Lungs of the earth

Trees help sustain so much life on our planet

- Val Bourne

I SPENT a long time studying my old garden in Hook Norton in Oxfordshire in the late 1990s and early 2000s, trying to understand why that garden functioned without any chemical intervention. At the time I was trying to write The Natural Gardener, published in 2004. My main conclusion was that my healthy, organic garden was rich in insect life and these minibeasts underpinned lots of complex food webs within the garden. It was a self-sustaining ecosystem.

My second conclusion was all about plant diversity. Growing lots of types of plants pulls in more insect life. I found this out early on, including the fact that sheltered spots were particularly rich in spiders. There were sparrows galore back then and the hobby, a summer visiting bird of prey resembling a large swift, used to pluck one off the roof around midday during the summer months. Lunch on tap – well, on roof tile – although I doubt whether this happens today as there aren’t enough sparrows.