Newsletter Cylchlythyr

THE FRIENDS OF TREBORTH BOTANIC GARDEN

CYFEILLION GARDD FOTANEG TREBORTH

NEWSLETTER CYLCHLYTHYR

Number / Rhif 58 January/Ionawr 2017

Fig. 1. Malus hupehensis reflected in the water feature in the Chinese Garden [p. 11]

Fig. 2 Map of the Garden [p. 30]

COMMITTEE

Sarah Edgar ([email protected]) Chair Angela Thompson ([email protected]) Vice Chair, Membership Sec Cathy Dixon ([email protected]) Treasurer Natalie Chivers ([email protected]) Curator Rosie Kressman ([email protected] Horticulturist Dr John Gorham ([email protected]) Events Secretary Thomas (Tomos) Jones ([email protected]) Publicity Dr David Shaw ([email protected]) Committee Member Enid Griffith Committee Member Tom Cockbill ([email protected]) Committee Member Dr Ann Illsley ([email protected]) Committee Member Berta Rosen ([email protected]) Committee Member James Stroud ([email protected]) Committee Member Rosie Barratt ([email protected]) Committee Member Jen Towill ([email protected]) Committee Member Bethan Hughes Jones ([email protected]) Co-opted Christian Cairns ([email protected]) STAG representative (Chair) Jane Batchelor ([email protected]) STAG representative (Sec)

Newsletter Team

John Gorham email as above (layout, photos) Grace Gibson [email protected] (adverts, articles) Angela Thompson email as above (commissioning articles, planning, editing)

Cover Photos:

Front: Cattleya trianae flowering in August [p. 33]

Back: Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) The Meadow Maker [p, 44]

Unless otherwise stated, all contributions to the newsletter are copyright of the author.

For more information about The Friends of Treborth Botanic Garden, please visit our website: http://www.treborthbotanicgarden.org/friends.htm or write to: The Secretary, Friends of Treborth Botanic Garden, Treborth, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2RQ, UK

Issue No. 58 Jan. 2017

Contents

Chair’s Introduction, January 2017 3

News in Brief 4

Chair’s report to the AGM, 20 October 2017 5

Curator’s Report: September—December 2016 8

Treborth’s Malus hupehensis trees are National Champions 11

An Anglesey Garden—Midwinter 12

The Library at Treborth 15

The Best Volunteer Job in Treborth Botanic Garden 17

Creative Writing—Poems and Prose 18

A brief Introduction to Cors Ddyga (Malltraeth Marsh) 21

Treborth Mapping and Surveying Internship 2016 30

Orchids at Treborth—Update and Ramblings 33

A Garden for Storiel 37

School Children Explore Wildlife at Treborth Botanic Garden—The Importance of Inspiration 39

Winter Delights 42

Wild Elements: Celebrating Trees at the Treborth Botanic Garden 44

The Meadow Maker 45

New Developments at Treborth 47

If possible, please access the online version of the Newsletter to save paper and printing costs, and tell Angela Thompson ([email protected]) that you do not require a printed copy.

Chair’s Introduction, January 2017

There are several interesting reports in this newsletter on projects and events going on at Treborth: as well as Natalie Chivers’ curator’s report, Claire Holmes of Wild Elements writes about the October Tree Fair (soggy but successful!) and Bethan Morris-Powell writes about the maps that she has been devising for the Garden which are helping greatly with planning and interpretation. Did you know that we have some champion trees in the Chinese Garden? These are the two specimens of Malus hupehensis. Pat Denne tells us about them. Our library is also being put onto a database, and Ann Illsley tells you about this work. Rosie Kressman reports on her plans to redevelop the fernery and the islands bed in the Temperate House, and Simon Retallick introduces our new orchid acquisitions, kindly donated by the widow of Terry Markland. We are also delighted to have some poetry and prose: a creative writing group visited Treborth and some of their pieces that were inspired by the Garden are reproduced here.

Our members are, of course, all interested in gardens, and so do read Julian Brandram’s article on winter flowering shrubs. Hilary Miller writes about the development of the gardens around the new Storiel museum and art gallery building in Bangor. Tomos Jones looks at Cors Ddyga on Anglesey, and his article nicely complements the report of the wildlife there written by Nigel Brown in our newsletter issue 56, May 2016. And as you can imagine, since Nigel retired to his cottage on the island, he has been taking a keen interest in the birds and other wildlife around there, and he tells us about this.

This is also the time when we at Treborth are planning events and activities for the forthcoming year; the enclosed Events Diary tells you what is going on up to May – pin it up on your noticeboard – and we look forward to seeing you sometime!

Sarah Edgar

News in Brief

· Donations

We would like to thank Frances Simpson, Brian Ayers, Nancy Saville, Mark Roberts, Madeline Marshall and John and Jackie Wootton for their kind contributions to the work of the Friends.

· Plant Sales at Treborth 2017

Our sales will be held on April 8th and May 27th and we need Friends to help to grow plants - herbaceous, woody, vegetables or herbs, all welcome! Join our propagation group at Treborth OR grow at home and tell us what you’ve chosen to grow. Either way, please contact David Shaw, [email protected] or Judith Hughes, [email protected].

· Botanical Seminars

Treborth Friends and Bangor graduates Tomos Jones and Jen Towill are organising a series of seminars on botanical topics in 2017. They will be held at 6pm in G23, Thoday Building, Bangor University, Deiniol Rd, Bangor. There will be no charge for the events but donations to the Friends would be welcome.

Monday, January 30th ‘Saving plants from extinction in Wales’ with Nigel Brown

Monday, February 27th ‘'Endangered species recovery in the uplands of Wales’ with Barbara Jones (There will be no Treborth Botanical Seminar in March: instead there’s the Len Beer lecture)

Monday, April 24th ‘Another fine mess you got me into; what can we learn from the history of nature conservation?’ with John Ratcliffe

Monday, May 29th Speaker TBC Angela Thompson

Chair’s report to the AGM 20 October 2016

I’d like to start by thanking the many volunteers who have contributed to the work of the Friends, as well as working hard in the Garden. We’ve had several new volunteers this year who have thrown themselves into Treborth life and become really valuable additions to the team. When someone new expresses an interest in volunteering in the garden then either Rosie, Natalie or I have an initial chat with them, to find out what their interests and skills are, and we explain about how volunteering works at Treborth. Then we say what they might be asked to do. I always approach this by starting off by listing the kind of jobs that they were probably expecting they would be asked to do, like weeding, planting, composting, propagating – then I gently slip in a list of all the other kinds of things they might be asked to do that they perhaps weren’t expecting. Can you make a cake? Do you mind taking money at the plant sale? And write out some plant labels? Build some compost bins? And do the washing up on the refreshments stall? And mend the broken shed door? Help put up the marquees? Book the coach for the next garden trip? And if they haven’t run off in horror by that stage then I know they are our sort of person and I get them to sign on the dotted line as quickly as possible.

I hope that they also feel they are valued as volunteers, because we couldn’t arrange the events and activities without a team of people getting stuck into the preparation and running of them. Our plant sales are the most important events. The three that we have arranged in the last year have raised £6500 - yet another record and a great tribute to the many people involved with growing plants, labeling and pricing them, doing the publicity, and refreshments, baking cakes and so on – as well as, of course, our many customers who seem to be happy to come whatever the weather. Our income has also been boosted by some generous donations again this year, some for specific projects, which we keep ring fenced, and others just for the general funds. One in particular that I would like to mention was money that we were given a couple of years ago but have only spent this year. This was £1000 from the family of Eilir Morgan, the young man who was a member of university staff and died tragically in 2013. Eilir loved coming to Treborth and, although the family did not specify how the money should be spent, we wanted to use it for something special. Berta Rosen, who has been involved with developing the Chinese Garden, suggested that the Garden needed a water feature, and found a beautiful blue ceramic bowl. We used this money to buy that bowl and it now sits, filled with water, in the centre of the Garden. We have placed a small memorial plaque there. Another generous donation we received last year was from Huw Thomas for management of the Lucombe Oak; we are using this money to put a low post and rope fence around

the oak to protect the roots from compaction by trampling, and also we are working with a designer to create an interpretation board. We’ll have more to report on this next year.

Other significant items that we have spent money on include: replacing the insulation in the orchid house and some tree surgery behind the glasshouses, several new books, new glasshouse shading for the orchid house, and casual labour. You may ask why we are paying for casual labour when we have so many gardening volunteers – well, there are never enough pairs of hands! I’m sure Natalie will be mentioning the various projects that have progressed so well in the garden, which was only possible with the collaboration of staff, students, volunteers and, this last summer, the three ex-students on casual labour who brought particular levels of skill and expertise.

We received our first grant payment from the Glastir project, which pays for woodland management. This year the work has included treatment of Japanese knotweed, cutting down laurel and rhododendron regrowth, payment for grey squirrel control and for a bench and a table. There are another four years of this work, and much of the grant money will be spent on bringing in contractors to do some of the path work, and paying for materials and so on, but some of the grant is for work done by volunteers so at the end of the grant scheme this can be spent on other Treborth projects.

We are grateful to James Balfour who designed our new pop-up banners and has also worked on an update of our logo and other aspects of branding. We also worked with Gaenor Price of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust who has been doing more research into the Victorian history of Treborth and the abortive plans for a Britannia Park – she unearthed a bit more information about the scheme and wrote a fascinating paper for the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust Bulletin which we then reproduced in our September newsletter.

Talking of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust, we have continued our collaboration with them on various outings – to Norton Priory, Bluebell Cottage Nursery (that was a bit of an adventure - where we had been warned by the owner, Sue Beesley, that the lane down there was very narrow for coaches - we had this moment going over a hump backed bridge where we thought the coach was going to be stranded in the middle – luckily we had a very skilled coach driver!), Much Wenlock, Llŷn Peninsula, and the three day trip to Herefordshire. Other events have included a couple of walks with Nigel, always a treat (there was a wonderful Nigel moment when he borrowed a child’s water bottle and poured water on a very dead looking bit of lichen on the Penmon Priory wall – and it turned green – and then followed a fascinating exposition of how lichens are adapted to those

particular harsh growing conditions). Another wildlife expert, Pete Smith, rana slowworm workshop for us in May, and we’ve had two craft workshops, our usual Christmas wreath workshop with Anna Williams, and a willow weaving workshop with Mandy Coates.

