garden diversity

‘A Hidden Vegetable Garden’ with Liz Zorab

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Liz Zorab is a well known gardening guru, an award winning video maker and food grower.  She is an expert contributor to BBC Wales gardening programmes, a prolific You Tube creator and the author of several books. Her home is Byther Farm at the edge of the Brecon Beacons on a thriving 4.5 acre plot, 275 m above sea level some of which is North-facing, where she is passionate about sustaining biodiversity and is self sufficient in up to 60-70% of the food she eats. The vegetable patch is 250m2 including paths. She is very keen to demystify permaculture and to share her experiences far and wide. Her talk was accompanied by pictures, mostly of her garden, describing how a mixture of plant types can work.

The ‘hidden’ vegetable garden idea shows how anyone can, with whatever size plot, grow food alongside flowers and ornamentals successfully. For instance, Kale is an excellent choice, there are various different types available including the dark leaved Cavolo Nero (Liz starts hers early in the year), all of which will grow up to 10 ft, will look glorious and are evergreen up to December or further depending on the weather. Florence Fennel which is a species of the carrot family, is a beautiful plant, also standing tall if left and produces yellow flowers which are enjoyed by pollinators, particularly lacewings. Growing squash up a trellis will look good and doesn’t take up much lateral space and globe artichokes (green or purple) are wonderful for providing structure and produce beautiful purple flowers which pollinators will love. 

Oca (New Zealand Yam) is a root vegetable of Peruvian origin which enjoys the cool damp British climate and will overwinter with some protection from frost. It is smaller than a potato and as yet has no real pests, has a slightly lemony flavour and the growing cycle is very similar to a potato.

If possible a pergola is a good addition where climbers and beans can intermingle, and chard which can put up with some shade could be grown underneath. If left it will grow up to head height and will look spectacular in the many rainbow colours available now. Herbs like Rosemary are generally hardy and can be used in so many ways – there are different types available, horizontal, upright and cascading. With the pretty blue flowers, they smell and look wonderful and if left will produce a shrub. Salsify, a biennial, is easy to grow and produces seed heads not unlike a dandelion. The greenery is good to eat in the spring and the roots can be eaten in the winter months because they don’t suffer from cold weather. Comfrey is a good standby for use as a fertiliser for all manner of crops. Parsley if left will flower in the 2nd or 3rd year, producing umbels of fresh tasting flowers. Red Orach, which is a member of the spinach family, will grow 6 – 7 feet heigh and produce yellow/orange flowers which can be frozen for culinary use. Calendula always look cheerful and are good to use in salads or pilau rice.

Fruit production comes high on the agenda, Liz grows peaches which are ripened indoors, some of which are espaliered and last year produced over 200 peaches! Obviously cherry trees (ornamental and fruiting) always look wonderful. Raspberry canes can be planted as a productive hedge, keeping the wind out and helping with any drainage problems on a wet site. Autumn fruiting raspberries produce new canes in the spring and fruit on them in the autumn of the same year. The old stems should be pruned down to the ground in February. There is a Mulberry tree on her smallholding as well, which produces fruit.

Rosa rugosa can also be used for controlled hedging and the hips are excellent for making jelly, juice or wine. The hips should be strained though to avoid ingesting the seeds or the hairs on the fruit as they can cause irritation to the mouth and digestive system.

Liz is keen that a garden should produce sound as well as food and colour and loves the sound of Bamboo, Cannas, Banana trees and grasses. She really enjoyed making a sensory garden for the Royal Welsh show.

At the end of her talk, Liz answered any questions from the audience. Tracey then thanked Liz very much, and reminded everyone about the July meeting, when Jo Hobbs will demonstrate how best to arrange a bunch of flowers. Those wishing to take part should bring with them some flowers, some twine, a pair of scissors and a container (large if the stems are thick, smaller if the stems are finer).

‘The Diverse Garden’ with the Dreaded Gardener; Bits and Pieces

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The Club were very happy to welcome Malcolm Berry back again, to speak to us particularly about how to make our gardens, whatever the size, more biodiverse and ensure that we give all flora and fauna the best possible chance of success, without unnecessary intervention from us.

