on the button Issue 60 | Page 12

In our garden Our garden is probably much the same as many others. Grass, flowers, fencing and wildlife. But I thought you might like to see the different plants and animals we get coming into our little piece of Bedfordshire throughout the seasons. by Steve Maddox A symptom of the recent hot weather is making the most of the outdoors. Being in my own garden and enjoying a little bit of sanctuary, when its warm, is heaven to both my wife and myself. We have lived in our house for 34 years, and have made it into ‘ours’. A place to go and enjoy, but having this outside space we have frequent visitors plus established and seasonal planting. Over the years we have seen some interesting and common visitors along with a few unusual ones. From many species of birds to Hedgehogs, Frogs, Newts and a Muntjac deer. We even think sometimes we are visited by at least one Badger, but that’s yet to be proved. We do get lots of birds as we encourage them with feeding and providing space for them to flourish. In the next few issues I will post stories and pictures of the wildlife that visits us. I hope you enjoy seeing these. If you would like to send in pictures and stories from your garden please send them to: [email protected] I would like to first tell you about what our garden was like when we moved here in 1983. It was January 28th and there was a clear blue sky. It was cold but quite refreshing during the day. In buying the house we knew it would lots of work doing to make it how we would like it to be. The garden was no different, as it was divided into three distinct areas of different sizes. 12 on the button issue 60 August 2017 | 01462 834265 | [email protected] | www.on-the-button.co.uk