We have enjoyed working with the students at their work parties, but we have realised that mid week work parties don’t work as well as Sunday ones, so we are going back to Sundays. And we really appreciate their help on plant sale days, particularly with traffic management.

I’ve mentioned our collaboration with the WHGT and of course we also work with the Alpine Garden Society to arrange the annual Len Beer lecture. This year it was our turn to arrange the speaker and it was Dr George Argent who gave us a great talk on his plant hunting adventures.

Another partnership that is developing is with Wild Elements, the social enterprise company that is led by Tom Cockbill. We combined our recent October plant sale with their Tree Fair, which was a great success.

We have produced three newsletters, of the usual high quality. Angela has yet again managed to persuade lots of excellent writers to contribute an article or two, from interesting local history, reports on work going on at Treborth, to world travels. The newsletter is not only a great read for our members but provides excellent PR for us as well and we will always put a copy in the hand of any VIPs or other people we want to influence.

I started by talking about our volunteers, and I want to finish by mentioning one volunteer who sadly passed away this year – Pauline Perry. There have been moving tributes to her in the newsletter, so I just want to say that in many ways Pauline epitomised our members – a champion of Treborth, contributing her own particular expertise, tirelessly sitting on the Committee and working groups and never afraid to voice her own opinion. When I see the Rhodohypoxis in full brilliant flower in the courtyard I always think of her kneeling there weeding them and grumbling away that no-one else really understands how to look after them properly!

Sarah Edgar

Curator’s Report: September – December 2016

What a spectacular show of autumn colour we have had here at Treborth and indeed across the UK. We owe this to the pigments that colour the leaves - in the case of carotenes (yellow) and anthocyanins (reds and pinks), they are revealed as trees stop producing the green pigment, chlorophyll. The lack of high winds has also helped many species retain their leaves much longer than in previous years. My highlights from the Garden include the flame red Acers, late yellow birch, deep orange medlar and a magnificent rainbow display from our Parrotia persica below the old pond.

I addressed some of you at the Friends of Treborth Botanic Garden AGM back in October and gave an overview of the year, so I would like to update you on autumn activities and plans for the New Year coming.

We are nearly finished with planting the main structural trees and shrubs in the Chinese Garden, with our latest purchases including a Cercidophyllum japonicum pendulum, Decaisnea fargesii, Sorbus forestii, Nyssa sinensis Jim Russell and Stachyurus chinensis Celina. We are also planting a Quercus dentata which has deeply lobed leaves that are some of the largest of any Oak species, sometimes reaching up to 30 cm long on a mature specimen. These striking leaves turn to a warm apricot-brown colour in autumn and often remain on the tree late into winter before falling. This tree will sit in the main lawn adjacent to the Chinese Garden, to signify the future extension of the current garden and unite the proposed Welsh Medicinal Garden. We really will have Two Dragons then!

During the autumn months we have continued to work with Gwynedd Council to educate the public about the importance of keeping dogs on leads in all parts of the garden including the woodland, and have designed some detailed signs to emphasise these points that will be erected at either end of the Garden. The council have also provided us with some dog fouling penalty signs that we will also fix around the site. Dog walkers are some of the most important visitors and supporters of Treborth; however dogs can cause problems for the successful running of the Garden, by causing damage to specimens in beds, disturbance of wildlife and health risks from dog excrement to staff, volunteers and visiting groups.

In mid-October, we had a visit from Dr Andy Moffat who has established his own consultancy company after working for the Forestry Commission Research Division for a number of years and has led research projects on a variety of subjects relevant to forestry and arboricultural policy and practice, notably in the areas of trees and soil contamination, air pollution, trees, drought and moisture abstraction,

species suitability and forest fires. Andy, instructed by myself and Pat Denne, carried out a reconnaissance soil survey in designated areas of the Garden. The purpose of the survey was to explore whether soil properties, in particular soil drainage, might be causal agents for the significant amount of tree disease and tree mortality experienced in parts of the gardens. The survey was also intended to form the basis for possible student-based soil hydrological studies over a period of months or years. Thirteen soil auger borings were made during the soil survey, and nine soil samples were taken for possible soil analysis. Andy concluded that:

· The survey failed to confirm soil waterlogging as a likely cause of tree ill- health. Instead, soil alkalinity may be a contributory factor though this needs to be confirmed using chemical analysis of selected soil and foliar samples.

· Soil alkalinity, if present, may induce some forms of nutrient deficiency. In view of reported small leaf size and chlorotic appearance of the foliage in some trees, it is suggested that a targeted campaign of foliar sampling and analysis be undertaken during the 2017 growing season for trees for which a pathological explanation of ill-health cannot be ascribed.

We have had confirmation that researchers in the School for Natural Environment and Geography (SENRGy) are able to analyse the samples and we plan to carry out foliar sampling in the New Year as per Andy’s expert advice.

We enjoyed three fantastic STAG work parties this term, the first being the 25th September, a warm and sunny Sunday where the students tirelessly raked the meadow plots and bagged up the cuttings for the compost heap. The ‘hay’ is left for a few days after mowing to assist drying and dispersal of seeds. However collecting it is no mean feat as there are tonnes and tonnes of clippings and it is vital that they are removed to reduce the levels of nitrogen being returned to the soil (many wildflowers thrive in nutrient poor soil) and to suppress coarse grasses which would other-wise outcompete less vigorous species. Hopefully next year’s summer will bring another beautiful and diverse display of wildflowers thanks to this good work.

STAG also met on November 20th for a day of bulb planting in the garden. Together we planted 25kg of Narcissus bulbs throughout the lawn periphery. The students also continued to clear vegetation along the bog garden path that leads to the main coast path, in preparation for widening in the New Year. This is part of the Glastir Woodland Grant project and will allow access to enable us to drive our all- terrain vehicle along the woodland paths which will make a big difference to the way we can manage it.

The STAG committee have arranged their final work party of the year on 11th December where we will be having a tree planting workshop, to plant out some of our potted species including the Wollemia nobolis, Parrotia persica, Quercus ilex, Quercus dentata, and Sorbus ‘ White Ness’ .

Back to bulbs, we have been very excited to plan our spring bulb display for the Garden. Staff and volunteers worked so tremendously hard to create and maintain a spectacular summer pot display around the laboratory and glasshouses that we wondered how we would top it. Well, I am hoping that with hundreds of Narcissus, Scilia, Tulipa, Iris, Hyacinthus, Chionodoxa, Ipheion, Crocus, Allium, Bellevalia, Nectaroscordum, Eremurus, Trillium, Galanthus, and Fritillaria, we may just do so! Many of these bulbs have been planted in pots and alpine sinks for our spring car park display but some have been planted in the main grounds including around the old pond, rockery, welcome area, below specimen trees and in the new Welsh fruit orchard. All bulbs are in the process of labelling and we are planning to hold a spring bulb walk through the Garden in the New Year.

I do hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year with friends and family, and I am looking forward to an exciting spring time at Treborth.

Natalie Chivers

Fig. 3. Nectaroscordum siculum [p. 8]

Treborth’s Malus hupehensis trees are National Champions!

At the northern end of the “Two Dragons” Chinese Garden at Treborth there are two splendid specimen trees of Malus hupehensis (Hupeh, or Hubei crab). They are a magnificent sight in spring when they are smothered in white blossom, and again in autumn with their prolific show of crimson fruit. In winter too their rugged pale grey bark forms a striking backdrop to the garden viewed through the moongate. They were planted by Len Beer (Curator of Treborth Botanic Garden from 1962 to 1974), probably around the mid-60s: originating from China and Japan, they are well-placed in the new Chinese garden.

As shown in the tree register of TROBI (the Tree Register Of Britain and Ireland), these two Hubei crabs, together with one at Bodnant Garden, are joint Welsh Champion trees, being the tallest of this species recorded in Wales.

The TROBI list shows their details (all measured in 2016) as follows: Treborth Malus hupehensis 1. Height 12.0 m, diameter 58 cm (measured 60 cm above ground level) Treborth Malus hupehensis 2. Height 12.0 m diameter 49 cm (measured 80 cm above ground level) The Bodnant specimen was the same height, but with a greater diameter (82cm).

These measurements are taken from the TROBI website (www.treeregister.org) and are their copyright, but they have kindly given permission for these data to be quoted here. TROBI is a founder member of the European Champion Tree forum, and do admirable work in recording large and ancient trees, which could well be lost without such public knowledge.

Pat Denne

An Anglesey Garden - Midwinter

Two months of wind and rain have cleansed the garden of last year’s colour and verdure. Now, a few weeks past the winter solstice, in the stone-grey light that illuminates an unsettled morn, only stubborn ash keys quiver awkwardly in the breeze, blurring the outline of stubby twigs and the rocking, angled boughs of six medium to large ash trees which encircle our back garden, their leafless canopies cast like ragged, spent, empty nets against a racing cloud-sea. They do not remain empty for long. As dawn erupts with volcanic red intensity they fill with a thousand dark, agitated individuals, bubbling with soft whistles and trills – a shoal of starling fresh from their fen-roost—stretch, preen and purr, then whirr away low over the pastures to the north. Only a handful ever break rank and drop into the garden.

Their arrival and prompt departure is accompanied by the fluting tones of song thrush, an individual who, perhaps having witnessed the daily influx of starlings at the western end of the garden, chooses the swaying summit of a sizeable ash in the eastern part of our garden to deliver its dawn fan-fair in splendid isolation. For a moment he commands the stage, and the day, my day at least, is diverted by his call. It projects my entire mindset a few months forward into spring -mode, despite the wintry scene, and like the thrush, I see the reality of the moment, the stretch of days ahead, the gathering energy of the atmosphere at this latitude, the silent kick of light receptors, the engagement of chemicals and tissues, the instinctive drive to grow and reproduce.

