prepare properly for the winter. I want to invite the
season into the garden, too – vividly and in layers. I use
asters, autumn crocuses and gentians at ground level,
and shrubs that perform for this season to take the eye
up and away, to straighten the back. Sambucus turns a
buttery yellow, which might be brief, but kicks off the
season early and with the addition of contrasting
berries hanging jet-black by the bunch. I weave
berrying trees and shrubs into the garden as much for
their jewel-like fruit as for the birds which f lock down
to gorge when the fruit is ready for feasting upon.
Berry hedges (they also have their moment like the
blossomhedgesinthespring)areagoodwayofdoing
this, and I weave them into gardens up and down the
country whenever possible.
Rebeccainmystudiocallsthem‘crumblehedges’–
they’re comprised of sloes (for gin) and dog roses (for
rosehip syrup), and always have room for the odd
bramble. There are many other fruits, and in some
casesdroopsandberries,tosteerclearof.Youmayfind
bryony and belladonna have woven their way into the
mix, deposited there by birds f locking from one feeding
ground to the next. They are poison to us and worth
telling apart. There’s honeysuckle, too, with crimson
berries, hawthorn for its darker-red clusters of fruit,
andviburnumforitsbloody-reddroops.Thesearefirst
to go, but many fruits last till long after the leaves are
down. In alkaline areas, add the spindleEuonymus
europaeusto the mix – its pink capsules rupture to
reveal tangerine seed – orCornus sanguineaand
Rhamnusfor almost black fruits. If you live by the sea,
plant sea buckthorn, whose orange clusters of berries
completely clothe the black thorny branches.
Taken f romNatural Selectionby Dan Pearson
(G u a rdia n Fa b e r).“Here was a whole bank of colour
burning away. It was beautiful,
fiery, unapologetic”Howl
BY ALYS FOWLER
Alys Fowler took to the waterways and canals
of Birmingham when her life tip-tilted in an
unexpected way. Observing the rarely seen animals
and plants on the bank side helped her to come to
terms with the end of her marriage, and the start
of a new and unexpected relationship.I
’d been deeply happy, content, and it had brought me
to where I was in many ways. It is my history. But
I also felt trapped by the unsettled nature of my life.
The steady, long-term relationship had afforded me
great freedom. Now, perversely, that freedom, one of
honesty, was so vast that at times it was overwhelming.
I knew which path I wanted to be on, and I would wake
surprised that I felt no regret at coming out. I never
thought “I must take this back”. But I was scared of the
unknown. I missed the security of my hidden nature.
I noticed mushrooms growing on the side of the
canal. I wanted to be more interested in them or in the
weeds or the damself ly that whizzed past. I want to
peer at the waterside weeds and name all the
liverworts and moss that covered the edges. Instead
I was trapped inside me.
I lay back in the boat and allowed the grey sky to
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY descend like a blanket. Then I noticed fireweed, or
ESCAPE (^) | NATURE