On BBC Plant Earth II, they had a remarkable feature on “Gardens by the Bay” in Singapore. It was a futuristic design of a modern city – with a twist. Usually when we think futuristic cities, we think of metal and silver, but this was a vertical forest of vegetation and trees.
It is a visual feast and also a haven for wildlife. It stands in the heart of Singapore – skyscrapers of vegetation, next to the more conventional skyscrapers.
Closer to home, I have a much less dramatic effort at cultivating vegetation for the birds.
In fact ‘effort at cultivating’ would be the wrong phrase. I never got round to properly cutting my hedge this year – with the consequence that it has grown very tall. But, what I’ve noticed is that in the morning I now get the welcome sight and sound of many small birds visiting these lofty perches – which conveniently for me are at the same level as my second floor bedroom. It gives a lot of joy to see birds flying in and out of the hedge and more than compensates for the slightly bedraggled hedge.
Now it’s the Christmas holiday, I do have time to ‘tidy up’ the hedge. But, I don’t want to take away this high rise habitat for the birds. Fortunately, my neighbours never seem to want to cut the hedge either. These hedges were planted in every garden, when the houses were built back in the 1930s. Now, nearly every one has been removed for the sake of convenience, with the added loss of front gardens converted into concrete car parks.
It would be convenient to have a car park at the front of the house, but instead, this year I planted several trees. Hopefully in a few years, it will become even more popular with the neighbourhood birds. It won’t be quite as spectacular as the Singapore Gardens of the Bay, but you can’t beat the joy of some wildlife in your own garden.
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Very nice. Bird songs are precious.