Postcards home is a Victorian way of sending home the plants and items that Victorians would find when on holiday around the country. It is quite simply a collage of your journey or adventure through the countryside, park or remote Amazonian rainforest showcasing the latest ‘finds’.
A collection of postcards home
Take a piece of scrap cardboard about the size of a postcard and stick a line of double sided tape (or sticky tape rolled over) down the middle of the cardboard.
Scrap cardboard with double sided tape.
Then go on your adventure, around the house, garden, street or park. collecting and sticking your found items to the tape. Please remember to respect the environment and try to only stick things that are abundant or already fallen from plants or trees. Certainly don’t stick anything live to the tape, like insects etc. It might be worth taking a ‘sample’ pot with you just in case you little ones want to stick a worm to it. use the sample pot instead (egg boxes work well).
once you have collected your specimens, you can go home and look up the types of plants (leaf snap and plant ID are good ones). Or post to a friend or family member with a letter all about your adventure.
Have fun!
Don’t forget to check out some of the other articles that might keep you occupied.
Many plants that we see and love in the U.K. are not native to us. They are either long established and have become part of our ecosystem with the damage done further back in history or they are non-invasive meaning they pose no current threat to the ecosystem. Many invasive plants were released in the 18th and 19th century when budding botanists collected plants from around the world, continuing to grow them here in the UK not knowing the damage some can do when released into the environment.
There are currently around 70 NNIS (non-native invasive species) of plants and wildlife that are causing damage around the U.K. The ones I mention here are some of the more common or dangerous ones found in our gardens and countryside, most are a criminal offence to plant or sell, if you discover any of these plants then please contact the relevant body for advice on removing. You can find this list of NNIS here.
Plants
Giant Hogweed – Originally from Russia,giant hogweed looks like our native hogweed except, as the name suggests, it’s giant. Regular hogweed grows up to around 2m and poses no threat to humans. Giant hogweed however, can grow up to 5m!
It’s sap, when skin is exposed to it, can cause blistering of the skin and permanent damage because it removes the skin’s ability to process UV light. Even tiny amounts of sap are dangerous with the effects lasting at least 20 years!
It also, like many invasive species, out competes other local flora and it’s roots damage the soil around riverbanks leading to unnecessary erosion and an increased flood risk. The flower heads (umbels) can produce 50,000 seeds each which makes control of giant hogweed difficult.
Himalayan Balsam – A stunning plant in its own right, Himalayan balsam comes from west and central Himalaya and can grow up to 2m tall. It loves river banks and damp woodland and establishes quickly in clumps. It’s seed pods explode and fire small seeds that are then carried by the wind. Because it spreads easily and grows along riverbanks it can slow the flow of surface water entering the river when it rains and as a result can cause localised flooding. There is a popular trend amongst some of the more ecologically minded to go ‘Balsam Bashing’ where teams of people attempt to control the spread. Conveniently It is easily removed, as it has a small root structure and can be pulled by hand from the soil.
Japanese Knotweed – This is a hugely successful plant at reproducing. It does this by using rhizomes. Rhizomes are underground plant stems that send out roots and shoots to produce more plants) or viable parts of it’s stem.
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Knotweed grows in clumps as it spreads using it rhizomes and its roots have the power to work its way into, split apart, and destroy concrete and asphalt. Therefore it is extremely difficult and costly to remove. Houses that have Japanese knotweed on its land are usually unmortgageable because of the structural damage this plant can cause. To remove every trace of knotweed the soil for 2m below and around the plant must be removed and disposed of correctly, usually by a specialist company, as any fragments of the plant are viable and could create new plants thus spreading the plant. After that strong chemicals are used to try and control the growth of any remaining fragments. This process of removal can take up to four years to complete.If you think you have knotweed please visit this government site for more information.
Rhododendron – Native to south west Europe and southwest Asia. This beautiful plant is loved for its large vivid purple flowers and is commonly found around the U.K. in woodland and ecologically sensitive areas. Rhododendron is something most people will have seen growing wild at some point. Being so pretty It can still be found in many people’s gardens all over the country. It spreads easily as its small seeds are carried on the wind.
