My little patch of madness
by Mark Cocker from on (#DH7M)
Claxton, Norfolk It has the genuinely unscripted vigour and adventure of a semi-natural habitat. And who knows what will arrive next?
"The garden looks wonderfully crazy" were our daughter's first words when she came home last week. If it is as she says, then it's the most patiently acquired craziness you can imagine. It started nine years ago when I left one edge of our lawn unmown. In short order it acquired new residents among the hitherto rigidly controlled monoculture.
A patch of marjoram moved in and, in turn, provided accommodation for a gorgeous moth called the small purple and gold, as well as a colony of field grasshoppers. Under the new laissez-faire regime, ragwort and sneezewort began to bloom.
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