June 2014

Geological studies and DNA analysis has shown us that the world has gone through many changes over the c. 5 billion years of its existence.  One of those changes is the types of plant life that has dominated the surface of the planet.  Some of the earliest land plants were the horsetails.  These may have dominated the land between about 541 – 252 million years ago (MYA).  Remnants of these plants still exist in the genus Equisetacea (horsetails) which were part of a much larger group of fern-like plants (Pteridophytes), most of which have gone extinct.  These plants do not flower, but reproduce by producing tiny spores.  Horsetails are then often regarded as living fossils because most of their relatives only exist as fossils.  Modern horsetails form colonies in suitable areas and often dominate, but they are generally infrequent and so are considered to be a bit special, although they are often not popular with gardeners.  They are often misnamed as marestails which they superficially resemble, but are not at all related to horsetails.  Marestails are flowering plants (Angiosperms) which live in shallow water and reproduce using tiny wind-pollinated flowers.

The ferns dominated plant life until about 200 MYA when the flowering plants appeared.  The horsetail like plants gave way to the modern ferns and also the angiosperms.  These all now compete with each other for space, and then diversify until we see the range of plant communities that exist today.
May and June are the months when gardening activity begins to be intense, and we all delight in the flowers and newly green trees.  Keeping the weeds under control can be quite a challenge, but weeds are only plants that we consider to be in the wrong place.  Many gardeners are now looking to grow native species rather than imported ones because they are usually better for the insects that rely on them, and are less likely to be invasive and more likely to survive.  Wildlife gardens can result in a greater diversity of birds also and other animals such as frogs and slow worms.  I have had many enquiries recently about how to garden to care for wildlife, this is an encouraging trend.  We can all have our own little nature reserve which should result in reversing the recently published trend showing declines in about 60% of Britain’s native species.