If left alone It can grow to cover a large area reducing sunlight and as a result restricting the growth of other plants beneath it. This has a knock-on effect to insects and wildlife that rely on those plants for life. Although it’s not illegal to plant rhododendrons I would suggest not doing it and removing it if you already have it.
Trees
Non-native oak trees – Worldwide there are over 600 species of oak tree, all of which can be found in the northern hemisphere. Of the 600 oaks only two are native to Britain with a further three commonly found non-native oaks. Native oaks are the English oak and sessile oak. The three non-native oaks are holm oak, red oak and turkey oak. Holm oak is the only evergreen oak to be found in britain and is used for firewood and it’s acorns for pig feed. The red oak is native to America and gets its name from the colour of its leaves in autumn which turn a deep shade of red. The turkey oak is native to parts of Asia and southeast Europe. The main concern is that it is the host of a type of wasp called the knopper gall wasp, which in spring forms small galls (a reaction from a plant or tree to grow a home for insects, very clever) within the catkins of the Turkey Oak. The female wasps that develop from these galls on the turkey oak then lay eggs within the acorns of the English Oak causing galls to develop and therefore affecting the fertility of the English Oak and reducing the viability of the acorns.
Red Oak (Quercus rubra) autumn leaf. Jersey Farm Woodland Park, Sandridge, Hertfordshire, 11 November 2012. A very lovely sunny autumn day!Sessile OakTurkey Oak GallTurkey OakHolm OakEnglish Oak
False Acacia – there is a road near me called Acacia walk and it has about half a mile either side of the road planted with these stunning trees. That is half of the reason why they are so popular, they are stunning with big golden cascades of flowers. The acacia spreads by ‘suckering’ that is that it sends new shoots up from around its base and spreading that way, more so than by its seeds. This suckering effect can damage, pavements and homes as it sends up shoots. The false acacia also has a tendency to rot and then drop the rotten branches causing obvious problems. It also casts shade, as many non-native species do, over the native trees and plants of Britain reducing their ability to grow.
For factsheets on NNIS then please visit this sitewhere they are listed by common name.
Britain has six native species of reptile and and further introduced species of reptile which we won’t look at here. I am only going to look at native species. It’s always surprising to think that Britain has reptiles at all as most people imagine reptiles only surviving in warmer drier climates.
They can be found in many different environments across the UK including woodland, heaths, gardens and grassland. Locally to me on Headley Heath in Surrey we have four species of reptile adders, grass snakes, slow worms and lizards. We are really privileged and lucky to have so many in a small area. Check it out it has so much to offer National Trust’s Headley Heath
Photo 1
I’ve only ever seen reptiles on warm sunny days as they take time to warm up their cold bloodied bodies in the British sun, which, lets face it, can take a while. Or under purposefully laid pieces of corrugated steel, which are used for habitat monitoring. If you see these out and about please don’t lift them.
It’s really hard to take a photo of any of them as they all seem to be camera shy, at least to me, so most of my shots look like Photo 1**…
They are split into two main categories which are lizards and snakes.
Lizards
Common Lizard
Common lizard – these are a protected* species that you can see between March and October. As it says it’s the most common Lizard. Unusually for lizards it incubates its eggs inside its body and gives birth to live young in July.
Sand Lizard
Sand lizard – these are also a protected* species, the rarest of the reptiles. Not seen very much because it’s favoured sandy heath/dune habitat is in decline across the UK. They emerge in the spring and when they are ready to mate they turn a vibrant shade of green. They are restricted to only a handful of specialist sites.
Slow Worm
Slow worm – Not a worm at all, it’s also not a snake, it’s a legless lizard. Just like a lizard it can detach its tail when caught and has eyelids. Not much to say about this one, they can be found in gardens, parks and especially in places that have compost heaps.
Snakes
Grass Snake
Grass Snake – a harmless friend and can grow up to 150cm and live for 25 years! Likes wetland but is also partial to grassland and garden habitats. They predate fish, mice and birds
Adder
Adder – Again a protected* species. Short and usually quite fat the adder is Britain’s only venomous snake. Like the common lizard it incubates its eggs inside its body and gives birth to live young. They hunt birds, lizards and small animals. Distinctive from the grass snake or slow worm due to it’s zig-zag pattern along its body. Although venomous, getting bitten by an Adder is rare and will cause pain, and only in rare cases fatal.