Auditory focus diverts to visual as hasty, jerky movements attract my attention. The ivy laden limestone cliff is jittering with intense foraging activity as a mixed flock of small passerines glean the vertical corridor that for a hundred metres creates a shapely southern boundary to our garden, nestling as it does in an old quarry. Years of pecking and probing of rock by man now vibrates to the peck and probe of scores of slender mandibles gleaning spiders and small insects secreted among the shiny winter-green leaf surfaces of ivy and hart’s tongue fern. Every now and again the flock breaks cover and shifts from one side of the garden to another, surprising me with its size and diversity.

The same surprise I experience when the bird ringers come, set their faint mist nets and in two hours catch 75 individual birds, only to return a week later and catch 71 different individuals of which 13 bear the leg rings of their previous entrapment – see figures below:

Species Number of Retraps Total number adults caught of different individuals Great Spotted 1 1 Woodpecker Dunnock/Hedge 2 2 Sparrow Robin 5 1 4 Blackbird 2 2 Long-tailed tit 13 5 8 Coal tit 5 5 Blue tit 50 5 45 Great tit 21 2 19 Nuthatch 1 1 Chaffinch 17 17 Greenfinch 15 15 Goldfinch 14 14 Total 146 13 133

Table 1. Bird Ringing totals for two sessions at Granary Cottage January 2016:

By this method many of our most familiar winter species of bird are shown to form sizeable nomadic populations.

Some of the birds are attracted to a variety of feeders positioned across the back garden and so, too, are several red squirrels. The first appears alongside the early birds and jostles for position on the sunflower heart feeder nearest the lounge window – he springs from nowhere and causes a flutter of goldfinch accompanied by thin, shrill notes of annoyance. There he hangs, tiny digits grasping the feeder grid, ginger red tail pointing to the sky, ear tufts blowing in the breeze, belly and chest pure white, slight grey around side of face. 10 minutes later he’s still there, stuffing his cheeks and nibbling furiously. The finches wait, twitter pleasantly, flitter from twig to twig and eventually get their turn as the squirrel suddenly exits speedily and scampers up the fissured trunk of an old ash. For a moment he stops, rigid, legs splayed against the trunk, tail erect, head half angled to the sky – a cronking raven beats overhead, parting the airspace of cackling jackdaws.

Needing to replenish the feeders I head for the garden shed and encounter squirrel number two – he/she eyes me curiously from the dense twiggery of a large hazel bush. I stop and he/she stares. I become aware of a soft mutting (sic) sound and the squirrel’s tail flicks unpredictably. There’s just two metres between us. Goodness, what a superb little creature. Gingery-red above, ice-white below, a hazel nut grasped tightly between neat forelimbs. It’s a freshly exhumed nut, earthy still. For days now one or more squirrels have been busily foraging on our lawn for the nuts which they buried from last autumn’s bumper crop. This involves a good deal of nose work then vigorous digging with fore-limbs, the whole process given extra energy by the stretching of hind-limbs so that the slender little body tilts earthward with drill-like intent. But only one effort in five yields a cached nut. Clearly the memory of autumn’s caching lacks pin-point accuracy – they recall the general area of burial but not the position of individual items. And no doubt some of the failed exhumations are due to competition. A few months ago, their efforts were often watched over by jays and when the coast was clear, these wily kleptoparasites swooped down from their vantage points, and with characteristic bouncing gait, homed in to the burial points with 100% accuracy. A stab and flick of their impressive beaks is sufficient to reveal the squirrel’s hard-earned food item and in a flash of blue, white and salmon-pink it is gone. Touché! Slowly walking on, I am pleased that this little ’fella’ can enjoy his rediscovered, culinary treasure – needing 347 kJ of energy daily, every little nut helps whether it’s meant for the birds or squirrels or both.

Our ‘garden’ is still mainly a small, disused limestone quarry with natural succession displayed in miniature in every quarter. There’s a tangled ash wood, several ivy clad cliffs, a hazel copse and two quarry levels now carpeted in calcareous grassland. Whenever weather permits we look forward to cultivating some of the less worthy native assemblages. An early candidate is a narrow somewhat shady terrace by the front door overcome by brambles and nettles. Having pruned the most vigorous, arching bramble stolons, secateurs give way to a favourite tool, the trusty, versatile mattock. Each physical session sees its snub blade slicing and upheaving the unworked soil. Bramble root after bramble root is unearthed with remarkable ease and efficiency. These onetime thugs of neglect are no match for the mattock’s relentless, targeted toil – what joy it brings to pull their loosened subterranean holdfasts and despatch them to the barrow and bonfire! Nettle roots, common congeners by the cottage door, suffer the same fate while simultaneously revealing a welcome and somewhat unexpected fine tilth as well as the remarkably well-preserved remains of an old door lock, perhaps the one which had secured the original granary, our cottage’s first function, 200 years ago now.

Soon only a few old tree roots and associated ivy tentacles remain. Again, the mattock falls and claws out these final organic obstructions. But countless rocks litter the subterranean horizons, spinking the blade at every swing. Body bends to harvest each stony splint, each different in shade, fracture and size, many exhibiting the pleasing curvature of fossil brachiopod shells. These form a special pile to be displayed among the plants which will adorn our new terrace at the back of the cottage, their 325 million year old forms destined to be players on a transitory green stage, a far cry from the subtropical oceans they once plied. The rest, unadorned with fossils, pile up alongside my barrow to be off-loaded as hard core on the driveway. Bit by bit, the winning of our first little border takes shape and the fresh dark earth spreads gently towards the garden steps. A robin hops down to exploit the invertebrate bonanza, its welcome song full of sweet notes and suffused with midwinter frailty. What could be more satisfying than such basic endeavour in such circumstance? ‘Your’ own land, your own choice, a traditional garden tool fit for purpose worked with your own hands, nature’s seasonal sounds and already thoughts of new plants to grow. What a splendid way to start the year!

Nigel Brown

The Library at Treborth

As the nominated librarian for our collection, I would like to provide a short update. Our collection continues to grow due to purchases by the Friends and generous book donations from interested parties, although occasionally I feel a little overwhelmed by the numbers coming in! We are always pleased to accept any books donated as long as those donating understand that any which may be duplicates, old editions or where we are already well covered in the subject will be donated to the undergraduates. This has worked well in the past and we hope their interests may be kindled towards learning more about botany or turning out to help at one of the work parties and maybe going on to become volunteers.

Possibly the most significant change over recent months has been the development by Andrew Dixon of a database into which I am entering the details of our collection as fast as my poor typing will allow. This digitisation will allow searches on authors, titles and subjects and will be far more efficient than my card

indexes ever were (these were never sufficiently completed to allow browsing) before Andrew came along!

Another change happening is the positive purchase of recent titles on more extended subjects. Natalie has asked the Friends to cover more than the plants of the Garden in our selections and thus we have included some books covering birds, butterflies and amphibians (connected to the slow worm project), all of which may also be seen in the Garden.

As well as books in our Library at Treborth, we also have a few interesting journal runs, among them being Natur Cymru. I am sure many of you have seen Natur Cymru over the years, but for those who haven't we have quite a long run. It is a small magazine, published four times a year, as the title says, about the wildlife and nature in Wales. It is an interesting read and I highly recommend it. Articles cover conservation, the politics of the environment, book reviews, general news and people and nature. There is usually one article in Welsh with an English summary, while the English language articles have a Welsh summary and translations are often available. Its future at present is a bit unknown as Natural Resources Wales is no longer supporting it and the editors are seeking alternative financial support.

New Books in the Library

 Discovering New World Orchids, by Steve Manning

This book has been kindly donated from the orchid book collection of the late Mr Terry Markland by his widow. It is a remarkable book: researched and apparently funded by the author, it gives the history of the discovery of the American orchids, with a potted history of each finder, with in many cases, the collector giving their name or naming their find. An example early in the book, a massive tome, is entitled the 'First description of the Genus Masdevallia’. It gives the names of the Spanish and New World men who named many of the genera, controversies over who, what and when their particular expedition found the orchids and some beautiful copies of original illustrations. There are photographs, lithographs and drawings of different orchid genera and species. This is a book to pick up and browse and will be on the shelves on the left as you enter the laboratory from the conservatory / car park entrance.

 Collins Fungi Guide by Stefan Buczacki, Chris Shields and Denys Ovenden

We have purchased two more copies of this guide to assist the Fungus Foragers as they search for and identify specimens in the Garden. There is a comprehensive introduction, answering such questions as 'What are Fungi', 'Where to find Fungi' as

well as a passage describing 'Collecting, Studying and Identifying Fungi'. The main text of the book has pictures on one page with names and descriptions on the opposite page. With over 600 pages, it is pretty comprehensive.

 Bird Populations, by Ian Newton

This is another book we have purchased to increase our coverage and knowledge of the various wildlife habitats within the Garden and surrounding areas, indeed, even our own garden visitors. This, one of the New Naturalist Library publications, is extremely thorough, and explores the varied and interacting factors which influence bird numbers, such as food, nesting sites and predators. A fascinating book which can enlighten us all to the many factors the birds visiting us have to contend with.

Ann Illsley

The Best Volunteer Job in Treborth Botanic Garden

What could be better than to have an excuse to amble gently along the Coastal Path, from end to end of the Garden? Close to the entry to the Garden there are views through magnificent tree trunks (Sitka spruce and Douglas firs are beautiful when they are around 100 years old, as these are). Then, after chatting up people in the Coastal Path car park, down past the Lucombe oak (must be the most splendidly formed tree in the Garden), past Paxton’s cascade and through the woodlands along the top of the steep slope, with glimpses down to the waters of the Menai Strait. The view is always changing, with state of the tide and with season. Sometimes it is so quiet you can hear an acorn fall, sometimes it is full of noises of rushing tides, birdsong, children, or jet boats.

There is always something to wonder at: the other day there was a broken branch lying on the path, coloured lurid turquoise (having been infected by a Chlorociboria fungus), in late summer there is a Turkey oak next to the path which has a slime flux that attracts masses of wasps and often Red Admiral butterflies, in autumn there are wonderful shades of brown and gold fallen leaves to scrunch through, and in late winter the excitement of the earliest catkins and swelling buds to look forward to.

