June 2015

Most of the spring flowers have died down to await another season, but there is still plenty to see at Warley Place.

 

The Foxgloves are showing plenty of cover and should be at their best over the next week or two, i.e. around mid-June. They, and the rhododendrons, are providing most of the colour at the moment but there is still a lot more to see if you take your time when walking round.

 

A necessary job, but one we volunteers don't look forward to, is clearing the docks from the Walled Garden. That has now been done and it does seem that they are fewer than last year, when there were fewer than the year before that, so if we persevere perhaps we will get rid of them eventually. The problem this year is that the ground is rather dry so some of the roots break off when the plant is pulled.  We seem to have defeated the bracken on the daffodil bank by dogged perseverance so maybe we will do the same to the docks. We pulled out a considerable number of stinging nettles while we were at it, and also the Tellima grandiflora that has spread from the east end of the garden.

 

You will notice that the path being revealed across the Walled Garden is nearing completion. There was a path at this position in Ellen Willmott's time but it became overgrown until it disappeared almost completely. Annabel and Michael have spent many weary hours on their hands and knees tracing the exact location and fitting the brick edging. You will be able to walk along it when it is finished – in fact we would encourage you to, because that will help to stop the weeds growing again.

 

The other rather arduous job for us was to replace – or augment – the meadow fence posts that have rotted at their base. That is an essential task because of the need to keep the cows where they belong, but can be difficult because of the tree roots. We sink new posts, well treated with preservative, next to the old ones but sooner or later this will become a problem with too many rotting posts joined together. Perhaps short concrete buttresses that we can bolt wooden posts to may be the long term answer. They are expensive and more difficult to fix, but unless our preservative-soaked wooden posts last a lot longer than those used by the fencing contractor we'll need to do something more permanent.

 

Our motorised trailer needed a new engine and some of us thought this would be a rather expensive and perhaps we should buy a mini-tractor. Richard does not like spending EWT money unnecessarily however and bought a new engine which he fitted himself, so our old tractor has been given a new life.

 

One lovely sight early in the morning was that of four fox cubs playing together. Unfortunately when they saw me get my camera out of my bag they ran for cover, but it's a good reminder that Warley Place is a Nature Reserve, not just an old garden.

 

John C