Higgledy Garden
  • About Higgledy Garden
  • The Higgledy Garden Shop
  • Ben’s Blog
  • Growing Guides
  • Seed Sowing Guide
  •  
0
Your cart is empty. Go to Shop.

Apologies to all! I am very late posting Sarah’s monthly wildlife gardening blog. It’s been crazy busy in Higgledyland but things are at last returning to normal. #NewNormal. …mind you….young Sarah was getting married, so she may not have noticed my slackness….. ;) CONGRATULATIONS!! xx

A Rooter and a Robin.

If you ask a gardener what is their favourite bird, I’ll bet you 9 times out of 10 they’ll say the robin. And the reason for this might be because of its pretty russet breast, its cute rounded body set on the finest little legs – in short, its general irresistible charm.

But the main reason may be more about its behaviour when you are gardening. It comes so close sometimes you catch your breath to see it there, and how honoured you feel that something so delicate and lovely might want to be near you, might even trust you! It comes still closer and you see the exquisite feathers….that beady little eye… and such bold eye contact, cocking it’s head to one side, the skipping and hopping about and finally perching on your garden fork as if posing for a photo then saying, “good morning how are you today?” with wistful but perky chirps. You can actually have a little conversation with a robin, I’ve seen many a burly gardener do it, I swear it’s not just me.

This human interaction is almost non-existent in other wild birds and I have often wondered why they should be so different? Turns out there are a few reasons for this, one being that we Brits don’t have a tradition of trapping and eating small birds which kind of helps (apart from maybe Roald Dahl’s Mr and Mrs Twit). But the main and most interesting reason I think is connected to the evolution of these little birds.

Many 1000’s of years ago, when much of the land was far more wooded, and wild boar and deer roamed about in great numbers, the inquisitive nature of the robin would have been evolving. They were following these large animals, especially the boars, as they rooted in the earth, watching for those delicious worms. Robins aren’t great at pulling out worms like the blackbird, are useless at cracking a snail like a thrush, and they are only just learning how to hang onto a bird feeder like a tit– I feel sorry for them when they try! But they do like to use their charm or, rather, inquisitive adaptability and succeed in letting someone else do the work. I expect they were very close friends with the boar. And here we are, many 1000’s of years later, and lo and behold they are with us too– a taller, more upright ‘swine’. It’s not much of a leap and we are of course equipped with that very useful garden fork!

Sarah Ashworth, Designs For Life,

Garden designer and wildlife specialist, Little Shelford

sarahashworth.co.uk

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
The No Faff Method For Growing Sweet Peas. Part 1. Sowing. Sowing up a cut flower patch in May.

Fresh posts!

  • 9 1/2 reasons to sow biennials in summer for your cutting garden.
  • How to direct sow (into the soil) a cutting patch of annual flowers.
  • Growing Cosmos from seed. March/April/May.
  • Sowing up a flower field in Suffolk.
  • Guide to sowing/growing the Higgledy Birthday Bundle.

Sign up for the newsletter!

Once every two months, I send subscribers a discount code or an offer for a heavily discounted bundle of seeds. You won't get inundated with emails... I'm far too lazy for that sort of caper.

Possibly old and musty

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • December 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
© Higgledy Garden 2020
site by santa ana limited
Privacy Policy

Join Us

Once every two months, I send subscribers a discount code or an offer for a heavily discounted bundle of seeds. You won't get inundated with emails... I'm far too lazy for that sort of caper.

Join the chat on social media

Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter