Container plants for bees and butterfiles

By VantagePoint’s local garden writer, Beth Otway

Whether you’ve got a garden, patio, balcony, or a windowsill, remembering to choose flowering plants that produce pollen and nectar that bees and other pollinating insects can access is a wonderfully worthwhile thing to do. By encouraging nature into your area you can really transform your garden, bringing the whole area to life. There’s nothing more entertaining than watching bees, butterflies and moths in your garden. These fascinating insects will raise your spirits and inspire you.

If you’re looking for beautiful plants that will grow well in containers and encourage bees, hoverflies, butterflies and other precious pollinating insects to your garden, the following suggestions will help you:

Erigeron karvinskianus is such a pretty flower. It adds a delicate softness to walls, steps and other areas of hard landscaping, giving them a touch of beauty, and a delicacy that might have previously been thought impossible. It’s also a super choice for hanging baskets, containers and window boxes, flowering non-stop from early summer to the first frosts.

I love growing hardy Gerbera garvinea in containers. My plants have survived without any special care through the coldest of our winters, growing larger in size each year. They produce such an abundance of flowers that I also use them for cut flowers. With regular feeding and deadheading, my Gerbera garvinea have flowered non-stop from early spring until they have really been hammered by the frosts in winter. Gerbera garvinea ‘Sweet Surprise’ is part of a new series of hardy Gerbera that have been specially bred to provide hardy plants that produce a continuous display of flowers over three seasons. This particular cultivar has large, candy pink flowers, but you’ll find different coloured flowering Gerbera from the same series.

Thyme is another super plant to grow in containers. When you’re harvesting thyme, resist temptation to remove your stems in their entirety from the very base of the plant. Instead cut your harvest from the tips of your plant which will encourage bushy growth. There are so many varieties of thyme to choose from, varieties of Lemon thyme provide a delicious flavour in cooking, as does Orange-scented thyme.

Other worthy candidates to grow in containers to provide pollen and nectar for pollinating insects include: Lavandula angustifolia, Origanum, Cosmos, Limnanthes douglasii, Calendula officinalis, Osteospurmum, Aubrieta, Clarkia, Sarcococca, Sedum and Scabious. Single-flowered varieties provide accessible pollen and nectar – avoid double-flowered varieties. Try wherever you can to provide a continuous supply of nectar throughout the year. Look out for the ‘Perfect for Pollinators’ logo on plants at your local garden centre or nursery.

None of the plants I have mentioned here require a peat-based compost, so use a peat free alternative growing media. I’ve had excellent results using Dalefoot Composts, a range of peat-free composts made from 100% natural ingredients including bracken and sheep’s wool. Dalefoot’s wool-based potting compost is ideal for containers, the sheep’s wool that’s incorporated into this compost has naturally absorbent properties which provide extra water retention. This means that your containers require less watering which is a bonus.

If you have the choice, position your containers in a sunny spot as butterflies like the warmth and will be more inclined to visit your plants. Deadhead your plants regularly to encourage further flowering and keep your containers well watered. Avoid using any insecticides or pesticides in your garden as they are very damaging to insects and wildlife.

For inspiration, tips and advice on some lovely jobs you could do in your garden or at your allotment this month, and much more besides, please visit my website, www.pumpkinbeth.com.



Weekend walk: Artington and Loseley (4.5 miles)

This is a very pleasant and fairly short walk which goes through some lovely, peaceful countryside at the foot of the Hog’s Back. It then doubles back through the grounds of Loseley Park before meeting the river Wey for a brief final stroll along the towpath. I walked it in early February 2016 and happily it was not at all muddy. It is also dog friendly as is the pub at the end of the walk, which is reputedly Guildford’s oldest.

1. From the off-street parking on Sandy Lane, walk back down towards the A3100 until you see a signed footpath, the North Downs Way, on your left just past Manor Cottage. Passing Piccards Manor, you soon enter countryside with a green field on your right with houses beyond. Continue into light woodland and the houses soon give way to the ridge of the Hog’s Back on your right.

2. You soon reach the farm buildings for Piccard’s Farm and continue ahead on the lane past the farmhouse. Follow the lane round a left-hand bend and shortly after, turn right through a pair of open gates, still on the North Downs Way. This track is the driveway to Conduit Farm, so please keep an eye on any off-lead dogs. Keep straight on following the line of the Hog’s Back until you reach a sharp right bend to the farmhouse. Leave the track and fork left and then right onto a narrow sandy path, maintaining the original direction.

3. This sunken footpath goes past the Loseley Estate Nature Reserve on your left and soon you will reach a 4-way signpost. Turn left here and do downhill on another sunken footpath. Pass (and ignore) a footpath on your right up stairs and you will come to the end of a lane by Little Polsted. Turn left here and go past a closed metal gate, keeping ahead past Polsted Lodge on your left. When you come to a closed wooden gate into the Loseley Estate, follow the footpath left and then right. You will have a fine view of Loseley House on your right.

Loseley House was built between 1562 and 1568. The new house replaced a smaller one which Elizabeth I declared was not ‘adequate’ for her to visit and requested something larger be built. As was common, much of the stone was reclaimed from earlier buildings, in Loseley’s case from the Cistercian Abbey of Waverley ten miles away at Farnham where ruins can still be seen. The great hall is the principal room containing panelling from Henry VIII’s Nonsuch Palace, a minstrel’s gallery, carvings by Grinling Gibbons, panels from Henry VIII’s banqueting tents and a collection of royal and family portraits.