Malcolm began by explaining how serious the loss of diversity is becoming and ultimately how much more valuable private gardens are now. A few months ago, a National Security Assessment by the British government stressed that biodiversity loss is now a national security issue. If pollinators do not survive in numbers, then food production will become much more difficult on a global scale.

In 2023 the most recent State of Nature report for Wales outlined the current situation via information gathered from a wide range of organisations. It stated that wildlife in Wales has decreased by 20% since 1994 and that one in six species are threatened with extinction. Moths on average are shown to have decreased by around 43% from the same year and the rate of losses for all species is accelerating at an alarming rate. The Botanic Gardens Wales is involved in collecting seeds from rare Welsh plants and sending them to the Millenium Seed Bank to be preserved and hopefully this will result in a sustainable planting scheme. 

A recent report noted that the numbers of five butterfly species are massively increasing which is great, but unfortunately the overall picture is on a downward trajectory. 

There are four basic needs to ensure biodiversity in our gardens:

  • Food sources for adults and young.
  • Water 
  • Shelter and hibernation sites, as simple as putting straw/dried grass in a plant pot under a hedge.
  • Breeding sites and nest materials.

The types of habitat required are:

  • Woodland
  • Woodland edges and hedges
  • Scrubland
  • Wildflower meadows with annuals, biennials, perennial herbaceous plants and grasses. Cut a path through meadow planting so that you can walk through it.
  • Pond with a range of levels with a bog area and a rotten wood pile.

We need to think of our gardens as part of a larger habitat matrix – if, for instance, you have woodland nearby then it’s not necessary to plant lots of trees because what nature needs is diversity and dynamic stability. This encourages a sustainable, naturalistic planting approach to a garden, allowing self seeding and an ability for it to evolve and shift without too much interference from us. We need to think about what might be lacking in the immediate area – diversity of planting will reduce competition between species.

We shouldn’t underestimate the power of observation, just sitting and looking will educate us. There is a natural solution to every garden pest because every insect will have a predator and if we do a bit of research into which plants (dying or otherwise) fit which insects, we can cater for them all and at the very least keep the situation in check. For instance, ladybirds, hoverflies, earwigs and parasitic wasps will all eat aphids, so if we encourage them in they will control the aphid population because everything is food for something else. Sacrificial planting will also provide food for insects and thus distract them from eating plants which we want to protect.

The RHS, together with the Wildlife Gardening Forum, did a “Plants & Bugs” study which gathered information from two sites over a number of years focusing on insects found on near native plants (Northern hemisphere) and exotic plants (Southern hemisphere) planted in replicated plots in different locations. The main conclusion was that (for pollinators) you should plant a mixture of mainly native plants with some exotics mixed in. For instance, winter-flowering Heather will sustain early emerging invertebrates, Pulmonaria will feed the Hairy Footed Flower Bee, Hellebores will feed Bumblebees. There are so many plants to help feed insects through the year, many of which we would describe as weeds (Bindweed, Knapweed etc) but they all have a value – let’s not be too tidy!

Parasitic wasps (originally brought over from South America) were discussed after a question from the audience. There are over 6500 species of these in the UK and there is literally one type to control every known garden pest, so they are our very necessary biological friends in the garden.

Tracey, the Club Chair, thanked Malcolm for his very interesting and thought-provoking talk, with illustrations mostly from his own garden.

Bits and Pieces

Yellow-legged Hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax) also known as the Asian hornet

It is not native to the UK and poses a risk to honey bees and all pollinating insects, and can be aggressive if disturbed. A nest of dead yellow legged hornets was discovered near Wrexham in January 2026 – this is the first instance of them in Wales. It is vital that any sign of them should be reported on the government website (gov.wales/yellow-legged-hornet) with, if possible, a photo plus the location. All information can be found on the website.

Carmarthenshire Meadows Group

This group hold regular meetings for anyone with an interest in land management of differing types and sizes,  and you can also see events planned on the website.

Trip to Upton Castle Gardens in Pembrokeshire

This will be on 19th May, meeting in the Rookery car park in Lampeter at 9.15 am, with a return time of approximately 4.15 pm. Rob, the Club’s Treasure will send details of payment online, payment can be made on the day. The cost of the coach travel will be subsidised for club members at £10, or £20.00 for guests. Entry to the gardens will be £9, with a further £2 per person for the guided tour if required.