By Tim Hewitt, St Mary’s Head Gardener/ Community Gardener
Ongoing division, redistribution and propagation in the South Bed is the main work of the week. There are also still areas to strim and mow, if weather allows. This is the time of year to make compost, with lots to go on the heap, but also still some to come out of it. I am also working on accommodation for our tender and dry-loving plants over winter.
You might notice that our air-nesting bee post is up, perhaps a bit late in the day. Anything can be made into useful habitat for insects and we will be trying to increase such places over the next year.
The Symphyotrichum, Nerine, Cyclamen and grasses like Miscanthus Morning Light lead the late show.
Quote of the Week
“To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’er-brimmed their clammy cells”
-John Keats, from ‘To Autumn’
I am planning a series of two-hour paid workshops, bookable on Eventbrite, costing £35. There will be 10 spaces for each workshop. While many of our offerings will be free over the next several years as part of our National Lottery-funded ‘Creative Church’ regeneration project and activities, these will not be part of my Lottery-funded sessions, but might be of interest to the congregation and local community. They will all take place in the churchyards and the St Mary’s Welcome Centre.
Paid workshops confirmed so far:
- Container and Window Box Planting: 16 October from 10.30am-12.30pm
- Low-Maintenance Gardening: 6 November from 10.30am-12.30pm
- Bulb Planting: 20 November from 10.30am-12.30pm
- Rose Pruning & Care: 8 January 2022 from 10.30am-12.30pm
Volunteer Times
St Mary’s offers weekly supervised volunteering in the churchyard at these times:
Tuesdays: 1pm to 3.30pm
Wednesdays: 9am to 12pm
Thursdays: 1pm to 4pm
Fridays: 1pm to 4pm
There’s no need to book; just turn up, preferably with your own gloves. Tools and expert instruction will be provided!
Burials in Bloom 2021-22
Dozens of local people have adopted a grave to plant around and care for; if you would like to adopt a grave that’s currently not visited or looked after, contact me at tim@stmaryswalthamstow.org.
