Wildlife adventure with an iPhone

October 28, 2019

In this week's Wildlife Adventures with an iPhone, I'd like to show you what's happened to that buddleia bush in my garden.
The one that was so full of life in this blog.

Summer's long gone, and my borders have primarily been stripped of colour. In a shady corner sits the buddleia looking a shadow of its former self. The purple fanfare that once attracted bees, butterflies and insects have given way to a much more sombre structure, which has the frame of something quite fitting for Halloween – spikey fingers and lifeless limbs! But that's a tad unkind, and the buddleia's work is arguably done (until next year).

Around this time each year, I take a saw to my buddleia and reduce it to a size where it can concentrate on looking after itself. Usually, I discard the wood or take it to my local recycling centre in the hope that they do recycle it.

This year, I thought I'd do something different and retain the wood for future use around the garden and reduce the need for bamboo canes to support new plants next spring. I've also bundled some of the wood together to create extra space for overwintering nature.