Smooth Snake
Smooth Snake – Protected* and rare, just like the sand lizard they like sandy habitats that are in decline. And like the Adder and common lizard incubate their own eggs and give birth to live young. It looks like a smaller pailler version of the Adder.
Hopefully you get a chance to go on a Reptile spotting adventure sometime soon!
*Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework.
**These images are marked free for use, if that is not the case please get in touch.
There are few plants that we all inherently know and usually have a negative experience with. The nettle, or stinging nettle to be precise. There are six subspecies of nettle five of which produce small stinging hairs that we are so familiar with and have negative childhood memories of.
Nettles get a bad press for the most part and hopefully this post can go some way to reconnecting people with an amazing plant.
Firstly let us look at how to handle the nettle.
The nettle has, as we are all familiar with, stinging hairs called trichomes that inject histamine and formic acid into the skin of animals causing irritation and swelling.
If we want to gather stinging nettles to use for any of the reasons below we need to navigate around getting stung if we can help it. The best and easiest method is to use thick gloves to pick and strip the nettles. Failing that we need to look closer at how the needles form…
The stinging needles are only on the topside and the stem of the plant. At they lie away from the stem. Meaning that if you are careful and stroke the leaf from the stem to the tip of the leaf you won’t get stung. If you did this in the opposite direction the needles will be able to jab into you.
You can collect leaves with bare hands by grasping the underside of the leaf, where there are no stinging needles and folding in half lengthways. Making sure that the top side of the leaf is on the inside of the fold. You can then pluck the leaf safely.
Stripping the leaves off of the whole stem. Use gloves ideally, but generally a firm grasp of the stem and run you hand from the base of the plant to the top of the plant avoids the majority of the stingers allowing you to work with the stem.
Many folk remedies exist to treat the effect of a sting including dandelion, horsetail, and using a leaf from the Dock plant, the dock contains a source of antihistamine helping to reduce swelling and pain.
Where to find it?
Anywhere where humans have had an impact on the environment. Nettles like nitrate rich soil. So anywhere where humans interact with the soil, farms, gardens, allotments, parks etc. you are likely to find nettles.
Uses
Ok so we know how to collect the plant what can it be used for?
Food
Nettles are a great source of nutrients packed full of vitamin C, once cooked the chemicals that cause the sting are neutralised and can safely be eaten. Treat them like spring greens or, my favorite, blitz them up into a nettle pesto. A great recipe for nettle pesto can be found on the river cottage website.
Drunk as a tea, place a handful of fresh nettle leaves into some boiling water and let steep for a refreshing tea.
Nettles are rich in vitamins A and C, iron, potassium, manganese and calcium.
String
Once the leaves are separated from the stem the stem can be split and rolled into nettle string, without any processing of the fibers, resulting in a string which is surprisingly strong.
Wildlife diversity
Nettles are the exclusive food plant for several species of butterflies, like the tortoiseshell and peacock and is a food plant for many moths, including mouse moth, setaceous, Hebrew character, and angle shades, buff ermine, dot moth, the flame and the gothic.
Dye
During the second world war children were asked to collect nettles to make a dark green dye for camouflage. Green dye is surprisingly hard to comeby in nature because the green of nature is usually chlorophyll.
Keeping warm
Not one I would recommend trying, but the Romans, who, by the way, are believed to have introduced the nettle to Britain in the first place. Would flog themselves with nettles to help keep warm, especially in our cold northern territories.
Back pain and arthritis
Egyptians would use nettles as a herbal remedy to relieve the symptoms of back pain and arthritis.
Composting
Add netles to your compost heap as they are considered a composting accelerator. They are great for creating a liquid fertilizer if you leave them in water for a few weeks.
Basically, the ostracised nettle has had a bad press thanks to our own childhood experiences. But delve a little deeper and they make a fantastic addition to our lives and a tasty one at that. There are lots of things nettles can be used for so the next time you come across these fantastic plants, pause and take a moment to appreciate them in their entirety.