So what excuse is there for these delightful rambles? Collecting dog poo of course, and litter along the way. The Coastal path attracts a remarkable number of dog walkers, and the two dog poo bins are well used, so need emptying twice a week. There is almost always litter in the car park and along the approach road, and as is well known, litter attracts more litter, so needs constant clearance. The amount of dog poo along the path (bagged or unbagged) is strangely spasmodic; some days one can pick up half a dozen piles of unbagged poo, then other days none at all.

Then there is the problem of dogs off leads: there are plenty of notices stating all dogs must be on leads, explaining the need for protection of wildlife, but they are widely ignored. Chatting to one owner of an off-lead dog, I asked if she had seen the notice showing the dead red squirrel that had been attacked by a dog, and no, she hadn’t, and seemed duly contrite – it seems that walkers who use the Gardens regularly do not look at notice boards. A new notice mentions a fine of up to £1000: I wonder if this will have any impact! Do you have any suggestions?

The vast majority of Coastal path walkers are charming and appreciative of what Treborth does to keep the path looking good. Though there was the grumpy one who claimed the path was too shady and too many trees obscuring the view…

Yes, the best volunteer job in the Garden has to be collecting litter and dog poo along the Coastal path, for it is a wonderful excuse for great walks; there is the feel-good factor of keeping the path clean, but even more there is always something interesting to see. Would you like to try it sometime?

Pat Denne

Creative Writing – Poems and Prose

The following pieces were written by members of a self-organised local creative writing group on Anglesey, and have been inspired by a visit of the group to Treborth in 2016. If you would like more information about the group, please visit the website www.montagewritersanglesey.webeden.co.uk and click on the Copper Writers tab at the top. Three more pieces will appear in the May 2017 issue of the newsletter. At least two of the group members are also Friends of Treborth.

Sarah Edgar, Chair of the Friends, is delighted with the contributions: ‘I think these are super. We have seen paintings, photographs, embroidery and weaving inspired by Treborth but not the written word (apart from Chris Howard’s poem on autumn leaves). Just shows what a special place it is.’

Treborth in Late Summer by Anon

Insects fluttering between the stalks of grass birds' foot trefoil heads held high baby apples blushing in the sun on trees whose branches sway

Forest trees so tall, much older than I, maybe they don't resent the ivy using them. White flowers shining in the shadows of the wood water in the pond looks mucky; that's how wildlife is.

If only I could remember more, recognise birds by their different songs. Although, even not knowing the source, I love listening. Lime Avenue by Angela Gliddon "Lime Avenue" - what do those words conjure up in your mind? A leafy lane, maybe, lined by millionaires' mansions in areas of Cheshire suitable for the Manchester commute? But no, this Lime Avenue is now in a wood. Very tall mature lime trees planted in a staggered row are remnants of an 1850s landscape design and they can be seen now, when walking across the Treborth lawns and entering the woodland on a line from the Garden buildings to the shore of Menai Strait.

On my visit last summer I found that one large multi-trunked lime had fallen across the avenue, making a barrier more than a meter high but also inviting me to sit down on the smooth bark of the lowest trunk and close my eyes. I had read about the 1850s proposal for "Britannia Park" so I imagined Victorian ladies with parasols and voluminous skirts, some even with bustles, being helped to step down from the train by station porters then strolling down toward the Strait to marvel at the view across racing waters to the gentle slopes of Anglesey.

"Well, I must admit, this is a lovely area", said one staid lady talking to her younger companion." I know Prince's Park in Liverpool - it's a very smart layout of quality houses and terraces in a green area. That was designed by Joseph Paxton, you know, the man who is building the Crystal Palace to house the Great Exhibition in London. I've heard that he's going to design something like Prince's Park here with a grand hotel and parkland as well." 19

"Well I'm glad we're not walking through a building works," said the young woman. "These paths are quite suitable for fashionable people to walk upon - no mud or puddles. How do you know about this, Aunt?"

"Your uncle Richard is on the board of the Chester and Holyhead Railway company who own this land. They bought it to lay the railway and build the tubular railway bridge."

"Is that the bridge we're coming to see, Aunt?"

"Yes, we'll be able to see that and Telford's Road Bridge too. There's a long strip of land extending between the two bridges and from the Menai Strait coast to the railway we came on. I've heard that many other people have enjoyed the scenery here."

"Will we be able to see the sea?"

"Yes, it's the Strait between Caernarvonshire on this side and the Isle of Anglesey on the other. It's beyond the trees. Let's go and see, shall we?"

"Porter, can you tell us how we can walk to see the Strait?"

"Over there, Ma'am, you'll see a line of lime trees. Follow them and you'll come to the carriageway and see the water. Turn left to view the tubular railway bridge, turn right and follow the path to see Telford's road and pedestrian bridge to Porthaethwy village."

"Thank you, my good man."

...then my thoughts returned to the current day, thinking about the flowers in the Garden, the wide sweeps of green lawn with marked areas of uncut wild meadows, the green houses full of exotic plants...then some voices came into my mind again

"That was a lovely afternoon walk, thanks for bringing me, Aunt."

"I am glad you were able to accompany me, my dear. Let's stop for tea at the restaurant we saw at the station. I think this park deserves its reputation as a visitor attraction. Perhaps it is better like this than it will be when hotel and houses are built?"

Then I awoke and I agreed with that last sentiment. I was glad that Cheshire Railways' and Paxton's plans had failed to get sufficient funding to build a hotel, villas and terraced houses for sale, even if they did retain 25 acres of pleasure grounds.

And I'm sure that Friends of the Treborth Botanic Garden would think so too.

The Garden by Kay Middlemiss

Show me a place where miracles happen, Where miniscule, moribund seed Transforms into bright, colourful bloom By nature’s miraculous deed.

Give me a spread of frozen ground, Sunshine to follow a thaw. Wrinkled, brown bulbs now blaze chrome and pearl-white. Could a poet ask for more?

Find me a rustic, moss-covered seat ‘neath a rose-veiled arbour, where Butterflies and honey-bees drink In the scented summer air.

Lay me down by a brook in the golden haze Of iris, kingcups and dill. In the cool shade where the stones are cold And the water never still.

Bring me a deckchair to a green lawn Where daisies gaze at the sky. Serve me home-grown cucumber sandwiches. Let the dark days pass me by.

Spread me a carpet of colours blending, Mingling hues of light and shade. Look quickly for this transient beauty Will shortly fade.

Show me a place where berries ripen, Of shooting seed and downy stem. Where nature plants and nurtures her crop And I will show you a garden.

A Brief Introduction to Cors Ddyga (Malltraeth Marsh)

Cors Ddyga, or Malltraeth Marsh, has always fascinated me. I live in Llangristiolus, and nearby Cors Ddyga lies at the bottom of the hill, often shrouded in mist on fresh mornings with snow peaked mountains as a backdrop. Here, I offer only a few thoughts and it’s not a comprehensive article. For example, I won’t attempt to explain the geological history of the marsh – although I admit its importance for what we find here today – as there are probably a few of you who are much more qualified than I to do so. I will focus on its much more recent history, its industrial history, and what beauty and challenges that offers us today.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Cors Ddyga, it is an extensive (approx. 4,110 acres) lowland marsh on Anglesey stretching for six miles in a north-easterly direction from Malltraeth. The entire marsh lies no more than approximately 3m above sea level and is bounded on the north and south by gentle hills. In the not-so -distant past, Cors Ddyga used to be a floodplain for the Afon Cefni, which meandered through the marsh on a course northwest of its current path (Jones, 1989). This channel is still shown on the OS map and can be found when exploring. Until the end of the 18th century, the sea would have inundated much of the marsh towards Pentre Berw and the church at Llangristiolus. Local landowners wanted the right to enclose Cors Ddyga and so with the passing of the Malltraeth and Cors ‘Ddaugae’ Act in 1788, efforts were made to enclose and drain the land at an estimated cost of £7,205 (Hughes, 1905; Welsh Agricultural Land Sub-Commission (WALS-C), 1950). These efforts were hampered by a storm in January 1796 (Roberts, 2003; WALS-C, 1950) and so the sea embankment – known as the Cob - was not completed until 1812 (Pritchard, 2003). This was apparently the result of Thomas Telford (who designed the extensive network of drains on the marsh) suggesting that the hole be filled with an old ship and filled with stones… The Cob has not been breached since! At the northern end of the Cob, where Malltraeth has since grown, ‘Yr iard’ (the yard) can still be found. Material for maintenance and the workers would have been here. As a result of the coal works, Malltraeth became a busy village with a pub called the Collier’s Arms near the bridge (Roberts, 2003). The reclaimed land was shared between those landowners, including the Marquis of Anglesey, who initiated the efforts, and had a bridge on the Cefni named after them. Concern of the Cob failing during this period gave rise to the local folk song:

“Os torrith Cob Malltraeth fe foddith fy mam, ‘Rwy’n ofni’n fy nghalon mai fi gaiff y cam; Cha’i glytio mo’m trwosus na golchi f’hen grys, ‘Rwy’n ofni fy nghalon byddai farw ar frys”

Hugh Morgan (1851) of Modafon-bach, Llangristiolus

So what was the motivation for enclosing this parcel of land? Apart from agriculture, Cors Ddyga also has a rich industrial heritage. Coal was discovered here in Tudor times, possibly between 1441 and 1442 (Pritchard, 2003). Yes, coal on Anglesey! The completion of the Cob enabled mechanical extraction of the coal. There is evidence of approximately 20 works (Richards, 1972) or Roberts (2003) mentions 43 shafts in a half-mile stretch alone. One of the largest ventures was the Berw Colliery near Pentre Berw. Work started here circa 1815 (Richards, 1972) and the pit is said to be 130 yards deep by 1847 (Richards, 1972). Apparently an Act of Parliament was passed in 1812 for the building of a tramway to Traeth Coch (Red Wharf Bay) to transport the coal to the coast. This did not materialise but decades later the railway to Traeth Coch (opened 1909) was built near the proposed path of 22

Fig. 4. Malus hupehensis fruits in autumn. [p. 11]

Fig. 5. Malus hupehensis stem seen from the Chinese Garden [p. 11]

Fig. 6. Storiel before planting. [p. 37]

Fig. 7. Storiel Building after planting. [p. 37]

Fig. 8. An unusual Phalanopsis hybrid from the Collection of Terry Markland. [p. 33]

Fig. 9. Cattleya lodigesii [p. 33]

Fig. 10. Mahonia x media hybrid. [p. 41]

Fig. 11. Daphne bholua. [p. 41]

the tramway. However, coal extraction ceased at Berw Colliery circa 1865, then owned by the Anglesey Colliery Company, as the continuous pumping of the pits proved too costly (Pritchard, 2003). The remains of Berw colliery are now protected as Scheduled Ancient Monuments (Archwilio, 2013). On the opposite side of the marsh there are lime kiln remains.

