The ones I've had (and why are they always in three's!) are damn painful indeed. The pain from my last lot t'other week lasted a good three days and were uncomfortable for a few more. Maybe these Welsh ones are more venomous.
Mine were in Tondu, a predominantly English speaking area. Maybe yours are rough and tough Welsh speaking wasps.
I've not cut the grass/weeds for 2 months. I only did it yesterday to make it a bit tidier, really didn't need cutting. Blackberries will be a poor crop. Most berries have shrivelled up due to the drought and scorching sun. Weeds seem to be able to grow in any type of weather
francovendee wrote:I've not cut the grass/weeds for 2 months. I only did it yesterday to make it a bit tidier, really didn't need cutting. Blackberries will be a poor crop. Most berries have shrivelled up due to the drought and scorching sun. Weeds seem to be able to grow in any type of weather
But what you call weeds (IMO simply flowers out of context) provide the natural habitat of our insects.
francovendee wrote:I've not cut the grass/weeds for 2 months. I only did it yesterday to make it a bit tidier, really didn't need cutting. Blackberries will be a poor crop. Most berries have shrivelled up due to the drought and scorching sun. Weeds seem to be able to grow in any type of weather
But what you call weeds (IMO simply flowers out of context) provide the natural habitat of our insects.
You're correct and we don't use weed killers, it's difficult getting unwanted plants (weeds) out of the gravel. We have two long haired cats and are surrounded by un-cultivated land full of what we know as Sweetheart plants (the plant that has hundreds of seeds that stick to anything) and they come in covered in them. Whatever creature eats these seeds must be in short supply
fausto copy wrote:Perhaps it's you that really is the tough guy.
Wasps know not to mess with me, rather than sting they just give me a cheeky pinch.
I'd imagine different people respond in different ways to the toxin. Compared to my motorcycle accident where the whole top half of my torso was bruised black with blood oozing through the skin a wasp sting is but a minor irritant.
Lots of rain last night, some today too I think my grass is racing for a cut...
francovendee wrote:I've not cut the grass/weeds for 2 months. I only did it yesterday to make it a bit tidier, really didn't need cutting. Blackberries will be a poor crop. Most berries have shrivelled up due to the drought and scorching sun. Weeds seem to be able to grow in any type of weather
But what you call weeds (IMO simply flowers out of context) provide the natural habitat of our insects.
There are a few species that are undesirable of course. Oxford Ragwort spreads increasingly along uncut verges. It is an (old) alien but very toxic to stock. I could list a few more that are a significant problem.
Diversity of native species is actually a bit more than just letting things run wild. It is often a compromise.
Oldjohnw wrote:.... But what you call weeds (IMO simply flowers out of context) provide the natural habitat of our insects.
I'm unsure about the definition of "weeds" but to me and my use of the word, "weeds" means more invasive species, those "flowers out of context" are more those plants that are out of context and spread quickly, swamping other "in context" plants.
I certainly won't argue. I have a tiny garden (and a tiny house) and largely plants in containers plus shrubs and a small wild flower area.. The front is directly on to a large village green. The grass there is cut twice weekly in the summer months. As soon the clover appears it is decimated. Very sad.
But I won't be telling anyone how to manage their garden. I do constantly write to the council to ask them to set part of the green to one side to grow wild flowers. So far to no avail.
A weed is just a plant where you don't want it. Simple as that. A teasel growing in the semi-wild area near our apple trees is a very welcome bit of nature. A teasel coming up between the paving slabs of the path near the garage would be a weed.
I have a fair bit of grass. The bit behind the house tends to get fairly long before I cut it. Every time it gets done I collect ticks carried in by the red deer that infest the area. The cuttings mostly get spread around the vegetables as a mulch which helps to keep the weeds down and certainly does not harm the veg. which seem to thrive on this treatment. By winter this grass has all vanished and any left simply gets rotovated into the soil. Been doing this for a few years now and is an easy way of disposing of the grass cuttings.
Grass is handy for compost, mix it with all the twigs and wood from the trees. Doesn't half get hot and speed up the composting.
Also handy to mix in anything that normally requires an industrial composter, fresh cuttings get hot enough to bake bread (possibly), they certainly make short work of hard to compost stuff.
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
Lawn grass is a large part of our compost. Maybe half. It composts well if you layer it with other stuff. We generate lots of veg peelings from the kitchen, together with other garden foliage, and the resulting compost has transformed the previously clay soil of our garden since we took it over about twenty years ago. I put a lot of compost on the rhubarb patch last winter and this year's crop has been spectacular.
The only garden waste we put out for the council collection service is woody prunings. Their composting will deal with that better than ours.
