Garden richness

I love spending time relaxing in my garden feeling the earth beneath my bare feet and open skies above me.  Having a meal or reading a book I will often pause to watch the clouds turn blue skies into shifting artworks, or follow flight paths of birds momentarily feeling lifted up on their wings. Most days I try to get outside at sunset to see the shifting colours and feel the onset of night and how things seem to slow and unwind somehow. It’s delightful too, when I catch a glimpse of some of the other creatures that also take refuge in this more-than-human space.

This young Blue Tongue joined me in sunbathing late spring last year. I’ve also spotted geckos and other skinks in the garden but they didn’t stay still long enough for a photo.

I get lots of the more common birds in my garden, but the little Silver Eyes were a rare treat to spot

This Katydid didn’t seem to realise that it’s intricately leaf pattern body was not quite the same hue as the leaf it was trying to imitate

I was quite taken by the Katydid and the sheer luck of spotting it on a red leaf

The garden is not big, just a courtyard garden of an unit, and I often feel constrained in what I would like to grow versus what the space and availability of sun allows. Still over the past three years I have been pleasantly surprised by the diversity of creatures I have spotted.

Potter Wasp having a feed

Potter Wasp nest on my gate beautifully crafted out of mud with caterpillars placed in need to feed young wasps that hatch. Over time the mother recrafted the nest to close off entrance, leaving eggs to hatch by themselves.

Ant making its way over new Autumn growth in what passes for lawn

Ant hill in lawn. Ants are great for aerating the soil so nice to have them around, even if they do sometimes dispute me for the right to be sitting on the ground.

I put it down to what I call my “wild landscaping” which is really a simple case of not using any pesticides and not unnecessarily tidying up. After all why make a garden into another chore to be kept looking like photoshoot? Leaving sticks, leaves etc creates homes for insects and having a variety and different layers of plants gives a range of creatures food and shelter and makes the garden more interesting for the human eye. All of which leaves me more time to sit and delight in my garden space and the other-than-human inhabitants that occasionally reveal themselves to me. What creatures do you share your land with? Perhaps with all this extra time at home we will all discover new neighbours.

Mantil Nymph (juvenile stage of Mantid development)

Green Garden Moth, amazing to look at but one of the creatures I’d rather not have around as the caterpillars will get through my greens if unchecked.

Funky Black and White Tiger Moth chilling out on a Chili leaf

A beautiful native butterfly (Southern Grass-dart) which kept visiting my garden and sunning itself this month.