14th November 2024 • The HERALD • Page 65 v INDEPENDENT, LOCAL AND PROUD v ✿ DOWN THE GARDEN PATH ✿ RYAN FENCING Quality Fencing & Gates 07769 706516 • 023 8084 1203 www.ryan-fencing.co.uk • Find us on Facebook A J GLEESON BUILDING & GROUNDWORK DRIVEWAYS EXTENSIONS BRICKWORK GROUNDWORK BLOCK PAVING Colours & Designs to suit your requirements Local Work Available to View CALL FOR A FREE QUOTATION New Forest & Southampton 023 8084 4180 Mobile: 07770 771475 Bramdene, Main Road, Dibden, Southampton Smithwood Landscaping Professional Gardening & Landscaping • Garden Redesign • Astro Turf • Trees & Shrubs Carefully Pruned • Rockeries Designed • Fencing • Ground Cover • Seasonal Tidy Ups No Job Too Small as I am a Local Gardener Any advice over the phone is freely given Contact Gary (Master Landscaper) 07707 433194 Send your local news to The Editor, The Herald, 2 High Street, Hythe SO45 6AH Hythe Flower Club Meeting On ursday 10th October Hythe Flower Club had a visit from Carole Staples with her demonstration ‘As if by Magic’. e title was inspired by magical experiences and occasions experienced by Carole. e rst design represented a garden. A er going with family to the ‘picnic in the park’ following the Coronation of the King, Carole noticed the lovely ower beds in Windsor Great Park. Lots of greenery enhanced some pretty flowers including commercially grown Clematis. is was followed by a very tall design comprised of dried seed heads. An eye catching design and much admired by the audience. Something everyone could produce albeit on a smaller scale. e next memory was of a Caribbean cruise so a tropical selection of owers and palm leaves was used to great e ect. Cerise germinis gave a pop of colour accompanied by a Cymbidium orchid. A few years ago Carole went to Strictly Come Dancing. Small bouquets of hydrangea heads and palm leaves were placed around a huge circular construction. It was so obviously Strictly inspired when a huge glitter ball was placed in the centre. When a top hat was produced as a container little did they realise it came from a funeral director! A very loose design with eucalyptus, red roses, pink spray roses and lilac clematis. Placed on a tall stand with two smaller copies underneath this was a striking design. ose lucky enough to win an arrangement went home very happy. As some were large it was a blessing no-one came by public transport. Hythe Flower Club’s next meeting is on Thursday 14th November. ey meet on the 2nd Thursday of the month except August at Hythe and Dibden Parish Hall, West Street, Hythe, 7pm for 7.30pm. Annual membership is £36 (for 11 meetings). Good value for an evening of entertainment (probably less than a cup of co ee). Go along and visit their friendly inclusive Flower Club, you will receive a warm welcome. Visitors are always warmly welcomed. Don’t forget they don’t do the arrangements the experienced demonstrator on stage does the hard work while they relax. Data Shows Low Fruit Yield after Wet Spring e latest update from Nature’s Calendar, the Woodland Trust’s citizen science project, suggests knock-on e ects of heavy rainfall earlier in the year. e e ects of a wet spring may be extending from bees and butter ies to birds, with data suggesting that fruits are scarcer than usual. A er 2023’s bumper hawthorn berry crop, numbers have dropped signi cantly this year, and the hedgerows are looking much less inviting for hungry wildlife. According to Nature’s Calendar data, hawthorn berries have now hit their lowest numbers, as have elderberries, which are scoring just 2.8 on the fruit scale, comfortably below their annual average of 3.66. Other species such as ash, ivy and oak are also showing their lowest fruit scores since current records began, in 2001. Judith Garforth, Citizen Science O cer for Nature’s Calendar says, “The low fruit yield comes after downpours earlier in the year, which may have damaged those early blooms, some of which may have opened early, coaxed out by the warm temperatures. It’s also been widely noted as a bad year for pollinators, which would also have been impacted by the rain, and which in turn could have contributed to the low fruit yield we’re now seeing.” Spring 2024 was notably warm and then wet, with the warmest recorded February since 1779 followed by the 6th wettest April on record since 1836. Many trees seem to have turned early this year, with the rst changes in leaf colour (‘ rst tint’) in some native species showing ahead by up to 19 days. Autumn records are still ongoing, but indicate that species including silver birch, horse chestnut and rowan have reached ‘full tint’ up to two weeks earlier than average. Nature’s Calendar is a citizen science project that records changes in nature that indicate a changing of season. Recorders observe their local wildlife and note the date on which certain changes occur. e scheme is supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Laura Chow, Head of Charities at People’s Postcode Lottery, says: “We’re delighted that our players continue to support the Nature’s Calendar citizen science project. Wherever you are in the country, it’s a beautiful time to get out for a walk in the woods, and enjoy the spectacular displays of colour.” Bird feeding on hawthorn berries (Credit: David Whitaker)
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