Time to Trim

Monday 13th August 2001, West Yorkshire

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BIG LEAVES of Courgettes overhang the path on one side, shrubs crowd in on the other. In the greenhouse Cucumber vines, increasingly laden with fruits, sprawl over the staging. One of the Tomato plants has keeled over under the weight of fruit. Behind the greenhouse spiny Berberis now entirely blocks the little path. It needs cutting back, as do the Curled Docks, Creeping Thistles and Nipplewort that have moved in over what used to be our meadow area.

There's a buzzing and a flash of yellow-and-black. A substantial looking insect blunders against the lounge window, trying repeatedly to get out. The resemblance to a large wasp is convincing at first sight, but this is a Drone-fly, which on closer inspection has more of a resemblance to a male honey bee.

Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@willowisland.co.uk'

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