EARTH MATTERS – January 2025:
Janus was the ancient Roman God of mythology. He/she faced in two directions; one towards the past and the other towards the future. The God of beginnings and endings. Keeping this in mind, I wish you all a happy and blessed 2025 as we transition to a New Year.
January is sometimes called the “hatching month” when nature is going through a period of hibernation. It is hatching its resources for the year ahead, and teaching us a lesson that we also need to enrich our own reserves too.
Our relatively mild winter to date means that many trees, shrubs, hedges and even some flowers are thriving still. Magnolia, witch hazel, viburnum are amongst those in bloom, and winter jasmine is flush as present with yellow blossom. Primrose, pansies and croci are already gracing our borders along with cyclamen in white, pink, or purple shades. Privets hold on to their green leaves all winter and buddleias never go completely bare.
Now is a good time to prune trees, such as hazel, willow and also fruit trees. Boxwood can be pruned at any time of year. Now is also a good time to mulch trees/shrubs to help them thrive in the growing season.
Earlier this month, Birdwatch Ireland expressed serious concerns over risks to wild birds and biodiversity from the new ‘Programme for Government’. It demonstrates very few new ideas or ambitions to halt the loss of biodiversity. Shamefully, this comes at a time when 63% of Ireland’s wild bird species are officially at risk of extinction. These startling facts would encourage us all to take extra care of our own garden birds and ensure plentiful supplies of nutritious food and water.
This dire situation with regard to our bird populations is not helped by the current outbreak of a disease which is killing our finches. Best advise is to ensure all feeders and water dishes are kept clean, and feeders also kept dry. If you suspect any finches in your garden are infected, its best to stop feeding birds altogether for two to three weeks.
Ireland’s state of the Environment Report 2024 can be accessed here (issued on a four yearly cycle). “The scale of improvements that are being made along a variety of areas is insufficient to meet national long-term environmental objectives and targets. The outlook is NOT positive in all cases, with substantial challenges to deliver on climate, air, nature, water and the circular economy,” A bleak outlook, to say the least.
Your Earth Friend, Anne.
