April 2015

Well the Open Weekends have come and gone. The weather wasn't particularly good but our visitors still came in large numbers and were as enthusiastic as usual so we were well pleased.

 

The snowdrops were as numerous and varied as they always are.  Some are very large, some very small, some double, most single – and with a variety of patterns on their three inner perianth segments. They have now gone, as have most of the daffodils of which we also have a significant variety. They have been superseded by bluebells on the Daffodil Bank, looking beautiful as you walk down the steps from the Terrace, and masses of few-flowered leek which from a distance look like snowdrops. We also have a significant amount of wild garlic (ramsons) and three-cornered leek.

 

You may have noticed that one strip across the Daffodil Bank is green rather than yellow, the daffodils growing blind – i.e. without flowers. If daffodils are planted too shallowly then the flower buds die in dry springs, and if they are too congested the same thing can happen. A trial dig showed them to be very close to the surface in that area and very congested, so a one metre square was dug up and bulbs replanted deeper and more widely spaced. It will be very interesting next spring to see if they flower. If they do, then the rather onerous task of digging up the whole strip and replanting may well be undertaken.

 

Another experiment we will be undertaking regards the area round the sycamore by the inner gate. It was enclosed by a rabbit-proof fence to see if the crocuses grew better, but it did not appear to make a significant difference this year compared with last. Advice has been obtained that over-fertilisation of the ground affects crocuses adversely, so this year we are going to stop the cows getting in and we will be strimming the grass by hand. The grass will be removed so the fertility will be gradually reduced and we shall see what happens.

 

You may have noticed activity as the path leads from the drive on to the Old Orchard Garden, where there is a rockery on the right hand side. Well volunteers have now stripped the surface growth from three adjacent mounds and we anticipate revealing them as similar rockeries from Ellen Willmott's day. Who knows what plants may spring up as the light shines on long buried seeds.

 

This website has been set up and maintained separately from the main Essex Wildlife Trust website. Recently a Brentwood and Billericay site (http://www.essexwt.org.uk/get-involved/local-groups/brentwood-billericay) was set up as an adjunct of the main site, and the Warley Place website will, later this year, also be included in the EWT site. The format has yet to be finally settled but when it is up and running we will let you know.

 

John C