We launched Woolston Station Garden Club in May 2025 to revive the station gardens. Long-term volunteer Bridget was the only remaining gardener still available when Charlene Arrondeau, Hampshire Community Rail Officer, contacted me in my Wilder Southampton role with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust. My work schedule was full, so I decided toContinue reading “Woolston Station Gardens – for wildlife and people”
Author Archives: jilldday
Riverside Reflections
One of my stories is that I’m not comfortable near rivers, sometimes even afraid. There have been moments of panic, such as the time I went for a walk at Chessel Bay when the River Itchen was choppy, and I basically ran back along the path to get out. Living on the east, I regularly haveContinue reading “Riverside Reflections”
Big Garden Birdwatch Plus
Twenty-five starlings, two bluetits, a wood pigeon, a magpie, two or three greenfinches …. I can more or less predict how many birds of each species I’ll see when I take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend. What I’m less sure of is what they’ll be doing. And that, for me, is theContinue reading “Big Garden Birdwatch Plus”
Garden happenings, 2024.
It seemed like it was all happening in our garden last year. Here are a few of the highlights. Probably the most exciting event was seeing a leaf cutter bee using the bee hotel. I was, quite honestly, beside myself with excitement. This happened 3 weeks after I’d moved the bee hotel from one sideContinue reading “Garden happenings, 2024.”
Pollinating Peartree: Itchen Ferry Memorial Garden
Near where I live, there used to be a village called Itchen Ferry. Most of it was destroyed during World War 2, as it was close to the Supermarine factory where Spitfires were built, and now there’s a memorial with a garden. The memorial plaque states that, in 1985, pupils from class 3B at LudlowContinue reading “Pollinating Peartree: Itchen Ferry Memorial Garden”
Badger Green
Places like Badger Green seem to be overlooked when people talk of ‘access to nature’ or ‘green spaces’. I’m not sure why this is. Has someone decided a ‘green space’ should be a minimum size, or that it must be designated a ‘park’? Southampton City Council’s website has a category called ‘parks and open spaces‘.Continue reading “Badger Green”
Scaffolding as a call to action
On a Sunday morning at the end of July, I arrived home to see scaffolding going up on a house down the road. This is a house where I’d seen swifts nesting, so I was really concerned. I had to wait half an hour for the scaffolders to finish, which gave me time to thinkContinue reading “Scaffolding as a call to action”
Drinking from Deadnettles
Have you ever picked a flower from a White Deadnettle and sucked the nectar from it? As a child, I did – and I tried it again recently! That’s when I realised not everyone knows you can do this. It’s a countryside thing, as Richard Mabey noted in Flora Britannica. Or at least it wasContinue reading “Drinking from Deadnettles”
Our Wilder Allotment
Today, 14 July 2024, the marigolds are looking stunning. It’s only three months since we took on this allotment share, helping out friends who found the whole plot a bit too big to maintain. There are rules about how much space can be left untended, or given over to flowers. We knew we’d want toContinue reading “Our Wilder Allotment”
Pollinating Peartree: The surprising popularity of the Bitterne Trough
Bitterne shopping precinct is, to be blunt, pretty lifeless. There are a few trees and shrubs at either end, but under the shrubs (seen in the background in the first photo), the ground is pretty compacted, and nothing grows. In March, I was getting increasingly concerned about the lack of flowers for pollinators, so IContinue reading “Pollinating Peartree: The surprising popularity of the Bitterne Trough”
Dandelion Nature 