4. Keep ahead over a stile and you will see a picturesque lake ahead. You can take a small detour here through a swing gate and take advantage of the picnic tables conveniently sited around it. Keep ahead skirting past the lake through an open gateway and through the middle of a large field. There is a lovely view ahead of the small hamlet of Littleton with the majestic North Downs in the distance. Go through another open gateway and head towards a charming half-timbered cottage. Go through a swing gate past the cottage to meet a lane.

5. Cross straight ahead and join a footpath just past the driveway to Orange Grove. Keep on the footpath, which passes the Surrey Police headquarters at Mount Browne on your left, until it ends. Keep ahead until you meet the A3100. Turn left along the pavement for 50 yards and then cross to follow a signed track which goes under a railway bridge to reach St Catherine’s Lock on the River Wey. Turn left on the towpath and follow the river past the foothill of St Catherine’s Chapel.

6. Go under a footbridge over the river and shortly afterwards, turn left alongside a spring and meet Ferry lane which meets the A3100 at the top. Turn right here and shortly you will reach Ye Olde Ship Inn. Cross the road and rejoin Sandy Lane and the end of the walk.

DISTANCE: 4.5 miles

OS MAPS: Explorer 145 Guildford & Farnham, Godalming & Farnborough

STARTING POINT: Sandy Lane, Guildford which is off the A3100 and opposite Ye Old Ship Inn just next to the University of Law.

There is (limited) off-street parking along Sandy Lane.

REFRESHMENTS:
Ye Olde Ship Inn, Portsmouth Road, Guildford GU2 4EB.

T: 01483 575731
W: www.yeoldeshipinn.pub



Our enterprising Surrey Hills

Surrey Hills Enterprises is a not-for-profit organisation which runs local and popular events and brings together organisations, independent companies and artisans based within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) via a membership scheme.

Their vision is to promote the Surrey Hills as a national asset for the benefit of local businesses in order to enhance the community and conserve its unique heritage.

The events that Surrey Hills Enterprises put on include the National Wood Fuel Conference and the Surrey Hills Wood Fair which attracts increasing visitor numbers each October.

Their next event is the annual Surrey Hills Sculpture Garden at Birtley House near Bramley and the exciting CowParade Surrey, for which VantagePoint is a Media Partner.

Established over three years ago, Surrey Hills Enterprises aims to raise awareness of local businesses under the ‘Surrey Hills’ banner with the aim of developing the Surrey Hills brand which appeals to discerning customers who are increasingly concerned with the provenance of goods and the authenticity of trades and crafts they buy.

All members benefit from increased awareness of their business through an on-line directory, use of the Surrey Hills trademark, a high level events and networking programme, PR and social media.

With its rich heritage of wooded slopes and rolling grassland, the Surrey Hills has provided inspiration to some of the country’s greatest artists and writers.
Dame Penelope Keith, Patron, Surrey Hills AONB

All profits made by Surrey Hills Enterprises, a Community Interest Company, are put back into the Surrey Hills through a series of projects which enhance, protect and preserve the landscape, promote the rural economy, educate visitors, residents and businesses and promote partnership.

They are proud of the diverse produce, crafts, activities and places to stay that bring life to the Surrey Hills landscape and there are some outstanding businesses featured in the Surrey Hills Enterprises directory.

From fantastic local pubs serving up the highest quality local food like the Parrot Inn in Forest Green, The Wheatsheaf in Farnham, The Stag on the River in Eashing, Stephan Langton in Friday Street to the quintessential English Tillings Tea Room & Corner House Cafe. They’ve also got producers and suppliers galore from Sweet Jenny’s Honey to Albury Organic Vineyard, Denbies Wine Estate and Silent Pool Gin to mention just a few.

They also now have VantagePoint as we have just joined! Take a look for yourself to experience the very best of the Surrey Hills.

Benefits of being a member of Surrey Hills Enterprises

• Use of the Surrey Hills logo under licence on product packaging and promotional material.
• Entry into the members’ web directory and a dedicated website page on the Surrey Hills Enterprises website with content controlled by members themselves.
• PR and marketing opportunities under the ‘Surrey Hills’ banner.
• Access to the established Surrey Hills social media network (Twitter and Facebook).
• The opportunity to feature as ‘Member of the Month’ on the Surrey Hills website and social media network.
• Cross-promotional marketing with other Surrey Hills Enterprises businesses.
• Invitations to networking and training events.
• Discounted entry and exhibition space at major Surrey Hills Enterprises events such as The Wood Fair and The National Wood Fuel Conference, CowParade Surrey events and the Surrey Hills Food, Drink and Music Festival.
• Access to member services at preferential rates including legal/financial advice and surveying.
• Support with funding applications.
• Membership offers, discounts and promotion.

To become a member of Surrey Hills Enterprises you need to be:

• A producer, activity provider or a supplier of locally sourced products or services in the Trading Standards defined Surrey Hills Boundary.
• Running your business sustainably and following ethical & legal employment and trading practices.
• Be passionate about the Surrey Hills.
• Strive to ensure that your products are of the highest quality and produced with care and commitment to reflect the image of the Surrey Hills.

Membership rates are very reasonable, from as little as £17 per month depending on the size of your businesses.