Walled Garden Volunteers' Blog April 2023

At last, some colour! Our Blog seems to have turned into a bad-weather report recently (so we won’t mention the rain!). Instead, here’s a short report on activities in the Walled Garden during March and April.

As the whites of snowdrops disappear, new this year are our ‘Stanley’ daffodils at the edge of the meadow, a special donation from Kings Stanley.

Meanwhile, the ‘Thalia’ narcissi and white hyacinths have looked splendid, doing their job of holding the space in the bed reserved for Geoff’s’ dahlias.

Following the talk by Rosy Hardy of Hardy’s Garden Plants (pictured) we spent the following Monday planting a few new purchases in the Garden! The talk was a new venture for us and very well supported by gardeners and members – thank you!

The tulips have given us much needed colour and look gorgeous! This one in the Med border has sparked a debate:  is it pink? Or is it ‘blueish’ as we wanted it to be when we chose it. In different lights, it truly does have a blue tinge…

Meanwhile, more hedgehog news: Annie from the Help a Hedgehog came to check the boxes. Of the six babies born autumn, we can account for five of them, and two adults. We know there is at least one more hedgehog out in the front garden, and today, something had been out digging for worms….

The smallest hedgehogs have gone with Annie to help them put on more weight, and then they will be back in the walled garden to help us keep the snails at bay!

Then, on 15th April, Bob Brown of Cotswold Garden Flowers came to the Pavilion to give a talk and advise us on plants which deserve a place in our gardens. We were entertained and learned a great deal!

The dipping pond is due to be re-lined during April and hopefully will be ready to be filled and re-planted soon.

The Walled Garden is looking bright and cheerful now with Spring flowers. Do come and visit us soon…the Garden is changing every day!