I‘d thought about using a robot-mower for several years, but every time I’d asked about it I seemed to speak to someone who either sucked their teeth in doubt or got hyper excited in the manner of a red setter puppy. Neither inspired me with confidence and I kept dropping the idea.
Wild gardens just don’t really work as neat squares and circles. Nature just isn’t. And plants just don’t. When I think about being in a wild space I think of forest paths with ferns brushing my ankles; or wild meadows and following deer paths through the long grass; or high hilltops and walking rough tracks that go back to the Bronze Age. I don’t think of a neat square or oval surrounded by wild borders. So my wild gardens tend to emulate something of all three of those. And they always have water, a wildlife pond surrounded by plants and grass.
I don’t do “edging” either. the edges of the meadows are rough, not neatly sliced with an edge-cutter. And the paths are not bowling green level, velvet sward, they’re whatever grasses like to grow there, a bit lumpy, and walked on. i encourage voles and mice too! And I don’t object to moles - unless they decide to burrow under my plants and so kill them!
I do my best to discourage rabbits, they dig pits and holes and whole burrows that also kill my plants. And are fairly lethal to me nowadays, now I’m very shaky on my pins and have a lousy sense of balance! Not being able to walk or balance well is a grind for me - I mean, an ex-dancer who can’t walk? But there you go! As my tylwyth gang sang to me the other day when I was moaning about it, “Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end …” Well they sure have now 😟
Whatever, it’s part of life and change. I need to live in the now, not waste my energy aching for the past. I’ve go a British Library-size stack of great memories, I can always time-travel back to them for a wee holiday.
Back to Droids and wild gardens. Here’s a wee video of where Droid has to work.
Kellan Cat is not at all sure about Droid! As I say in the video, I wish she’d take to riding on him. Apparently some cats do … here’s hoping 🤞.
As you can see, it’s quite a complex set of paths Droid has to navigate - this (I