Weather report for Thursday 1st June 2017:

17C at the start of a busy morning, a warm, sunny day such that some of the 16 volunteers were seeking out shade.

Tasks for the morning:

Terry was fully occupied cutting back the lower branches of tree canopies to let light onto shrubs and herbaceous plantings below. Eunice and Trudi were working in the Meteor Garden, tending a glorious display of white flowers. Arne was staking asters in the Autumn Border. Chris and others were weeding by the stream. Jill was roaming over large areas of the garden, hunting that elusive weed, Impatiens parviflora, or small balsam, now in flower and so pretty, but ready to spring its seeds at the slightest touch.

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Weather report for Thursday 18th May 2017

Mostly sunny, 17C and a light breeze, just right for the annual volunteers’ lunch.

An excellent lunch for hard-working volunteers…

18 gathered in front of Pete’s shed to enjoy an informal buffet lunch of salads, cold meats, smoked salmon, cheeses, quiches, baguette, and delicious cakes. As you can see from the photographs, the weed-weary volunteers were intent on enjoying this special occasion and focused on their laden plates, determined to balance it all and enjoy every flavour.

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Weather report for Thursday 27 April 2017:

frost on lawns and cars at dawn. Turning cloudy later, a cold northerly wind. Temperature 9.5C by mid-afternoon.

Today’s tasks:

The Spring tidy up continues with weeding in many areas. Chris was well occupied with dead-heading an extensive planting of hellebores to prevent seeding.

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Thursday 13th April 2017 weather report:

11C this morning and a cool north-westerly wind, mostly cloudy.

Tasks for today:

Fourteen volunteers arrived to help with spring maintenance and tidying of the flower borders. It was time to remove last year’s wizened leaves from the gunnera by the pond, to weed the fern border, to mow some of the grass, to trim the edges of the red borders, and to clear brambles from near the fence.

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After two months of exceptionally warm, dry weather which saw us all preparing for drought conditions and water shortages June arrived and with it the rain.  The garden has had frequent and at times prolonged spells of wet weather that has allowed the garden to ‘green’ up, the wild flower sowings are flowering and I have been able to put away the hose-pipes and sprinklers.

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This has been another busy month as we continue to work at completing as much of the winter work as possible to be ready for the first open day on Sunday, April 10th.  It is really pleasing to see the difference we have made as the garden greens up and everything begins to grow.  It is a bit of a voyage of discovery for me because it’s my first spring in the garden and I do not know what to expect there are plenty of little surprises as new plants appear.

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