For all that we visited gardens like those at Little Moreton Hall and Rydal, the real garden highlight of our summer holiday was an ordinary vegetable garden in Ross-shire (Scotland).
Well, not 'ordinary' - for it's a specially lovely one; sunny, surrounded by a picket fence, with beautifully constructed raised beds and flowers enough to keep the atmosphere relaxed. At the far end, the shade of mature trees reduces productivity so it's left to 'wild-life' - and a poly-tunnel for delicate plants to live in over winter.
That was where I met my first New Zealand Flat Worm - in the poly-tunnel. What a relief! Ever since warnings went out that they'd arrived in this country and could eat populations of garden worms to destruction, and ever since we were warned that all plants bought from garden centres should have their roots soaked in water to drown any Flat Worms that arrived among them . . . ever since then, I've examined every flattish worm with suspicion - which means just about every worm I've ever come across because all worms elongate suspiciously and flatten a bit when they move along.
I need not have worried.
For a start, I first heard about them when I was living in Scotland and brought worries about them with me when I moved south - but they aren't so much of a problem here. What's more, it turns out New Zealand Flat Worms don't look anything like worms. They look like squashed snails. If ever I see one again - I'll know!
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| Left for a short while on a stone, the New Zealand Flatworm begins to uncurl, ready to walk away. (What do you call the movement of a legless creature? 'Slither' won't do. |
We found this one under black plastic that was keeping weeds at bay in the poly-tunnel. But we found more than this.
There was a slug.
There were slugs eggs.
There was a Common Toad.
And a Palmate Newt.
Who needs topiary?
(Well . . . those other gardens were lovely too . . . and one gets to a point when one has had enough of garden wild-life . . . for the moment . . . until . . . just think of spiders!)
5 comments:
Esther, probably me, but I have to say that first picture looks like an ear. Great pictures, all. Thank you.
When Fay (Orkney Flowers) sent me a fuschia recently she asked me whether I wanted her to wash the roots just in case they harboured New Zealand Flat Worms. That was the first I had ever heard of them. Good to know what they look like. Love the newt...
Wow! Flat worms? Never heard about them! I hope they can't swim over the ocean!
As for slugs, we have tons of them. Some of them are actually pretty (reddish color and plum). I make regular trips around the garden to keep them under control.
Have a great week Esther! Without any flat worms.
I have 2 fears about things I don't want in my garden...one is Japanese Knotweed...the other is New Zealand Flatworm.
Hello Thomas - agreed, it does look like an ear!
Hello Janet/Plantelicious - I'd want to soak the roots of any plant I thought might harbour these creatures, even remotely.
Hello Tatyana - I don't suppose flatworms can swim but there might be a risk that they could be imported so it's still good to be aware of them just in case . . . after all, Britain has no land link with New Zealand!
Hello Bridget. I came across Japanese Knotweed for the first time this summer. There was masses of it - in flower - lining two sides of quite a wide river. (This was in Carlisle.) It looked wonderful - and a lot better than the rubbish filled nothingness which might have been there otherwise. I understand it is easy to grub up - just comes out in handfuls. I can see why people might not want something so rampant in their gardens but, otherwise . . .
Dear Everyone.
You might like to know there is a new post on Esther's Garden Notes.
It's called 'Spring in November'.
Here's the link
http://esthersgardennotes.blogspot.com/2011/11/spring-in-november.html
Esther
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