It’s tadpole time! Well, actually, it’s probably still frogspawn time. Out walking with the small people recently we saw a number of squashed frogs on one of the lanes. Fortunately we also saw some live frogs. Some of the places where we have seen frogs busily making babies in the past are too dried up for the frogs to return there this year. This must be confusing for the frogs as I read somewhere that they tend to return to the place where they spawned when mating season comes around. Where do they go for the rest of the year? I wonder!
Frogs, toads, other amphibians have no road sense. We once visited Lochgilphead, Scotland, and found the road to our B&B covered in migrating frogs. Today I read about a place near Bath where they have a regular patrol on a road called Charlcombe Lane, a regular crossing place for frogs, toad, newts en route for a lake where they breed every year.
“Charlcombe Lane is closed annually for six weeks in February and March as volunteers patrol every night from dusk to help toads, frogs and newts on their journey to their breeding lake. This toad patrol is one of more than 200 across the country that take part in the national Toads on Roads project run by the amphibian and reptile conservation charity, Froglife”.
Wonderful work! It’s one of only about five places where roads are closed for migrating amphibians!
Far from conserving things, I have been uprooting stuff while I’ve been out and about. This is not random vandalism. I have nothing against so-called weeds such as dandelions, which I know some people work hard to remove from their lawns. Personally I rather like them and I know that the bees do too. I have some in a corner of the garden, along with the bluebells that are coming into flower now.
However, I am conducting my own small, and probably useless, campaign against Himalayan balsam.
Every year large areas around here are covered with this invasive, domineering plant. Individual plants are elegant and rather beautiful. The story goes that Queen Victoria introduced it to the country. Unfortunately the flowers turn into quite explosive seed pods that reach a point of ripeness where they fling seeds around to a great distance as soon as anything brushes against them. And so they take over. I have heard of properties being down-valued because their gardens were invaded by Himalayan balsam. Wikipedia tells us:
“Himalayan balsam is a shallow-rooted annual, so is relatively easy to control, but you must not let it set seed. Simply pull up plants before they set seed, and keep checking back every few weeks to ensure no more plants have germinated. Larger areas can be strimmed regularly, again, providing this is done before any plants have set seed.”
That’s easy to say, and may be easy to do in your own garden but on a larger scale is well-nigh impossible; it’s just too prolific. And every year they seem to grow a little earlier, possible another consequence of climate change. And every year I keep my fingers crossed that the bluebells will come into their full glory before the balsam takes over. But I know how to recognise the very young seedlings and as I’m out and about I regularly pull them up from the edge of the footpaths where I walk … and from my garden.
The other thing I’m uprooting is sycamore seedlings. There’s a sycamore in the garden / carpark of the pub next door to our house. It’s helicopter seedpods spiral down into our garden and take root. This is another seedlings I recognise and uproot from the flowerbeds and from the various plant pots. However, the forest that is trying to grow in the grass on the side garden is a different matter altogether. We need to get the lawnmower out and cut them down before they get much bigger.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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