Late November 2023 – early April 2024
Hard landscaping kept us busy during the autumn and winter, making the site more accessible for volunteers and visitors. Nick, as ever, is the chief designer and builder, ably assisted by the team. There will eventually be paving around the Bath House, and the slope between the service gate and the rockery is to be transformed with a flight of steps. Hard work during the autumn has achieved much already.
Should we call this Quality Control for Plants? Vanessa decided to try eating one of the Medlar fruit. After picking, Medlars have to be ‘bletted’, i.e. left to ripen for a few weeks. They do appear rather unappetising – squishy and brown. Vanessa thought the flavour was unremarkable, but described the experience as ”not as unpleasant as it looks!” See here for more information on this once-popular garden fruit.
The days are short and the weather grey; but on New Year’s Day colour can still be found in the Physic Garden. The yellow of the scented, spidery blooms of Witch Hazel is echoed in Winter Jasmine’s bright gold trumpets; and contrasts with the Heather’s lilac hues.
Our composting system, developed last summer with the help of new volunteers, has been yielding excellent results. One of the main garden jobs for winter and spring is mulching: in the picture below, the well rotted compost is being used on the tear drop herb bed.
The weather in January was varied, though not in a good way – snow, ice, gales and rain. But nothing stops the first Snowdrops of the year arriving in the woodland area at the Bath House.
A major effort on the part of lots of volunteers, especially considering the difficult weather conditions, has been made in tackling the annual and perennial meadows, and dealing with the overgrown hedgerow border.
The gardening team has continued with their excellent work over several weeks from January into February, clearing the wildflower meadow area of the dreaded couch grass. They’ve sown the area with Poppy, Cornflower, Corncockle and Corn Marigold, and we’re looking forward to a spectacular display in the summer. Sorting out the hedgerow was a long job too, as it had been taken over by wild raspberries, to the exclusion of everything else, so these have finally been cleared back – doubtless to resume their ambitions in the coming months!
The hard landscaping project continues apace: both the steps and the stone slab path are well underway. As well as being useful in improving safe access, the flight of steps is going to be a rather attractive garden feature. Alongside construction, there is always maintenance to be done: Nick, with Andy’s support, has been clearing the Bath House gutters of leaves and debris for the second time this winter.
Under the birch tree, requiring no attention from us, a lovely display of Hellebores and Native Daffodils gladdens the eye. Elsewhere in the garden, preparation for the next season continues. We’ve added more perennials, including Yarrow, St John’s Wort, Knapweed and Lady’s Bedstraw. We’ve also pruned the Medlar and Quince trees; while some of the more enthusiastic species – such as Ivy, Bramble and Dog Rose – have been cleared from the shrubbery area.
The new flight of steps is almost finished by the end of March: we’re just waiting for more stones to complete the infill. Nick will undertake a few smaller jobs now, before we begin paving round the two remaining sides of the Bath House. We do have sufficient stone paving slabs and cobbles for this task, and it will bring our accessibility project to a very satisfactory conclusion.
Our planning for the long-term future of the site includes the provision of a large information board at the bottom of the garden: Laura, our graphic designer, is nearing completion on her design. Financing not only such developments, but also routine maintenance, is a constant concern, and the Trustees acknowledge the generosity of local funding bodies in their continuing support. This spring we’ve put in grant applications for new hand tools, and for more plants, including fruit trees and shrubs.
The Bath House itself may sometimes seem to take second place to the exciting developments in the garden. But this year the upstairs “warming room” is in line for some serious attention. We aim to buy some more items of appropriate 19th-century furniture; and to find a way of creating interesting displays for our many visitors.
This corner cabinet is an attractive addition to the room; and it will house some of the books we’ve collected on the history of herbs and plants used for medicinal purposes.
The Magnolia is one of the more showy spring plants: ours is doing well at the bottom of the garden.
This view of the garden, with Congleton Town Hall Clocktower in the background, gives an idea of the varied conditions our volunteers work with – sloping lawns, fences and hedges, mature trees – and all in the centre of town. After cutting the grass for the first time this year, Howard and new volunteer Dan had a well earned sit down on the wildlife bench!
Being a charity, with no regular income stream, alongside applying for grants we try different fund-raising activities ourselves, such as car boot sales and stalls at local events. We are always grateful for donations on-line, or those such as the one from a Walking Group who visited recently. Our wonderful team of volunteers also puts a lot of time and effort into providing a great experience for visitors on our Open Days.
The next one is on Saturday, 18th May; and we welcome you all, old friends and new.
