Herald - Issue 398

Page 42 • The HERALD • 19th November 2020 v SAY YOU SAW IT IN THE HERALD v 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 Fred Hurst 023 8084 2191 or 07761 467217 • Grass Cutting • Garden Clearance • Hedge Cutting • Fallen Trees Cleared • Mini Digger Hire with Operator • Property Clearance • Small Demolition • Tractor Flail Cutting FULLY INSURED v FREE QUOTATIONS • Tree Felling • Tree Shaping • Tree Purning & Thinning • Crown Reduction • Crown Lifting • Complete Tree Removal • Site Clearance • Dead Wooding • Hedge Cutting & Shaping • Gardening Evening: 01794 522092 Daytime Mobile: 07946 513633 Email: treefellers@gmx.com | DOWN THE GARDEN PATH | AUTUMN SPLENDOUR: WREATHS/ SPRAY Fancy making an Autumn wreath or a simple autumn spray? If so, please read on! ese can be made purely from foraging in the garden (or someone else’s who is kind!); or you could buy a frame from a orist or cra centre. For a wreath: • Decide on a design (you may evolve this). • Weeping willow branches/broom can be cut in long length and carefully moulded into a circle with warm hands (with/without using a round tin/object). Secure the round shape by using twine/wire/ cable ties. • You can combine the two types of branches and the broom gives an interesting wispy e ect around the edge if used underneath. • Once xed together in a circle, add a ribbon/twine for hanging your wreath and tie tightly so it doesn’t slip. • en collect greenery e.g. ivy, ivy owers, conifer/pine and berries; herbs-rosemary, thyme, bay etc and weave/wire/tie into the wreath circle to add interest. • Start at the “ xing loop/ribbon” and work around the wreath in a clockwise direction to achieve your design. Variety of colours, leaf shapes, textures etc add interest and space. You can add individually or as little bunches. • To add colour you can look for berries/rosehips/hydrangea heads/ bright leaves/seed heads (may be sprayed gold). • To keep the leaves exible (and not crumble) you can apply hand cream. ese all can be woven/tied/wired onto your design. For a spray: • Collect greenery/plant materials and colour as for the wreath. • Lay your greenery on the table and wire or tie together, with the longest branches at the back. Reserve some to add for interest at the end. • en layer your colours mixed with more greenery securing carefully with wire/twine/ribbon to ensure it doesn’t slip down when you hold it up. • Finish by adding bits and pieces to achieve the e ect desired and tie together with a ribbon/hessian/ra a and tie on your door or gate. With very best wishes to all readers from Foresters Flower Club. For more information contact Debbie orne: 07769 830752. GARDEN BIRD SURVIVAL PLAN Birds replenish energy lost overnight by feeding rst thing in the morning, and then feed again last thing in the a ernoon with a spur of activity to build up energy for the colder nights. During the winter, birds must feed at an increasing speed, but must also take plenty of rest to conserve energy. Many birds become sociable to improve chances of survival during the cold weather, ocking together to optimise opportunities of locating food, and huddling together during the critical night-time to help conserve body heat. Put out food in your garden regularly, especially in severe weather. Set up a bird table and use high calorie seed mixes and kitchen scraps such as grated cheese, pastry and porridge oats, or hang feeders with black sun ower seeds, sun ower hearts, sun ower-rich mixes or unsalted peanuts. Blackbirds, song thrushes and other members of the thrush family enjoy fruit, such as apples and pears, while food bars or fat hung up or rubbed into the bark of trees is a great help for treecreepers, goldcrests and many other species. Ensure a supply of fresh water every day. If it is very cold, use tepid water, but DO NOT use any anti-freeze products. Put up nest boxes to provide roost sites for the smaller garden birds; they will then be used for breeding later in the season. Cutting back hedges and bushes too early could starve birds of late autumn and early winter berries. For the birds, berries become more edible and a more important food source a er the rst frosts, when they become so er. Gardeners are urged to wait until later in the winter, or early next spring, when all the berries and fruit have been eaten. It is also helpful to cut hedges in rotation, because cutting some hedgerow species every year prevents the plants producing large amounts of berries. DELAY HEDGE CUTTING