February 24, 2023
We hope that this blog gives a sense of what it will be like staying at High House. We’d like to capture the changing seasons and to show how time here is split between creativity, nature and all that’s in between
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The park in autumn.
The leaves held on until quite late.
Then winter arrived suddenly in December.
And the ponds froze…
We’ve spent a good deal of the past two months planting trees, avoiding the heavy frosts.
With help from residents Julia Bennet and Charlotte Osborne, we also made a large pond to sit within the new woodland… it doesn’t look much yet, but it will.
2000 saplings planted just before Christmas as part of the Woodland Trusts ‘MOREwoods’ scheme:
We’ve also been planting lots of hawthorn near to some of our older parkland thorns. The park requires trees of different ages to keep continuity in appearance and habitat.
The oldest trees are valuable habitat, great for biodiversity. Their hollows and breaks and their decaying interiors can be home to many rare species of fungi and insects.
More on this to come.
We’ve had Niloo here, a repeat resident, working on her PhD and practice, and helping Fiona plant 4500 narcissi in the orchard, alongside winter pruning.
Winter’s not finished, but there are signs of spring!
Neil, February 2023