeds and plants by mail order since Victorian times. I love this photo from the 1940s of the packing shed at one of our suppliers, RV Roger, in Yorkshire. They had a sec… Read More
2022-12-18 20:47
Goodbye Twitter
I've pretty much given up on Twitter these days*, but I did check in a couple of days ago and found a classic spat going on.
Guy Shrubsole had a book published this year call… Read More
2022-11-21 22:25
We live in a beautiful corner of Somerset, in the middle of one of the richest prehistoric landscapes in western Europe.
Looking out from our kitchen window I see Penselwood, a wooded r… Read More
2022-11-07 17:25
I was 60 this year, so we treated ourselves to a trip around France and Italy. When we got back, partly to to remember it and partly because I'm trying to make the garden more drought proof… Read More
2022-09-25 22:27
Friday's "mini budget" has been condemned in some quarters as a reckless, misguided and morally repugnant exercise based on failed economic theory. You might think that; I couldn't poss… Read More
2022-07-31 18:52
What with one thing and another we're a bit behind meeting some of our new suppliers.
Last season we started selling bare root fruit trees from Tom Adams's nursery outside Oswestry. We've be… Read More
2022-07-17 17:12
Many perennials, shrubs and trees - particularly newly planted - are going to struggle in the kind of conditions we're faced with as I write - record high temperatures after months of l… Read More
2022-07-10 22:27
It's bizarre that at as we experience at least a week of really extreme temperatures, neither climate change nor biodiversity loss have yet to feature at all the Conservative… Read More
2022-06-25 21:30
Last week I was minding my own business watering the tomatoes in the greenhouse when an extraordinary beast buzzed past me. It must have been nearly 8cm long, including a super impressive ov… Read More
2022-06-13 08:40
Just up the lane we have a really nice verge, which is a kind of mini-meadow. We're acknowledging the value of this kind of area for wildflowers nationally*. This one is nothing super specia… Read More
2022-05-28 16:12
HUGE congratulations to local garden designers Urquhart and Hunt, who won Best of Show at Chelsea this year - and at their first attempt! What fantastic work and skill to create such an artf… Read More
2022-05-03 22:12
We visited old friends in Sussex this weekend. They live in what must be one of the most biodiverse areas of southeastern England, bordering the South Downs National Park. Every time we visi… Read More
2022-04-19 21:44
I've found it very difficult to post anything recently. Horticultural topics seem trivial, environmental and political issues depressingly repetitive, and outrage relating to them lightweigh… Read More
2022-03-27 20:49
We've recently become a certified B Corporation. Huzzah!
There are over 600 of us in the UK now, including Waitrose (which, given how difficult the process is, is very impressive). Fo… Read More
2022-02-23 21:30
How can anyone not love a hedgehog?
They're not just eccentrically endearing but, for many of us of a certain age, they conjure up memories of times past as much as symbolise what has… Read More
2022-01-10 14:08
A Revolution in UK Farming?
Sadly the Oxford Farming Conference this year was virtual, which was a great shame. Not least because I was looking forward to the floor's reaction to George Eust… Read More
2022-01-09 22:55
I used to be guilty of blithely writing top ten lists like this. For many, bees tend to be shorthand for pollinators generally, so you might think a list like this is an easy route to making… Read More
2021-12-20 17:31
Regular readers of this nonsense will know I'm a big fan of not just hedges, but also hedge laying. The National Hedgelaying Society is one of the charities we support through the business… Read More
2021-12-03 19:41
I'm not by nature a curmudgeonly old cynic, I promise, but I'm getting pretty provoked.
I was excited in 2018 listening to Michael Gove talking about ELMS, the Environment Land Ma… Read More
2021-11-09 16:47
The Environment Bill is in the very last stages of a long and painful labour. Its final amendments - including on the independence of the new environment regulator - have gone back to the Lo… Read More
2021-10-27 21:27
Back in May I wrote a blog about 7 causes we could all get behind, which I thought were relatively easy wins. One of them was cleaning up our rivers.
Faced with gruesome photos and vid… Read More
2021-10-16 13:46
This week I've thoroughly enjoyed three days of a conference on flood plain meadows, organised by the Floodplain Meadows Partnership. Between work chores I tried to absorb a huge amount of i… Read More
2021-09-15 18:45
The Environment Bill
I'm currently watching the House of Lords debate amendments to the delayed Environment Bill. There are impressive and well informed people speaking, and the House conti… Read More
2021-07-27 20:59
It's a critical time as we build up to the COP26 summit in Glasgow and the world looks to the UK as hosts to set a world beating example in terms of initiatives and commitments to tackle cli… Read More
2021-07-22 17:40
There's a good reason we don't have stairs up to our green roof. It's one of my happy places - if I didn't have to drag my ladder out of the garage every time I ventured up there I'd disappe… Read More
2021-07-03 17:59
A pair of barn owls used to nest in an ancient oak on a field margin next to our old house. They were there for several years and bred lots of rackety owlets, who would sometimes sit on the… Read More
2021-05-23 19:17
There are those who don't know much, those that know a lot about a little, and those that know a little about a lot. I'm firmly in the third category, sometimes annoyingly.
