Woodlands - Waterside Garden

The Woodlands

I consider the woods to be as much part of Waterside garden as the main cultivated garden. There have been quite a lot of changes here in the last eight years or so, but some of the original large deciduous trees and some of the conifers remain, as have many willows and birches.

The planting is entirely wild with only a few introduced specimens here and there. Apart from mowing the paths in summer, cutting down the Water Meadow in early Autumn and chopping overhanging branches and some of the fallen trees, there is little other maintenance required. The headland at the north of the woods gives great views of the hills and the riverside walk provides a very pleasant stroll in clement weather (modulo the midges, of course). The lower parts of the woods get flooded several times a year, as the Moffat Water collects the runoff from the hills to the north and in heavy rain, it can rise by almost two metres (over six foot) in quite a short space of time.

Some of the paths in the woods are uneven and to get to the area from Babylon, there is sometimes a narrow burn (really quite small) to ford. This makes some of the paths unsuitable for those with mobility problems (although mobility scooters should be able to cope with the path coming from the house). Sturdy footwear is also recommended for walking through the woods and along the river.

Spruce Wood

This area obviously gets its name from the principal trees, Norway spruce (Picea abies) and Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), planted in the middle of last century. There are also a couple of beech trees (Fagus sylvatica) still standing (a number have toppled), some Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and some silver birch (Betula pendula) and goat willow (Salix caprea). Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of scrubby sycamores (Acer platanus) self-seeded from neighbouring Forestry Commission land. Only one exotic tree is planted here, a golden dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides 'Goldrush'). Given the dense shade the understory is composed mostly of common woodrush (Luzula multiflora), tufted hair grass (Deschampsia caespitosa) and common rush (Juncus effusus) with some wild garlic (Allium ursinum) and wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa). A few stray daffodils, snowdrops and bluebells have also crept in over the years.

There is also a fairly large pond constructed with more drystane dyking and fed by a burn running down from Craigieburn Forest that used also to be the water supply to the house and the cottage over the road (now thankfully replaced by a bore hole). The picture on the right above shows part of the pond and wood in 2008 with a bridge made by Robert over the outlet which sadly got swept away in a flood shortly afterwards.

Birch Wood

Between Spruce Wood and Birch Wood and the Willowmead is an open space, called The Glade (although it doesn't feel like one yet with the trees of New Wood still being small) which makes a nice foil to the wooded areas. The path from Spruce Wood takes you into Birch Wood. Here there is another pond with a burn that empties into the river which is fed by a spring that never dries out, even in the hot dry summers of 2017 and 2018.

Native or nativised trees here are eponymous common birch (Betula pendula), goat willow (Salix caprea), and beech (Fagus sylvatica). Introduced exotics are a couple of sugar maples (Acer saccharinum), an evergreen southern beech (Nothofagus dombeyi) and a rather slow growing chestnut-leaved oak (Quercus castaneifolia).

Willowmead

This is an area consisting mostly of willow scrub (common osier Salix viminalis) growing on the shingly and silty ground. It is a flat area, and has certainly been recovered from the river sometime over the centuries. Given the way that the river moves over time, it could easily be lost again as happened to part of Spruce Wood a decade ago. There is also common alder (Alnus glutinosa) and Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius). A number of non-native trees have been added in what were less crowded areas. These include some struggling snowy mespilus (Amelanchier lamarckii), balsam poplars (Populus balsamifera), field maples (Acer campestre), a dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), black walnut (Juglans nigra) and a not terribly happy weeping willow (Salix chrysostoma).

Watermeadow

Along the paths around Birch Wood and the Willowmead, there are lots of wildflowers like marsh orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata), knapweed (Centaurea nigra), meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), devil's bit scabious (Succisa pratensis) and kingcups (Caltha palustris) growing on the margins of the pond and burn. These merge with a larger area of meadow which is regularly flooded in winter. It is a lovely flat area of grasses and wildflowers, with a great bank of sessile oak (Quercus petraea) behind it on the rising ground, one red oak (Quercus rubra) and a lone, very healthy larch tree (Larix decidua). Part of the joy is watching the colours change as successive flowers take over in their turn. Particularly stunning is the carpet of marsh orchids in June and the riot of flowers in July. The only thing I do here is have it cut down once a year in early Autumn. Otherwise, it looks after itself.

New Wood

This used to be an area of large conifers, mostly larch with some sitka spruce that once belonged to the Forestry Commission. I had the area cleared in 2013 in conjunction with the Forestry Commission who wanted to clear an area to the north and the only realistic way for them to do so was through my land. The photo shows the devastation after the trees were removed. I had the area replanted at the beginning of 2014 with mostly native, mostly deciduous, trees. These include English oak (Quercus robur), rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), silver birch (Betula pendula) with some wych or Scots elm (Ulmus glabra) which have been bred to resist Dutch elm disease (fingers crossed). Of course lots else has self-seeded here subsequently including sycamore, goat willow, beech and sessile oak. Unfortunately, larch is also sprouting up which I'm trying to keep on top of. Of course, the trees are not yet of any size, but you can now get an impression of what it is likely to look like in ten or fifteen years. One of the chief delights of this area is the carpet of native bluebells in early spring, particularly on the steep bank towards the road.