We were hard at work in the Gardens as Glyn wandered in, attached to his coffee cup. “Is it Thursday?” he asked, looking confused – Thursday being the day when the volunteers normally meet. “Have I slept for four days?!” He peered bleerily around as he heard the scraping sound of metal on tarmac.
Glyn looked confused: “Have I slept for 4 days?”
John was busy cutting down a tree that had died. I was tidying up the wilting ox-eye daisies by the apple trees. And Harry Jones, Secretary of the Cowbridge Charter Trust who support our work financially, had kindly turned up for the second day to scrape the weeds off the paths. He’d brought his own tools with him – and his wife Barbara to sweep up after him.
Harry and Barbara did a sterling job of tidying the edges for us!
It was a hive of activity and Glyn felt obliged to help fill a green bag with some of the chopped wood. The best part, though, were the biscuits that Harry handed around.
Natalie from Garlic Meadow brought along her goats on Saturday 10 June as part of the Vale Food Trail. They were lively creatures and ready to eat anything put in front of them!
Garlic Meadow produce wonderful soaps made from goat’s milk and visitors had the chance to try their hand of making some to take home.
The Cowbridge Food and Drink Festival was held over the Bank Holiday weekend, with many of the stalls in Old Hall Gardens. The weather was glorious and the event drew many visitors to the town.
We are grateful for a donation from the organisers – thank you!
The Old Hall Gardeners celebrated receiving the Green Flag award for 2023. Cake and Prosecco replaced the usual coffee and biscuits at break time, Thursday 21 July.
The second of the Ivy towers by the seats was demolished today. It will open up that area and allow us to see the flower bed which has been obscured for years.
John and Glyn discussing tactics, while Gwen tidied the far end of the Library bed.John and Glyn tackled the final stage of removing an Ivy tower by the seating area.
Just around the corner from them, Lyn was extracting weeds from the Library border. There was a mass of Marjoram which was taking over the whole bed! The plan is to make space for some scented roses and other fragrant plants.
Lyn showing us the long roots of Marjoram, which had been choking the other plants.Betty raking grass around the Judas tree.Sue tidying the pots, ready to be planted with summer flowers.Margaret was hiding in the bushes, clearing a space for bergenias to be planted.
I’ve had a problem: we’ve run out of memory on this Blog site and I am therefore having to cull some previous Posts. In future, I shall have to first edit photos to reduce their size before uploading them here – that’s an added time factor and a pain quite frankly, so I won’t be writing as much as I used to.
It is now July 2023 and I will try and do a quick summary of what happened in May and June.
There was a cool breeze in the air but the sun was shining brightly as I entered the Old Hall Gardens this morning.
The view across to the Library.The Woodland area.
I’d staggered across the road carrying bags of Daffodils-in-the-green to be planted around the edge of the Meadow. The hope is that these will settle in to provide a welcome display at the South Gate entrance next spring. There were 250 of them! The variety we’d chosen was the Tenby Daffodil, Narcissus obvallaris. This is the species that grows wild in South Wales, and is particularly suitable for planting in rough grass or meadows where it will ‘naturalise’ i.e. spread if left undisturbed and not dead-headed.
Bags of Tenby Daffodils – we managed to plant all 250 bulbs!
Another job that really had to be tackled today was to cut back the Willow near the compost area. We cut it back hard each spring so that it will grow fresh wood to provide some colour in the winter months. The leaves were starting to sprout so it was high time to trim it back to just one or two buds. It never ceases to amaze me how rapidly it fights back: the long shoots in the photograph are one year’s growth! Pamela was relishing the task, and was rightly pleased with her efforts when she managed to finish it in time for coffee in Happy Days!
The Willow towered above Pamela’s head – but she soon had it cut down to size!
Just around the corner from her, Julie and Sue (who limped in after a few weeks off with a bad knee) were continuing their battle with an Ivy tower. Its demolition is nearing completion and already the nearby Acer and Clematis have more space to breathe.
Julie and Sue were working hard on an Ivy tower. The red Acer behind them will be a bright feature now that we can see it!
Dick was another one with a knee problem and arrived propped up by a walking stick! I don’t know how he manages but he has greatly improved the bed along the east wall. He’s even created an ‘edge’, albeit slightly wiggly – but we agreed that it’s in keeping with the adjacent Meadow area.
John, meanwhile, was busy rescuing little Hellebore seedlings and potting them up. This was very successful with some that we’d rescued last year, which we’d planted out under the Magnolia tree. We plan to add these to the collection in the autumn, by which time the seedlings should have developed a strong root system.
The Fritillaries and Cowslips are putting on a good show this spring. Our efforts to encourage them to spread, while reducing the tough grasses, are starting to pay off.
Fritillaries in the Meadow.Cowslips in the Meadow.
We were delighted to take delivery of another new-style bench: this one in memory of Linda Osborn who had worked so hard in the restoration of Old Hall Gardens.
The new bench.
As John was unwrapping it, a couple of people walked by and commented on how smart it looked. It is made from recycled materials and we are hoping that it will weather well, with much less maintenance required than the wooden benches. The old bench (backing onto it at this stage) was falling apart despite repeated efforts to repair it; we will need several people to shift it as it’s so heavy.
It was beginning to feel like spring at last! The Easter weekend was just ahead of us but we still got a lot of work done between the few gardeners able to make it.
Up on the ramparts, Betty and Gwen made a start on cutting back the dead vegetation – lots of stalks and flower heads of Marjoram in particular. It’s amazing how much that has spread!
Betty and Gwen enjoying the sunshine.
Glyn tackled another Ivy tower, this time behind the seating area. These towers were erected about ten years ago, to obscure a “wasteland”. However, they are now obscuring a flower bed and, in particular, the stunning flowers of Quince which have been carefully trained by Richard Browning.
Glyn was delighted to expose the bright blossom of Quince that had been obscured by Ivy towers.
Margaret’s first job was sweeping magnolia leaves off the path, which would be quite slippery as soon as the rain hits it. She later retreated to her favourite corner of the gardens, only to emerge for biscuit break.
Meanwhile John worked on the Woodland path, spreading several bags of wood chippings that he’d collected earlier in the week. We’re hoping that this will encourage people to keep to the path rather than charging across the spring flowers that we’ve planted. Besides, it looks so much better and inviting – and it wasn’t long before our visitors were tempted to use it.
The Woodland path.
Our efforts were rewarded by a visit from Easter Bunny!
Old Hall Gardens of Cowbridge 