Faced with govern… Read More
2021-04-12 18:38
We sell more wildflower seed in Spring than in late Summer, which is odd. To be fair all the books say you can sow in April / May or September / October - or - to be more accurate, when the… Read More
2021-03-20 14:52
Without overstating it (!), some good things have come out of COVID. We've certainly learned some valuable lessons as a business, as have many others in horticulture.
It's a bit counter-intu… Read More
2021-02-26 22:35
(Nearly) everyone loves a beaver. I have to say, I'm a big fan. They're such wonderful engineers, creating wetland habitat and reducing flood risk. So far as I understand, they're classic k… Read More
2021-01-29 22:19
We've planted trees for hundreds of years before the arrival of the plastic tree guard. John Evelyn didn't need them, so why do we now? Some suspect an element of commercial opportunism at w… Read More
2021-01-17 20:09
As a topic for a blog, neonicotinoids just keep on giving. I started writing about them over a decade ago and the debate about them - like the chemicals themselves - continues to be as toxic… Read More
2021-01-13 22:56
The rewilding movement seems to have an unstoppable momentum. Given the Press coverage, sometimes I think in general understanding it has almost become nature conservation in the UK.
I'm not… Read More
2021-01-06 11:17
Changing Times
This New Year more than most I've found myself reflecting on the way the world is turning. Like everyone, I suppose. We're through the dead time of the Winter Solstice, but ye… Read More
2020-11-15 19:53
A Long Hot Summer
We've had a busy time of it over the last few months. Beavering away in our Somerset eyrie seemed surreal as the rest of the world stopped, and it feels like we're only now… Read More
2020-11-02 18:31
The woods up on the ridge have been full of walkers over the last month or so. All sorts of folk; floppy urban 20 somethings, suburban dogwalkers, locals with time on their hands. Grandparen… Read More
2020-10-15 12:34
COVID has so dominated the news agenda over the last few weeks that some significant stories have slipped under our collective radar. I've been surprised that we haven't been made more aware… Read More
2020-09-16 21:06
We've just had the most lovely weekend hiking in the Black Mountains, just over the border in Wales. The landscape - for those of you who don't know it (and you should get to know it!) is ab… Read More
2020-08-25 16:52
Yellow Rattle, Rhinanthus minor, is an annual wildflower which often - but far from always - used to be found in meadows. It has attracted a lot of attention recently because it parasitises… Read More
2020-07-01 13:18
Woody is our Sealyham terrier. Goodness knows why Sealyhams fell out of favour - they're fabulous small dogs, and we love him to bits. It's fair to say he has had a busy time of it during CO… Read More
2020-06-07 19:41
The Wool-carder bee, Anthidium manicatum, is one of my favourite bees.
To start with, just to clear up any confusion, they're not a bumblebee. They're no relation to nice fluffy C… Read More
2020-05-09 08:46
For many in the horticulture business the last few weeks have been a waking nightmare. Don't get me wrong - it has been fantastic to see so many people taking to their balconies or gardens… Read More
2020-04-18 13:06
At the height of apple mania in the 19th century, the Victorians grew some trees for their blossom alone - the fruit was entirely secondary. I used to think this was pretty eccentric… Read More
2020-04-08 21:49
I'm not exactly David Bailey. I've got no skill or training with a camera - more just pointand shoot. I'm very much in awe of some of my friends on social media, who have technical ability a… Read More
2020-03-29 18:43
There was the most amazing site last night - a crescent moon in conjunction with Venus. It was so wildly exotic the night sky looked like it was from a scifi movie - was I on Tato… Read More
2020-03-01 21:06
I'm always amazed by the antipathy Greta Thunberg seems to trigger in some people. I understand she's not everyone's cup of tea, but even so... I guess they must feel threatened by her in so… Read More
2020-02-23 12:02
We're often asked "Can I sow wildflower seed onto grass?" Generally customers have an existing lawn or pasture which they want to enhance.
