By Tim Hewitt, St Mary’s Head Gardener/ Community Gardener
As the hot, dry weather continues, we will focus on keeping alive the big-ticket items, like small trees and shrubs. Selective and thoughtful watering will need to be the way forward for the foreseeable future.
We continue our grass and scrub management programmes this week, with one eye on maintaining a variety of habitats and lengths of grass for as long as possible. We have also started to sow seed for planting out in Autumn. There will be lots of areas to plant up, so starting now is a good idea. Turning our compost has speeded up decomposition, but we will need to keep doing this in order to have as much ready to use as possible. We are beginning to plan the work needed to get our borders and beds back in action once the building work recedes. The pond will also need an overhaul and redesign.
If you have not seen our new bug hotel near the Welcome Centre, do have a look. It will act as a home for a variety of species in the years to come.
Quote of the Week
“Everything dry as a bone. White groundsel seeds like pearls in a desert. Teasel, thistles, and the burdocks scorched and dying – nothing left for rain to save. Even the willows rattle with drought. The summer’s back broken.” –Derek Jarman, Pharmacopoeia
Volunteer Times
St Mary’s offers weekly supervised volunteering in the churchyard at these times:
Tuesdays: 1pm to 3.30pm
Wednesdays: 1pm to 4pm
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 2022
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.
