Wilding The Garden: growth in the winter

Sophie Vrijdag monitors the piece of wilderness on campus. She shares her findings on developments over the past three months.

Read more about the project 'Wilding the Garden'

Wilding the Garden: Winter update

A lot has happened since the last update about the garden. The long summer made it grow and flourish abundantly. Temperatures slowly began to drop at the end of October. This was a signal for the garden to start getting ready for the dark days. This process of advancing winter was clearly visible in the garden: leaves turned brown, withered flowers died off, and the soil became saturated with rain. A barren scene with plenty of activity nonetheless. Because the garden was not raked or tidied, it showed that it was very well capable of composting all dead material.

Progress in the garden

Sunny skies and warm days gave way to overcast skies and rain. The garden is processing the remains of summer at its own good pace and is now completely ready for the frosty cold that winter may yet bring. It gives a somewhat somber and yet soothing feeling when the branches sway in the wind of a typical fall storm. The ground is covered with a white, frosty blanket, with nature showing its own wintry beauty. The garden is done with summer and is ready for winter.