I've recently heard of a book that I have added to my reading list. The World Without Us by Alan Weisman, is a look at what would happen to the planet should, for whatever reason, humanity simply disappear. The reason for our removal from the planet is not the point of the book, it is about how nature goes about reclaiming the land once we're gone.
Apparently, the natural waterways that have been tamed in Manhattan rather quickly, reduce the towers to rubble and the island in a matter of a few decades becomes more like the wilderness it was when the Europeans arrived. In the chapter(s) where he talks about the UK, I am betting that he says that the entire island becomes one huge blackberry bramble!
Geez! This stuff grows everywhere!
I mean I like blackberries and all (the fruit, not the annoying yuppie appliance), but this is ridiculous! There was (when I moved here a couple years ago) one nice little vine that was planted along the northern side of the garden. As of this weekend, the bramble had encroached a good three feet into the yard and made mowing the northern side of the lawn hazardous.
I found a pair of clippers in the shed and went to town thinning it back. While doing that, I also cleared out a couple vines that have volunteered in the southwest corner of the garden and a couple that are now sprouting in the shrubs in the southeast of the garden as well. There is also a bush that is coming over the neighbor's fence that used to canopy the garden bench. It now oppresses it.
A morning of pruning later, the back garden is tamed again, the bench is once again shaded by the neighbor's bush, the blackberries (while much larger than they were) are once again under control. The yard, as I sit here writing on my laptop, sipping a Pimms & Lemonade, looks inviting.
For the rest of the day, I have planned a relaxing session of spreading lotion on my bramble scratches and reading in the shade under the pergola. Cheers!
Wherever you are today, I hope you're having a pleasant day!
Don Bergquist - 04 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK
Apparently, the natural waterways that have been tamed in Manhattan rather quickly, reduce the towers to rubble and the island in a matter of a few decades becomes more like the wilderness it was when the Europeans arrived. In the chapter(s) where he talks about the UK, I am betting that he says that the entire island becomes one huge blackberry bramble!
Geez! This stuff grows everywhere!
I mean I like blackberries and all (the fruit, not the annoying yuppie appliance), but this is ridiculous! There was (when I moved here a couple years ago) one nice little vine that was planted along the northern side of the garden. As of this weekend, the bramble had encroached a good three feet into the yard and made mowing the northern side of the lawn hazardous.I found a pair of clippers in the shed and went to town thinning it back. While doing that, I also cleared out a couple vines that have volunteered in the southwest corner of the garden and a couple that are now sprouting in the shrubs in the southeast of the garden as well. There is also a bush that is coming over the neighbor's fence that used to canopy the garden bench. It now oppresses it.
A morning of pruning later, the back garden is tamed again, the bench is once again shaded by the neighbor's bush, the blackberries (while much larger than they were) are once again under control. The yard, as I sit here writing on my laptop, sipping a Pimms & Lemonade, looks inviting.
For the rest of the day, I have planned a relaxing session of spreading lotion on my bramble scratches and reading in the shade under the pergola. Cheers!
Wherever you are today, I hope you're having a pleasant day!
Don Bergquist - 04 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK
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