Since these coal works fell silent, the main land-use on Cors Ddyga has been agriculture. The Welsh Agricultural Land Sub-Commission wrote an interesting investigation report on the marsh in 1950. It considered the state and maintenance of the marsh, and whether this was having an impact on “the full and efficient use of the land for agriculture” (WALS-C, 1950:3). During the 1914-1918 war, the marsh had been the subject of a reclamation scheme but it had quickly reverted to its former condition due to a lack of maintenance of the drainage network. As part of the ‘Dig for Victory’ efforts, work started in 1941 on restoring the gravity drainage system. This was completed in 1947 at a cost of £147,000 (WALS-C, 1950). However, success depended on continuous maintenance, by farmers and the authorities. A failed harvest in 1943 was attributed to poor maintenance. So the marsh had again reverted to its state prior to the 1941-1947 expense. The 1950 WALS-C report found that the land could not be used for vegetable growing (the original intention) but had the potential to be farmed as pasture, again depending on maintenance. Interestingly, the report suggests that Malltraeth marsh should come under unitary control.

Cors Ddyga was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) subsequent to the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949 and re- notified in 1992 (CCW, 2006). It was designated due to eight special features (CCW, 2006):

·Open water that is associated with the drainage system and former Cefni meanders and supports a variety pf plants and animals

·Pilularia globulifera (Pillwort)

·Coenagrion pulchellum (Variable dragonfly)

·Hydrochus brevis (A water beetle)

·Anas clypeata (Northern shoveler) that over-winter

·A population of breeding birds of lowland damp grassland e.g. Vanellus vanellus (Lapwing) and Numenius arquata (Curlew)

·A population of breeding birds of open water habitat e.g. Anas crecca (Teal) and Anas strepera (Gadwall)

·Arvicola amphibious (Water vole)

The management of the SSSI can be summarised as: “the retention (and enhancement) of the current man-made grazing marsh system with its associated wet ditches, lakes and swamps, which is dependent on the long term maintenance of Malltraeth Cob and the Cefni embankments” (CCW, 2006:2).

So what is the situation on Cors Ddyga today? Despite the recommendation of the 1950 report, it is not under unitary control – landowners are responsible for field drains whilst NRW is responsible for the Cefni and the main drains. The majority of the land is owned as farms, numerous small dwellings and the RSPB reserve. It is here, on the 273ha reserve in the north-east corner of the SSSI, that most of the conservation effort has been done. It is a fantastic spot which I enjoy regularly. And there has been success - Botaurus stellaris (Bittern) bred here this past summer (Daily Post, 2016) after a long wait for those involved. This was the first time Bitterns had bred in Wales for 32 years! For me, here lies an interesting land management challenge, especially in order to achieve sustainable management. At the RSPB reserve – ever since its establishment in 1994 - the main aim was to “manage the site to provide suitable habitat for bitterns so that they return to breed and to manage the grassland for breeding lapwings” (RSPB, 2016). This is generally not the aim on much of the farmland, where efforts are on – understandably – farming animals and supporting livelihoods. Are agriculture and conservation compatible? I would argue that, yes, agriculture can be sensitive to the aims of conservation. However, on Cors Ddyga this seems very difficult. And that’s not necessarily due to a lack of enthusiasm or aspirations, but rather practical reasons. For the marsh to be suitable for those SSSI special features mentioned earlier, it needs to be wet, making farming difficult. At the RSPB reserve, reed beds have been created and the water table has been raised to create more favourable habitat (successfully). So for me the competing needs of farming and conservation on Cors Ddyga is of concern.

The SSSI Management Plan also offers an alternative to the current approach: “the restoration of the former estuarine environment of saltmarsh, natural grazing marshes and freshwater transitions in the event of the destruction or abandonment of the Malltaeth Cob or Cefni embankments” (CCW, 2006:2). An approach which, is in effect, a form of managed realignment – an interesting prospect in the context of a changing climate and rising sea levels… As a rough figure, it is estimated that the British coastline will experience a mean sea level rise (SLR) of between 0.93m and 1.9m (UK Climate Projections, 2012). Managed realignment can offer benefits and opportunities, allowing a natural coastline to function as defence (and so reducing the cost of coastal defence) and re-creating salt marsh habitats which are under threat due to coastal squeeze. The Cob currently has a standard defence for a 1:50 to 1:100 year event. According to the Shoreline Management Plan (Pembrokeshire County Council, 2011), if managed realignment were to be pursued, SLR of 1m would mean that a 1:10 to 1:50 year event would inundate the marsh. With a 2m SLR, the marsh

would become fully tidal during Spring Mean High Water. (These figures would be the result of managed realignment and not of the current management of the Cob and Cefni embankments). However, this would mean the loss of farmland, properties, the Scheduled Ancient Monuments and more importantly, livelihoods. Also parcels of land which are of high conservation importance such as the RSPB reserve could be lost. And it raises the logistical issue of roads and the railway… And so it is an option which has many implications, and not one (as I understand) currently being considered, but it is difficult to predict what challenges the future might offer.

There are aspects of history and management that I haven’t mentioned here, mainly due to my efforts to not have another essay in the FTBG Newsletter! As alluded to in the title, this was brief… I apologise in advance for any historical inaccuracies. Tomos Jones

References

Archwilio, 2013. Gwynedd Archaeological Trust: Berw Colliery, Llanfihangel Ysceifiog. [online] Available at: http://www.cofiadurcahcymru.ork.uk/arch/gat/english/ gat_interface.html

CCW, 2006. Malltraeth Marsh/Cors Ddyga Site of Special Scientific Interest. Bangor: CCW.

Daily Post, 2016. Booming call of the endangered Bittern once again being heard across Anglesey.

Hughes, O., 1905. Hanes Plwyf Trefdraeth. Bangor: Jarvis & Foster.

Jones, G.T., 1989. Afonydd Môn. Bangor: Coleg Prifysgol Gogledd Cymru.

Pembrokeshire County Council, 2011. West of Wales Shoreline Management Plan 2. Pembrokeshire County Council.

Pritchard, D.G., 2003. Pentre Berw a’r Gaerwen. In: D. Jones and G. Thomas, eds. 2003. Nabod Môn. Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. pp.376-387.

Richards, M., 1972. Atlas Môn. Llangefni: Cyngor Gwlad Môn.

Roberts, T., 2003. Bodorgan. In: D. Jones and G. Thomas, eds. 2003. Nabod Môn. Llanrwst: Gwasg Carreg Gwalch. pp.38-62.

RSPB, 2016. Malltraeth Marsh. [online] Available at: https://www.rspb.org.uk/ reserves-and-events/find-a-reserve/reserves-a-z/reserves-by-name/m/ malltraethmarsh/

UK Climate Projections, 2012. Sea level rise. [online] Available at: http:// ukclimateprojections.metoffice.gov.uk/21729

WALS-C, 1950. Malltraeth Marsh Investigation Report. (S.O. Code No 24-178). London: HMSO.

Treborth Mapping and Surveying Internship 2016

The Internship

In February 2016 I was lucky enough to obtain an internship working at Treborth Botanic Garden through the Bangor Employability Award run by Bangor University. The principle aim of this internship was to produce a working, detailed and accurate map of the entire botanic garden using GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping techniques and field surveys.

I began by downloading two high-accuracy satellite images into a computer program called ArcMap, software that would allow me to draw a spatially accurate map from scratch. The use of two interchangeable images mitigated any influence season or daylight had on the precise identification of garden features, such as the wildflower meadow plots.

With the foundation images downloaded, a crude outline of the lawn area and the parameters of the woodlands could be drawn directly from them, followed by the paved area and main road. Using this technique other features such as the tree and shrub borders and the wildflower meadow plots were coarsely sketched, followed by the buildings and the placement of those individual trees whose canopies could be easily distinguished from the satellite images. Unfortunately, this technique alone does not allow for the creation of an accurate map due to the quality and age of the images, and with the site at Treborth being so dynamic, they proved to be slightly outdated.

Using the satellite images, I conducted field surveys of the area in order to improve the accuracy of the placements of some elements, such as the wildflower borders and the garden boundaries, in addition to adding the locations of the features too small or too intricate to be discerned from satellite imagery, such as benches, fences, ponds, and beds; such as the Butterfly Border and the Rock Garden.

I then began to draw, from scratch, some of the newer features in the Garden that didn’t exist at the time that the satellite photos were taken, such as the Chinese Garden. To do this from ground level was much more difficult, so required multiple visits. I was able to borrow an accurate handheld GPS device from Andrew Packwood of SENRGy during my project. I aimed to use this to pinpoint the edges and points in the Chinese Garden, hoping to join them up on a computer to produce an accurate outline of the area, though unfortunately the accuracy of this method did not reach the appropriate standard.

Throughout all my field surveys I carried with me this GPS device, which proved useful in building up a database of the paths within the woodland area of garden as I worked.

Eventually, I completed the initial surveys and compiled all my data into a single map which I then used as my base, a version of the map that you’ll all possibly be the most familiar with (Figure 2).

My main aim at the beginning of my internship was to create a map, or multiple maps, that could both improve the public’s overall experience at the botanic garden, and aid in management decisions. At this stage in the process, I considered the key components of the tourist-style map to be complete, so proceeded to work on creating additional maps to help with the management aspects of the site. This involved more surveys in the field, this time recording the species name and location of each plant within the South African Border (Figure 14), the Butterfly Border (Figure 13), the Chinese Garden (Figure 12), and transferring this information onto enlarged versions of the map.

