And another year goes by..

OPG Diary – April to December 2023

Unbelievably, the last “diary” post I made about the Volunteer scheme was back in March, when we had just started to dig up the palms in the Front Lawn and hyacinths were just coming in to flower. The year is not quite done, but the Volunteers have worked a total of 2,724 hours, I feel quite tired just thinking about it!

We have posted about our events, like Bunnies in the Beds, but not about the important work that goes on behind the scenes, under Jason’s direction. So in April, we pruned the Pomegranates and the overgrown parts of the Wilderness and front shrubberies were tackled. Paths were mown through the grassy areas and Jason got RBG’s agreement not to mow in certain parts of the estate – saving them time and making our life greener.

The final palm roots had been removed by May (they were HUGE!) and preparation and planting started in the front beds. The Peace Garden beds were re-shaped, they will be better for functions like weddings and coincidentally there is now more “bed” available to plant into! The Wilderness paths really came into their own as the grass around them became taller. When he wasn’t mowing the paths, Pete bravely tackled the area around the Substation, which was full of very thorny shrubs like Pyracantha and Berberis, really unpleasant to work with. The rose beds at the front were tidied and some major Long Border weeding started.

We prepped for our May Plant Sale and set up a “Bugs in the Beds” trail for the kids in the OPG. June saw an end to the last original cherry tree in the OPG, its health has declined rapidly in the last couple of years. Jason, John and Hardip took on the job of taking it down, it was a sad task. We introduced “What’s in Flower” and discovered how useful QR codes can be, instead of intrusive signage. June saw us concentrating on the OPG, to make it look pristine for “London in Bloom” judging. As it was so hot, we held our first volunteer session in the lovely cool of the evening for a change.

July was mainly about watering, planting in the Peace Garden and some Long Border maintenance.The front beds started to fill out, with tough perennials rather than annual bedding plants. The front trough looked great with silver leaved Ballota and ivory Antirrhinums grown from seed.

In August, inspired perhaps by Tim Ingram’s talk to CABAHS members about seed collecting, we started collecting and packaging up some of the special seeds in the gardens, with a view to selling them. The Long Border Opium poppies are particularly prolific, but also Catchfly, Angelica, Cleome, Hollyhocks… no end to it really!

GACO held their annual remembrance ceremony around the Juneberry tree and the “river of Alliums” planted last year looked fabulous.

In September volunteers removed the stones and old weed matting around the front Arch, preparing it for some planting. We opened the gardens for London Open House, with displays and a talk for visitors about the gardens history, expertly researched by our volunteer Stella.

It was back to the Long Border and development of the Glade for much of late summer/autumn, it was hard work but our volunteer sessions are always sociable and fun, even when it rains!

October saw us holding another plant stall at the Horn Fair, and a pumpkin and spider trail for the kids. Autumn colours really kicked in. Casper is still a regular visitor, although not particularly helpful! We made our usual recycled bottle poppy display for Remembrance Sunday.

The Glade has looked frankly a little scruffy for most of the year, as all our green waste was piled up in mounds there. But now we have added topsoil from the Long Borders, it is looking much better. It will be ready for some exciting woodland planting soon eg Hellebores, Sweet Cicely, Jacob’s Ladder, Cuckoo flower and Foxgloves.

December and the volunteers Pallet Christmas Tree was spruced up again to wish visitors a Happy Christmas.

We will be back in January, lots more to do. Volunteers always welcome, Tuesdays 2-4 and Thursdays 10-12, do join us!

Kathy