Here is an update on what Jason and the Gardenauts have been getting up to in the gardens since my last post. Apologies it’s rather long, we’ve been doing lots!
December turned the gardens into a winter wonderland, and caused us to miss a few days volunteering, but gave some great photo opportunities. The prolonged cold period hit a few of the more tender shrubs quite hard and we lost some big favourites like the Teucrium.
January was about cutting back, the ivy in particular. The old walls cannot take the weight of the ivy so we are taking it off in stages and being careful of wildlife. Our efforts revealed the top of the doorway for the first time in some years!
We have removed the palms from the front lawn beds and the beds will be re-designed this summer. The Palms were planted as part of an annual bedding scheme years ago and never envisaged to get as tall as they have. The Tete-a Tete daffodils have all been lifted and will go in the woodland glade next year. The Summerhouse has had a good weed and tidy-up, as has the Mulberry. Snowdrops and Hellebores popped up in the OPG woodland side.
In February, we discovered our regular feline visitor is called Casper and he lives in Canberra Road but clearly considers the gardens his playground.
We started clearing a very overgrown corner of the Peace Garden, and released the wonderful Magnolia grandiflora from it’s tangle of Elder and Wisteria. The front of House shrubberies have been the subject of huge efforts to cut back and weed, and look so much better to greet visitors.
In March, we started prepping for the Bunnies in the Beds trail, and signed up to #RHSBigSeedSow. Sharon gave the volunteers a lesson in Origami seed packets, a great way to save and store seeds.
We removed the dead Teucrium and had a trip to Provender Nurseries to stock up on new plants, including Cotoneaster horizontalis to replace the Teucrium.
And finally, Spring is here!
Kathy
Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society 