Future Aims

Despite “officially” completing my internship in July 2016, I have many more things to add to and improve on the map.

Current work involves converting the entirety of Pat Denne’s hours of thorough work on documenting the species name, location and relative importance of all the species within the Arboretum into a digitised version that can be more easily accessed and edited.

Additionally, I aim to complete enlarged versions of the Rock Garden and Long Border East, including the species name and location of all specimens within them, very similar to those already created for other borders (Figure 12-14). This exercise will hopefully go hand in hand with increasing the identified specimens on the species lists of the previously completed border maps.

Since first tracing the woodland paths back in the summer, I have learned more about the handheld GPS device, and aim to retrace them with a more frequent recording time input into the apparatus, which will hopefully lead to more accurate placement of the footpaths. This will expand the use of the tourist-style map, as set circular walks through the woodland and lawn area, with approximate walk times, can be added, hopefully enhancing the experience of those members of the public who may have never visited Treborth before.

One particularly exciting future application for this map, that may prove incredibly valuable, is the possible use of the software IrisBG. This is a computer program (details at http://www.irisbg.com) created for curators of botanical gardens specifically, that allows a complete database of plant species within the garden to be kept in one place. This online collection can be edited and added to as needed, with huge amounts of information added to each specimen, such as plant history, taxa with 31

Fig. 12. Map of the Chinese Garden [p. 30] Fig. 13. Map of the Butterfly Border [p. 30] synonyms, authors, images, and even collectors. The base map created during this internship could be loaded into the software and used to locate and label every plant specimen in the entire garden, accessible even from mobile devices by both garden managers and visitors. Mangers would have the ability to update the information as the conditions change, and visitors would be able to use the interactive mobile map to research their interests and pinpoint specimens in the garden they wish to see, in relation to their own location. This feature is even available in a multitude of languages to accommodate for all patrons.

Finally, I plan to continue to work on the aesthetics of the map by taking inspiration from other botanic garden maps, and to continue to improve the accuracy of the map through further field surveys and, of course, through conversations with you, the Friends.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Natalie Chivers and Shaun Russell for providing me with this incredibly valuable opportunity, in addition to facilitating and guiding the progress of the map. Thank you also to Andrew Packwood for his extensive and incredibly accommodating teaching and supervision during this project, and to all of the Friends who contributed and made me feel welcome during my internship at the Garden. Beth Powell-Morris

Fig. 14. Map of the South African Border [p. 30]

Orchids at Treborth: Update and Ramblings

This summer, Margaret, the widow of Terry Markland, kindly donated his orchid collection to Treborth. Margaret is known to many of the friends as a member of the Spinners and Weavers group and Terry visited Treborth several times helping with the orchid collection.

As yet we haven’t had time to list all the accessions but I am delighted with them. Many are species in which as a botanist I am particularly interested. Many are ones I would never have thought of obtaining for Treborth including the cattleyas Terry loved. These normally require higher light levels than we have been able to provide during winter. Originating in the mountains of Central and South America, I am told they may have cloud cover most of the warm, rainy season but the cooler winter season is characterised by bright cloudless days: the opposite of what we can provide here. Despite this difference, Cattleya have been successfully

flowered in Britain for a long time. However, growers in Scotland tend to get better success with supplementary lighting. At Treborth we are far enough south to normally not need that but with the canopy of tall trees lining the perimeter fence along the railway south east of the greenhouses, it can be an issue. Fortunately, with the removal of some cover last year more light is coming through. Further height reductions are due but delays come from negotiating time and cost with Network Rail.

There are a few hybrids in Terry's collection but somehow they never impress my inner naturalist as much as species. But most are primary hybrids, which usually show a largely unvarying intermediate phenotype between the two parent-species. I don’t mind these so much as the more complex hybrids and it's true that many naturally occurring hybrids are primaries. Seeing a beautiful or intriguing orchid I imagine someone laying eyes on it in the wild and marvelling at its beauty or ‘differentness’. I gather there was many an argument in the 19th century over whether hybrids should be artificially made at all! Having said all that, the complex breeding lines in horticulture do have their place if only to have brought these beautiful plants into our living rooms.

This August we had three very large flowers on our Cattleya trianae which was obtained in 2002 from the famous Burnham Nurseries in Devon. It has regularly bucked our trend with Cattleya and done remarkably well flowering most years. I mention this because a couple of Friends volunteers said they found it rather ‘over the top’. Well, I must agree the flowers are very pink and blousy! You either love a ‘trianae’ or you don’t. A bit like Marmite! Anyway, both people changed their minds about the flower when I told them it wasn’t a hybrid, which I thought was interesting. Perhaps it was the mind-set of the botanist in them and thus illustrating my point! Not only is it a true species but it is also the national flower of Colombia!

Further on this theme, I managed to attended the Treborth Wood Fair, on the 1st of October 2016. Showing some visitors the Orchid House as we entered the cool section, one of them commented, "But THESE don’t look like orchids!". Now, I am already aware many peoples’ orchid exposure would be the ubiquitous moth orchid (Phalaenopsis) so I no longer faint with shock. (Actually, I admit to being ill-informed myself on many topics so I never expect people to know about orchid diversity. Why should they know?). It gave me great pleasure to explain why these ‘other’ plants were also orchids, with their relatively dull coloured diminutive flowers. Their appearance in the wild would indicate a relatively healthy biodiverse ecosystem. Orchids nearly always involve healthy populations of often specific insect pollinators which as most of us realise by now are in danger everywhere due to pesticides and other farming practices!

In addition to numerous Cattleya species, Terry’s collection comprised unusual Phalaenopsis species and primary hybrids too, mostly dominated by the Indonesian species P. violacea. These differ considerably from the supermarket kind in having fragrant, often star-shaped flowers produced over a long period, sequentially packed along the flower spikes. The patterns and colours are also remarkable and attractive. These have graced our warm section all summer with fragrance and interest. Most have been re-potted and have temporarily ceased flowering but many have new spikes emerging and I am confident we will see these in flower year-round. I believe some were hybrids that Terry made himself. Young plants will have to be grown on to flowering. He told me he had a friend who was set up for seed sowing – a process that is a science in itself! Progress is slowly being made to bring orchid seed work to Treborth and we all look forward to our first ‘offspring’. Tomos Jones is currently on the case, having gained considerable experience in Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, China, earlier this year.

One of the important changes made over the last 12+ months has been the use of Akerne Rain Mix liquid feeding. This has facilitated tremendous improvement in growth and flowering of all our orchids! The great feature is that not only is it good for the orchids, it can be used at every watering year-round as opposed to usual orchid grower’s adage ‘Weekly and Weakly’. The disadvantage of the latter is a plant may not need watering when you want to feed it and they all dry out at different rates. We used to use foliar feeding to get around this but it was problematic when delicate flowers were around, often spoiling the blooms. The Akerne feed powder is dissolved in an 80 litre dustbin of water which is warmed by the greenhouse atmosphere and therefore better for the plants than using water direct from the mains. In the winter the water temperature gets very low and is arguably bad for the plants on that account, especially in the warm section. Since this summer, Alan Jones from Estates has kindly supplied us with a recycled submersible pump and hose system to deliver the feed via a trigger lance. This saves a lot of time and water!

After the death of Professor Greig-Smith in 2003, most will be aware that instead of having a memorial tree we suggested to his widow the idea of dedicating the orchid collection to him. This was after she had already passed what remained of his collection on to us. A large donation was given by her and went a long way towards greenhouse refurbishment and renovation – reinstating the three temperature zones, updating benching, etc. At the same time the Friends funded the bubble polythene insulation which was only replaced expertly by Julian Bridges during the renovations last year. The Cheshire and North Wales Orchid Society also chipped in generously for the original insulation. By last year it was well passed its sell-by date and falling to bits! As it ages it succumbs to the effects of heat and light, losing all its strength.

I remember I bumped into Prof unexpectedly many years ago when there was the rare occasion of a major orchid show in Llandudno organised by the Cheshire and North Wales Orchid Society. A Friend of Treborth, Tina Stagg, was responsible for the publicity. At the time and many occasions since she was ‘Chairman’ of the CANWOS. I had completely forgotten the details but Tina kindly reminded me by email it had been the 19th British Orchid Council Congress, September 1999. Prof was in his retirement and some years previously I had looked after his private orchid collection at his home while he was on holiday. I had done this a couple of times when his neighbour who usually did the honours was also away. Prof had also taught me plant ecology as an undergraduate. (He introduced me to the wonder-world of ‘multi-dimensional hyper-volumes’ and later, I also took his wonderful ‘Monocots’ course, where we discovered our mutual interest in orchids.) It was nice to see him in the setting of the Llandudno orchid show, and we both glared feverishly at the various displays and commercial stands. At the end of the show he showed me what he had bought – almost sheepishly he let me know he was particularly fond of ‘botanicals’ (as if I didn’t know) – taking out of a bag a little green plant with a short inflorescence of numerous tiny green buds. He did tell me its obscure name but I promptly decided not to try and commit it to memory! To this day I often wonder what it was.

Increasing our collection further, not only with the most welcome additions from Terry’s collection, but since last year adding a few more specimens mostly by purchasing. One notable donation is Jane Cherrett's large Cymbidium hybrid which has graced our lab this autumn with numerous spikes of yellow-green flowers with red lip markings. Visits include to Burnham Nurseries by Natalie and Rosie, Tomos Jones at the Orchid Festival at the National Botanic Garden of Wales and Natalie, and Tomos attending the British Orchid Growers Association Autumn Fayre in Birmingham mid-November. Primarily species are being bought and selected not only for their attractiveness, but also to increase the diversity of flower and form. A living museum!

In conclusion, I would say that this has been a very productive year. Interest in the orchids is increasing all the time. With the move to seed work and research also developing bit by bit, I can honestly say the collection fulfils the mission statement of the Garden: ‘Education, Inspiration and Conservation’. And with the way things are going, we might also like to add ‘Propagation’!

