Practical Ecology

Nature Switched On

 

 

 

 


in the Pyrenees  the first 10 years

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                         a   S T A M M E R  project              

2009 June 19 to26, Friday to Friday


One month ago we straightened the garden house with a hoist, and it was now time to take away the cables, hoist and temporal braces and install a permanent post. I had cut down a Portuguese oak for that purpose and now I had to make a metal foot and anchorage to avoid the rotting of the wood and fix the post firmly to the ground.

 


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An upcoming thunderstorm which would bring a welcome 3 litres of rain.
25 June 20:21

 

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On the internet I picked up a nice idea for such an anchorage which is cheap and simple. I used a 50 cm long galvanized metal tube with drilled holes (custom-made for only 2.50€). The holes permitted a screw thread to be attached and offer extra anchorage. I drilled a hole of 10 cm deep into the trunk with the same diameter as the tube (30 mm). The tube is glued and inserted into the trunk. The tube, with the trunk, is positioned into  a cement block which serves as a form for the concrete to be poured in. This block rests on a flat piece of stone to avoid sinking into the ground.

 

 

 

 

 
The construction of the anchorage. To assure a perfect centering and verticality, guides and clams were used.
22 June 21:02 
 
The post anchored inside a cement block in the ground. The metal wire helps to avoid the splitting of the trunk.
23 June 11:23
The post in position, with the trunk 12 cm above ground level.
25 June 20:15
 

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Of course I will have to monitor dimensions and angles of walls and roof, to see if the situation really stays stable. I may have to add another post or perhaps take away some heavy stones from the roof.

The vegetation on the roof is promising. Maintenance is limited to the cutting of the flower stalks of the barley that I don't want to seed and spread on the roof. I haven't watered so far as the straw flakes seem to retain sufficient humidity. Sedum species don't need that much water either.


 

No better illustration of the resistance of Sedum species than this mini garden in a piece of iron trash. The plants have to endure the occasional flooding as well as extreme dry-out in summer.

 

 

Flowering Sedum album (white) and Sedum reflexum (yellow) on the green roof.
Looking east.
20 June 9:48

  The green roof, looking south.
20 June 9:48
Flowering Sedum anglicum and Sempervivum tectorum in a mini iron-rock garden.
26 June 9:41
 
 

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In the vegetable garden I try to 'switch nature on'  by two main features: straw and green fertilizers. Straw suppresses undesirable weeds, stimulates soil life and retains humidity; the green fertilizers must provide nutrients.  Results have been quite mixed so far, as mentioned before. Now an additional problem with straw becomes clear: it attracts a lot of worms, which is nice, but worms attract predators (foxes, badgers?) which excavate deep holes to go after the worms, leaving quite a mess every morning. Perhaps in the end I will have to install a fence, which I personally dislike.

 

 
Two rows of Leek (Allium porum) and in between a row of Trifolium repens (White clover) as a green fertilizer.
24 June 9:08
 
A row of yellow flowering, nitrogen-fixing Lotus corniculatus in a bed of heavily predated cabbage.
24 June 9:04
Respectively a row of Trifolium repens, onions, carrots and onions.
24 June 9:09
 

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But some vegetables and fruit shrubs really seem to love straw. The potato plants are a joy for the eye. No digging, no weeding, no watering. We have already harvested 4 small potatoes that tasted delicious.

 

 

 

 


Berries also like a thick mulch layer and don't suffer the accompanying problem of slugs and snails but have other predators: birds.
The vines are also doing fine. Of the 17 planted only 2 didn't survive.

 

 
The heavily mulched potatoes.
At the front the early Jaerla and a the back the later Red Pontiac.
24 June 9:10
Another tubercle: Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus). Forms a nice hedge in mid summer and flowers beautifully in late summer.
24 June 9:12
 

Vine (Merlot) with a Kiwi in the centre.
24 June 9:06

Red currant, that will probably need some netting against birds.
24 June 9:07
 

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I applied flakes of straw to many planted species on the terrain (Berberis vulgaris, Cistus albidus, Lentiscus species, Juniperus sabina, Viburnum tinus, Pinus species, Retama sphaerocarpa). Apart from some casualties because of early morning frosts in spring, most of them seem to benefit from the straw, especially when compared to some specimen that didn't receive the straw for comparison.

 

 
  Berberis vulgaris with a mulch of straw flakes on the lower northern terrace.
Looking north-east.
26 June 9:37
 

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The terrain is slowly turning yellow and brown, with the exception of the pond with its fresh green lining of water plants. But water is transpiring very fast there and I pumped up some water from the inferior pond, where the water level is much higher due to the absence of transpiring plants.

 
Overview of the centre of the terrain.
Scabiosa columbaria flowering on the right.
Looking south.
25 June 11:49
The partially filled up superior pond.
Looking south-east.
24 June 9:41
 

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Allium flavum  (Yellow onion) is the last bulb to flower in the sequence of the planted bulbs. All five planted bulbs have started to bloom. It is supposed to be native for the Pyrenees (although not mentioned by the 'Herbario de Jaca') and grows on dry, sunny places.
About the remaining species of the bulb list:

-Arum italicum: the two plants appeared with some leaves in spring in the wood border, but disappeared recently
-Lilium martagon: the one and only plant started promisingly, but died afterwards
-Corydalis solida: of the 5 planted bulbs nothing was seen no more.

 

 

The last orchid to flower is probably this Epipactis species (Helleborine) , which is flowering relatively abundantly in the wood border.

 

The opening of the inflorescence of Allium flavum.
20 June 10:09

  Allium flavum in the bulb area.
20 June 10:12
Epipactis microphylla (or E. helleborine?) in the shade of the wood border on the higher terrace.
21 June 9:27
 

introduction
floristic catalogue
faunistic catalogue
contact
index
gallery 1: 2006-2012
gallery 2: 2012-
map
>> 2009 July  1
<< 2009 June 10

 

 

 


 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Latest revision on:  01/08/2018