The short answer is of course you can - only… Read More
2020-02-22 20:43
The vox pops from flood zones this week have been heart breaking. Being in Somerset we've had friends who have experienced being flooded out in the past. Watching your kitchen furniture bobb… Read More
2020-02-05 21:54
A few weeks ago I went to the Oxford Farming Conference, where I learnt about chlorinated chicken. In the U.S., chicken is washed with chemicals before sale. Why? Because there are so m… Read More
2020-01-16 14:30
I went to a fascinating seminar given by Nigel Dunnett last week - he of pictorial meadows. Nigel is one of the leading influencers of landscape design in the UK. His shtick is "naturalisti… Read More
2020-01-16 14:30
Insectageddon! scream the headlines. Really? And why should this be? The more bizarre claims on social media I've seen recently range from Electro Motive Force to chemtrails (again - groan)… Read More
2020-01-16 14:30
I had a great weekend, brushing up my little knowledge. On Saturday I was at the mighty Bumblebee Conservation Trust's (BBCT) members' day in Cardiff, then yesterday had an equally engaging… Read More
2020-01-16 14:30
There's a great and commendable enthusiasm about tree planting in the UK. We know the reasons why. Every year, especially when the floods come, people talk about the need for more trees. Tre… Read More
2020-01-13 19:24
I love a bit of hedgelaying. I’m too old/knackered/incompetent to do very much, but it’s a good workout and – more importantly – it’s good for wildlife in the g… Read More
2019-12-17 13:10
As the rain carries on lashing down I thought it might be fun to post some photos of our wildflower meadows in spring. Something to look forward to. We have several relatively small areas, w… Read More
2019-11-17 19:13
You can only be encouraged by the tree planting bidding war going on between our politicians at the moment, I suppose. 30 million trees, 60 million trees – hey – why not? Let&rsq&hell…Read More
2019-11-12 18:17
In the years I’ve been writing this blog I’ve written about flooding several times. I think it’s a really important issue – and not just because I’m sat here in… Read More
2019-10-27 11:51
Nearly 2/3 of people in the UK earning over £250,000 gave nothing to charity last year (Source: HMRC, cited in The Times). Of those who did, the average donation was £1000. Total… Read More
2019-10-16 05:02
We’ve just got back from a wonderful trip to Japan*. Among the rugby and the sightseeing and the hiking we were caught in typhoon Hagibis last weekend in Tokyo. It was a reminder that… Read More
2019-08-25 14:22
There was an article in the Sunday Times this morning by Eric Kaufmann which partly articulated something which has been troubling me for a while. It starts:
If Greta Thunberg wants to be… Read More
2019-07-28 20:50
I don’t think I’ve written a book review since third form, but felt moved to write briefly about Dave Goulson’s The Garden Jungle.
Spoiler alert: I would have been surpr… Read More
2019-06-27 15:03
Malva moschata
Do you want a patch of wildflowers in your garden? The right answer! I think they can look lovely; some are long flowering too, like this mallow in the gravel by our back d… Read More
2019-06-16 19:44
I went to a fascinating seminar given by Nigel Dunnett last week – he of pictorial meadows. Nigel is one of the leading influencers of landscape design in the UK. His shtick is “… Read More
2019-06-02 16:11
We have a two acre plot in Somerset, much of it wildflower meadow. Our garden is driven by a simple principle; it has to look good and do good. Our little meadows are the embodiment of that;… Read More
2019-05-06 11:56
We had a lovely trip up to Yorkshire via East Anglia last week visiting some of our suppliers. And the odd pub, needless to say.
Hot Pipe Callusing – part of the grafting process… Read More
2019-04-18 09:00
Like you, I watched appalled as Notre Dame burned. It felt like a complicated metaphor for all sorts of things, and a crushing visceral wound. It was amazing but not so surprising then, the… Read More
2019-04-07 18:23
Last week entomologist Liam Olds published a fascinating study on invertebrates living on colliery spoil heaps in the south Wales valleys. If you assumed this might have been a tough assignm… Read More
2019-03-10 11:19
Insectageddon! scream the headlines. Really? And why should this be? The more bizarre claims on social media I’ve seen recently range from Electro Motive Force to chemtrails (again &nd&hell…Read More
2019-02-25 07:53
Climate change means that bees are struggling in late winter. Honeybees and bumblebee queens are out and about in the second half of February as I write, with the temperature getting up to t… Read More
2019-02-13 10:32
What people need on Twitter is more education and less politics.
I had a classically nonsensical conversation with a couple of twitterati over the weekend. It followed an entirely predict… Read More
2019-02-09 19:03
I have avoided politics in my blog as much as I can over the last 10 years. So you can tell I’m pretty upset to break this cardinal rule. For the point of record, I’m one of the… Read More
2019-01-25 17:30
Before we look at the best trees for windbreaks, a little about what a windbreak actually is. What’s the difference between it and a shelterbelt or hedge? What are you looking for in a… Read More
2019-01-12 11:13
I’ve always been a big fan of urban hedges. I reckoned that – like trees – they must help manage water runoff and moderate temperatures. Planting relatively large numbers… Read More
2019-01-09 17:40
The commercial world of native hedge plants is a funny one. There are a few hardy folk out there selling British hedge species which they themselves have grown. Things like Hawthorn and Blac… Read More
2018-12-11 10:18
I’m sightly nervous about putting together a brief guide to help people store apples. My other half had a lovely grandfather who doted on her – nearly as much as he doted on his… Read More
2018-11-28 17:17
A little while ago I was involved in a great nonsense about wildflower seeds. Plantlife, the wildflower charity, essentially said all wildflower seed mixes were cr@p and should be avoided. O… Read More
2018-11-25 18:26
Farming With Wildlife in Mind
This weekend the Times recommended Isabella Tree’s excellent Wilding as one of its books of the year. It “forces us to rethink farming”. More… Read More
2018-11-12 17:58
What would you think about if I asked you for good foodplants for butterflies and moths? Buddleja? Verbena bonariensis? Hebe?
It’s true – they’re all great nectaring plants… Read More
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