Simon Retallick

A Garden for Storiel

In spring 2016, Treborth Botanic Garden was contacted by Esther Roberts of Storiel, for some help in creating a garden around the museum and gallery which had recently relocated to the newly renovated Bishop’s Palace adjacent to Bangor Cathedral.

In response to this request, Shaun Russell, Director Treborth Botanic Garden, arranged for representatives of the FTBG and STAG to meet with Esther Roberts. The proposal was for a garden which reflected the late medieval origins of the Bishop’s Palace, would be attractive throughout the year and be relatively low maintenance. As both FTBG and STAG were already heavily involved in work at Treborth during the busy spring and summer period it was agreed to provide advice rather than being able to help create the garden.

The Bishop’s Palace was built in two phases in the late 15th and early 16th century and was subsequently extended and modified in the 18th century. The western wing is the earliest part and originally consisted of a simple single story hall with attached wing for private rooms. The hall was of timbered construction and was built between 1496 and 1500.

A report on the site produced prior to the restoration included an extract from John Speed’s map of 1612 showing the Bishop’s Palace and indicating that behind the building there was a formal garden (Deiniol Road did not exist at this time) and to the side there seemed to be an orchard. At that time the River Adda ran between the Bishop’s Palace and the cathedral, before being culverted in the late 19th century.

The hard landscaping at Storiel was already complete, so the shape of the flowerbeds was determined. The garden in front of the building doesn’t conform to the usual medieval pattern in that the beds are curved rather than the formal geometrical shapes shown in medieval illustrations and the garden is very open, rather than the enclosed spaces typical of medieval gardens.

A number of sources of information were consulted including The Medieval Garden by Sylvia Landsberg which provided helpful lists of plants used in medieval gardens and many illustrations. Further inspiration was gained from photos of Dunbar’s Close garden in Edinburgh. This is a small garden in the medieval style reached through a close (alley) off the Canongate (part of the ‘Royal Mile’) near Holyrood in Edinburgh.

Medieval gardens were often practical, providing herbs and vegetables, though pleasure gardens with flowering plants were made for larger houses. Quite a large number of garden plants had been introduced into Britain from the continent by the medieval period: many of them are those we now think of as cottage garden plants. Plants from North America and the Far East did not enter the British Isles until the seventeenth century.

Many of the plants used in medieval gardens would have been native plants (from the UK or the continent) often with smaller less showy flowers and shorter flowering periods than modern garden varieties. Because Storiel is open all year we decided to opt for modern varieties of the plants to help to make the garden interesting throughout the year. Research by the RHS has shown that many modern varieties and cultivars are visited by pollinating insects and provide a resource over a longer period than their native forebears.

The recommendation developed by FTBG and STAG for Storiel was to design the flower beds in front of the building which are set in paving, in the style ofa parterre surrounded by low box hedges. Within these hedges the main planting would be of herbs such as lavender, sage, marjoram and thyme – reflecting the importance of these plants in the medieval period for medicinal, culinary and domestic use. These herbs can be clipped to develop a dense but low-growing cover. In addition different varieties of lavender, thyme and sage can be used to provide additional texture and colour variation.

To add interest, small groups of ‘accent’ plants were suggested. The selection of these plants was guided by the type of plant available in the 16th and 17th century – they include plants native to Britain and the continent. The list includes Acanthus mollis, Aquilegia, Astrantia, yarrow Achillea, globe thistle Echinops rito, sea holly Eryngium maritima, iris Iris germanica, dames violet Hesperis matrionalis and pinks Dianthus. The selection includes scented plants or those with long lasting flower heads and some to provide height and structure.

At the side of the building there is a fairly large planting area which borders a path and the outdoor seating area for the café. A planting of shrub roses with a border of catmint was suggested. The rose border, consisting of a single variety, will help to enclose the seating area which is currently very exposed.

In the longer term it is hoped that some Welsh apple varieties can be planted along the path which borders the old bowling green site next to the Bishop’s Palace. This is the area which appears to be an orchard on John Speed’s map. The main constraint here is that there is no protection and young trees would need substantial tree guards.

The first stage of planting was undertaken by the Gwynedd Council Parks & Gardens team in the summer, and further planting will be carried out before next summer. It is hoped that the garden will continue to develop and consolidate over the next few years and provide an attractive setting for this important building in central Bangor and also develop as an educational resource.

Hilary Miller

School Children explore Wildlife at Treborth Botanic Garden - the Importance of Inspiration

‘Come and have a look at this cool creature’, screams a child across the pond! We rush over to see a palmate newt and a very excited child’s face brimming with pride and excitement at the good catch. The nets dip in again in eager anticipation for what they will find. Maybe some damselfly larvae or those wicked water bugs they call back swimmers or greater water boatmen? The excitement continues throughout the day with 65 children and 8 teachers having memorable experiences around the Garden and woodlands.

The field day was the idea of a cluster of four primary schools (Waunfawr, Deiniolen, Rhiwlas and Llanberis) and organised by myself and a small team of keen helpers. The schools are part of a UK wide project called Polli:nation (see www.polli:nation.co.uk for more info on the project) and are, over a Fig. 15. Beebox [p. 39]. period of two years, improving their grounds for pollinators. I am

Fig. 16. View over Cors Ddyga to Snowdonia [p. 21].

Fig. 17. School Children using microscopes in the Laboratory [p. 39]

working with them to help carry out these changes. To inspire the children and teachers we thought a field trip was a great way to kick start the project and Treborth proved to be a perfect location for it.

With that number of pupils, we were keen to ensure that the planning was water-tight and that we provided enough activities to keep the interest up during the whole day. We divided the pupils into four groups, each with a different activity and we swapped these around throughout the day. Bob Griffiths from Opal took them on a bug-hunt with great results especially in the designated butterfly border where there were lots of red admirals and other beauties. Clare and Lily from Wild Elements took their group for a woodland walk with a twist - find the missing words hanging on trees to learn all about pollination. Then an equally entertaining and educational pollinator game with the kids pretending to be bees collecting nectar for their hives as fast as possible without spilling an ounce. Katy from the North Wales Wildlife Trust was helping pupils make bee homes in pre-made bird-boxes as nesting sites for solitary bees back in the school grounds. Anna Story (volunteer at Treborth) provided an insight into the mysterious life of moths, and Rosie Kressman took excited groups on a journey around the world in the greenhouses. Finally, I had groups down at the ponds happily dipping away, lost in another world.

No field trip is successful without the lunch-box and luckily, we could all sit outside in the mild September weather and it gave me great pleasure to see the children sitting in this special setting enjoying their food.

Happy faces boarded the bus and we all sat down for a well-earned cup of tea. Our review, including feed-back from the schools, concluded that it is definitely well worth running these days in this format. There was something for everybody and with the collaboration of staff we could ensure variety and enthusiasm. Hopefully they will go back to their schools and create habitats that will attract wildlife just as at Treborth!

Anna Williams, Education and Community Officer, North Wales Wildlife Trust

Winter Delights!

Many people think of winter as a drab time in the garden, but it need not be. When the leaves are off the trees and most herbaceous plants have died down, the plants that do flower become much more noticeable, especially the scented ones. One that doesn’t have scented flowers is pineapple sage but its leaves really do smell strongly of pineapple and its fiery red flowers are an explosion of colour as I write this in mid November.

Viburnum x bodnantense has now come into flower in my garden and you get whiffs of scent when you are near. Clusters of small pink flowers are produced on the bare wood. The scent is a curious sweetness with a slightly bitter finish. Viburnum x bodnantense (bred at Bodnant Garden) is an upright shrub which reaches to about 6ft and is very easy to grow. You can propagate it from semi-ripe cuttings, taken in May. When I moved house, a few years ago, I took one of these with me. As the removals men struggled to get it on the van, they demanded to know what was special about it. I don't think they were terribly impressed when I told them! Another easy to grow shrub is V. tinus: this is an evergreen, about 3 or 4 ft high. The flowers are pinky white and in small clusters. The smell is rather faint but it flowers for a very long time and is very easy to propagate.

A deciduous shrub with a curious, lemony scent is Lonicera fragrantissima or Lonicera x purpusii. Tiny white flowers are born in the leaf axils. It gets to about 5ft high and is an open, spreading shrub.

Chimonanthus praecox, or Winter Sweet, has yellow bell-shaped scented blooms hanging from its branches. It seems to need time to get established and to flower, and grows to around 8 ft.

Several Mahonia species have richly scented flowers, although, when not in flower, the shrubs are inconspicuous or rather dull. M. japonica and M. aquifolium are leathery leaved, low growing plants. Mahonia x media ‘Charity’ is a large plant, spectacular when in flower, with huge sprays of yellow blooms.

There are many species of Jasmine, but the common Winter Jasmine, Jasminium nudiflorum, is very easy to grow and tolerates shade, often brightening a dull corner of the garden.

Sarcococca confusa, or Christmas Box, is an inconspicuous small evergreen shrub a bit like Butchers Broom. It has small leathery leaves with tiny off white, richly scented flowers in the leaf axils. Although slow growing, it is not fussy where you put it and it thrives in poor soil.

Clematis armandii is a rampant climber with long, glossy evergreen leaves. The white, heavily scented flowers are born in dense clusters on two year old wood. It used to be regarded as tender but with climate change, this seems to be less of a problem. The only other scented Clematis that I know of is C. montana, which smells deliciously of vanilla but it is not winter flowering.

The Daphnes are wonderfully scented. Daphne mezereum grows on alkaline soil, and you can find it in the woods of the Peak District. In the garden, it is quite slow growing and sometimes just expires for no obvious reason! It is a small deciduous shrub, slow growing, usually with pink or white flowers. Sometimes you can find seedlings nearby.

D. odora ‘Aureomarginata’ is a low growing evergreen plant, with reddish purple flowers, probably best in a sunny place. You can grow it from cuttings but they are very slow to root. Finally, D. bholua is the best of the lot! This is another plant that moved house with me, so I regard it as fairly bomb proof! It is an upright shrub, growing to around 6ft and semi-evergreen. Every winter it is covered in waxy white flowers with a wonderful scent and it flowers for ages. There are many different varieties but the commonest is called “Jacqueline Postill”. When walking in the Dolomites in Italy, I have found tiny alpine Daphnes, deliciously scented.

So winter need no longer be boring! You can see a lot of these plants in the Winter Garden at Bodnant. For more ideas, read Winter Flowering Shrubs by M.W. Buffin, or The Fragrant Garden by Kay Sanecki.

Julian Brandram

Wild Elements: Celebrating Trees at the Treborth Botanic Garden

On Saturday 1 October last year, Wild Elements put on an exciting event to celebrate trees at the much-loved Treborth Botanic Garden in north Wales. Wild Elements, the Bangor-based social enterprise which works to help get people of all ages outdoors and closer to nature, were delighted to have received funding from the Woodland Trust to put on their inaugural Treborth Tree Fair in the Garden.

With deciduous woodland bordering the salty shores of the Menai Strait and its impressive collection of wild and cultivated trees from all over the world, Treborth Botanic Garden was the perfect place to put together an exciting programme of workshops, speakers and stalls to bring trees to the forefront of peoples’ lives for one day.

At midday, the 16-piece brass band (comically crammed into a 3x3m gazebo due to the rain!) kicked off the programme for the day with celebratory songs, creating a cheery atmosphere. While the scent of wood smoke drifted through the rain-soaked air, children and adults had the opportunity to learn about the environmental and cultural significance of trees in our daily lives through storytelling, workshops and hands-on activities. Highlights included willow weaving with mother-and-daughter duo Rosie and Mandy Coates, musical storytelling with Eric Maddern and his guitar, hedgerow foraging and juicing workshops with Jules Cooper, and real-time wood carving with members of a nearby artists’ collective. Inside the Garden’s lab the Friends of Treborth group had put on an impressive spread of home-made cakes and seasonal preserves for those weary of the weather.

Despite persistent rain throughout the day, around 300 visitors made it down to enjoy the various activities under the cover of marquees, the star shelter and even a bell tent in the Chinese garden. The key aim of the event, as well as to highlight the significance of trees, was to garner support for the Woodland Trust’s Tree Charter Campaign. To do this, two Wild Elements digital media enthusiasts set up a video booth in the Garden where adults and children alike could recount stories about their favourite trees and contribute tree memories. Tens of video clips were collected and will be turned into a video collage to further promote the Tree Charter Campaign.

Wild Elements were extremely grateful to their 27-strong team of volunteers from Bangor University, the Friends of Treborth group and the wider community who helped make this event a huge success. Indeed, there are already whispers of a second Tree Fair for 2017!

Claire Holmes, Community Engagement Officer, Wild Elements

The Meadow Maker

Ever thought of establishing a wildflower meadow? It's perhaps one of the most rewarding ways to bring native flora and other wildlife into your garden. What could be more attractive than a swathe of oxeye daisies, buttercups and knapweed swaying in the breeze on a warm summer evening?

But one of the biggest challenges is getting the grass under control, especially if you're creating the meadow in an existing lawn area of rough grass. If it's too vigorous it simply shoulders aside the flowers you want to encourage. Thankfully, though, nature has provided her own weapon for us to deploy.

Most meadow flowers are perennials, growing fresh new shoots from their roots each year and spreading slowly through the sward. But yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor) is different. It's an annual plant, completing its entire life cycle in one year. It produces large quantities of seed, protected inside inflated seed pods that rattle when they ripen and dry in late summer, hence the name. In the olden days, this sound was used as a clue to the farmer that the hay was ready to cut.

During April and early May, the seeds germinate and grow quickly, with characteristic paired leaves that are attractively corrugated and toothed. But underground, something sinister is happening. As their roots grow, they seek the roots of grasses growing nearby. Once contact is made with the victim's root, a fist -like structure grows around it (a haustorium) that penetrates the tissue. Hundreds of these connections are made, so the yellow rattle plant is tapped into almost all the grasses growing around it.

The effect of this can be astonishing. As the yellow rattle draws water and nutrients from the grasses, their growth is suppressed, sometime by as much as 60%. This literally creates space in the surrounding vegetation so that other flowers have room to grow. In fact, there's a direct correlation between the number of yellow rattle plants per square metre and the diversity of other flowers in a meadow.

Known as 'the meadow maker', yellow rattle does such a good job that I wouldn't attempt to create a meadow without it.

Sowing the seed

Yellow rattle can be a bit tricky to get established in the garden, but follow a few simple steps and you should be able to get it going. Once you have, it will appear each year and work its magic by itself.

 Yellow rattle seeds are short lived (18 months to two years) and must be sown fresh. You can buy seed, but make sure it comes from a specialist supplier who can guarantee freshness. A better option - if you know someone who already has it in their meadow (maybe a local nature reserve or farmer's meadow) - is to ask if you can collect some seed in June and July.

 Collect it by taking the dried stems and shaking them into a paper bag. The seed falls out easily and you should be able to collect enough quite quickly. Allow about a handful of seed per square metre, but remember that you only need a few plants to grow in the first year and these will go on to produce lots of seed in the future.

 To sow the seed, cut your meadow for the first time as normal between July and September and remove the clippings. Then use a rake or garden fork to scratch away any thatch - the layer of dead grass and moss that builds up on the soil surface - to expose some bare soil below. This scarification is really important - the seed should be able to reach the soil surface.

 Sow by hand straightaway, scattering the seed on the surface of the exposed earth. This must be done before winter as the seeds need several weeks of winter cold (stratification) in order to germinate the following spring.

 Press the seed into the soil either by walking over the meadow or by using a small roller.

 Don't be worried if only a few plants germinate in spring. They'll grow and shed their own seed into the sward (you don't need to scarify the soil each year) and numbers should increase year on year.

 Alternatively, if you're sowing an entirely new meadow in an area of specially prepared bare soil, sow the yellow rattle along with all the other seeds in the autumn.

These days, with our culture of quick-fix gardening make-overs, people often want instant results. But you can't rush a real wildflower meadow and part of the joy of a meadow is seeing the gradual changes over time. As your yellow rattle gets established, you'll see the grass become thinner and more open, and more flowers will be able to spread. It really is your best friend in the meadow.

Trevor Dines, Plantlife Botanical Specialist

(This article originally appeared in Plant Life, issue 75, summer 2016, the magazine published by the charity Plantlife and is reproduced with permission.)

New Developments at Treborth

2017 promises to be another busy year for the Garden, and I’m feeling particularly nervous and excited as I will be embarking on some new projects. Up until now, my job role has been focused on the care of our existing collections, and keeping the glasshouses (more or less) standing by means of gaffer tape and willpower. I’ve found this to be enormously interesting and rewarding, and now Natalie has bravely decided to entrust me with a couple of projects to develop new features at the Garden over the next 12 to 18 months.

Shortly after her arrival at the Garden as Curator in August 2016, Natalie took the difficult decision to remove the large conifers which were looming threateningly over the glasshouses at the back of the courtyard. The area has duly been cleared, allowing light to the glasshouses, and a rather nice stone-punctuated embankment has been revealed, which swoops in a curve towards the sheds. The remaining large tree stumps are a rather nice feature of the embankment which will be worked into its new purpose as a fernery. I’m not yet sure that ‘fernery’ is the best description for what I’ve got planned for the area, as it will probably be more accurately described as a shade garden. The planting plan includes Azaleas and Heathers for structure, and shade-loving herbaceous perennials such as Hosta, Heuchera, Hellebore and Ajuga, and bulbs such as Erythronium, Cyclamen and Anemone for flashes of colour throughout the year. We already have a large number of ferns of various genera dotted about the Garden in pots, many of which are hardy and could be planted directly into the ground. Non-hardy ferns will be displayed in pots on the tree stumps. We have aspirations towards acquiring a tree

fern to sit at the top of the slate steps, to act as the botanical cherry on the cake. While all this is going on, Tomos Jones, our up-and-coming orchid expert, is working towards developing a collection of hardy orchids which he will propagate from seed. We plan to eventually incorporate these into the planting, probably by sinking them into the ground in pots so that they can be moved and cared for when necessary. Altogether I hope that this will create an attractive and purposeful feature of the Garden.

The second project, which is currently giving me considerable brain-ache, is the redevelopment of the ‘Tenerife bed’ in the temperate house. The bed, which stretches along the right hand side of the temperate house, is currently looking rather neglected, and we have decided to rework the existing Tenerife/Canary Islands collection into a broader ‘Island Flora’ display, featuring species endemic to Madagascar, St Helena and the Japanese islands in addition to the Canary Islands. I’m grateful to have the support of volunteers Erle Randall, John Gorham and Ruby Bye with this task, as this is proving to be quite distantly removed from my comfort zone! I have discovered that I don’t know anything about the climate and topography of Japanese islands, and that it’s very difficult to identify which species are truly endemic, as the definition seems to be open to interpretation across the many different sources I’ve been searching. Not to mention that when we have established which plants will be suitable for the conditions in the temperate house, we then have to source them from somewhere! Faced with this daunting research task, I’m actually rather looking forward to getting on with constructing the shelter structure which will cover the plants and mitigate the leaky roof of the temperate house (Erle has already had great success with the shelter he constructed to protect the southern African bulb collection on the opposite side of the temperate house). I’m probably more comfortable with a hammer and a saw than I am with a computer, though I do relish the opportunity to do something completely different, which requires a skill set I haven’t yet developed. We aren’t scared of trying new ideas at Treborth, and I’m fortunate to be in an environment where I am supported to do that. And I know that when I find myself floundering, there’s a wealth of knowledge to tap amongst the Friends.

Rosie Kressman, Horticultural Technician

(If any reader has knowledge to impart on the endemic flora of the Japanese islands, I really would be extremely grateful – please email me: [email protected]).

Fig. 18. School Children Dipping in the small raised pond. [p. 39]

Fig. 19. School Children examining the Catch from the Dipping Pond. [p. 39]

Fig. 20. The Meadow Maker, Yellow Rattle, Rhinanthus minor [p. 45]