Sowing the seeds at Nowton Park

A representative from our Growing Well group joined other floral enthusiasts at Nowton Park for the launch of 'Britain in Bloom' this week.

Thousands of wild seeds were sent to groups across the country to plant. The idea is that the seeds will be sown to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

In Bury St Edmunds a mix of corn poppy, corn marigold, corn chamomile, corn cockle and cornflower were sown over a designated area at Nowton Park.

The colourful flowers are hoping to attract plenty of wildlife including bees and butterflies.

Julia Rackowe, the campaign manager for Bury in Bloom said, "What a lovely way for us to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee as well as the exciting 'in bloom' season for Bury."

I am sure I can speak for us all when I say I can't wait to see the outcome. 

Judging day ideas...

The judging date is soon approaching for Bury In Bloom. 


In order to impress the judges here are some thoughts a few of us have been thinking about...

* A plant pot in every garden...

One idea has been to get all of the children in Well Street involved. Along with adult assistance it would be lovely if we could have one very inexpensive plant pot in every garden.

* A growing well flag...

As we have worked so hard to put our group together we could make a small flag to go into each garden pot (above)

* The bridal shop...

This one is a bit of a surprise!

If anyone has any further ideas please post them!

Getting hands on

Reminder - come along to the Old School Hall this weekend (14-15 April) and help to clear weeds, plant up a pot or two and celebrate the start of National Gardening Week.

Please bring tools and gloves if you have them.

If we have time, we might have a go at clearing some rubbish and weeds from around the back of Cornhill Walk too.

Weather's looking good, see you there!

Bury In Bloom launch

Several of the Growing Well team were at the Bury In Bloom launch this evening, at Bury's beautiful Unitarian Meeting House.  Stephanie Eynon from the RHS spoke about their Community Gardening programme which covers the "In Bloom" movement and the "It's Your Neighbourhood" scheme.

There were useful reminders about the core values of IYN - community participation, environmental responsibility and gardening achievement - and about using the RHS website to access all sorts of useful resources such as their plant selector and plants for pollinators.  Of particular interest at the moment is gardening in a drought.

Thank you to Julia Rackowe for the invitations!

The younger members of the Growing Well team got busy yesterday cleaning up some troughs that had been donated by a neighbour who no longer needs them.  Getting stuck in with brushes and water they worked hard for a whole five minutes before Mummy had to step in and finish off!  The troughs now look brand new and are destined for the Old School Hall car park at the bottom of the street.  The lovely ladies at the Marie Curie office are going to plant them up with nasturtiums which will creep through the fence and tumble down the wall into Well Street.  They are also taking two large pots which they will fill with strawberries and tomatoes for lunchtimes.

Not wanting to leave out the other charity which resides in Well Street, a generous neighbour has bought a lovely new window box for the Samaritans office at the top end of the street.

In both cases the staff and volunteers at the charity offices will "adopt" the planters, watering and maintaing them, and even providing some of the plants.  So we have been able to involve people who work in Well Street, as well as those of us who live here.

Bye Bye Holly Bush! By Rachel at Number 40...

A few weeks ago I felt very inspired by our 'Growing Well' group so I decided to get my green fingers out (with a little help from Archie.)

After moving into number 40 a few years ago, we had yet to put our own stamp on our garden, (except painting the front door and planting a box hedge out front for privacy reasons.)

After what has felt like a long cold winter, one afternoon the sun finally came out and the weather heated up, so I decided to jazz up our garden, and my main task was getting rid of our holly bush that was continually pricking our visitor's.

I stopped by the garden center to buy a range of treats to spruce up the garden.


With a little assistance from Annie, who kindly lent me a spade and some garden sheers, I was on my way...

... At first, I thought I would be able to dig the roots up... no luck. It was then, I had found out they had in fact invaded an old pipe that lay underneath the soil.

I then decided to get the saw out. This help get the bulk of the holly bush down but the route was still thoroughly grounded.

We then borrowed our next door neighbour (Sue's) axe. Still no luck of getting out the stump.

Hopefully we will get it out once and for all by a professional when we have some black railings put up shortly.

Until then we managed to work around it - by accessorizing with a few pots and plants...  and this is now our garden.

I even found a little time to give the back a slight bit of TLC too.

It was great fun and nice to contribute to the look of the street too.

Gardening in a drought

Hearing in the news this week that we are in the middle of a drought crisis, I was pleased to find information from the RHS about gardening in drought conditions.  Care for the environment is a key component of the It's Your Neighbourhood assessment (and something we should all be thinking about anyway to make the best of our gardens whilst using as little water as possible.)

1. Soil cultivation is of key importance. Gardeners should dig in large amounts of garden compost, manure or other organic matter. This will help improve soil structure and in turn will help water retention and water availability to plants.
   
2. Plant new plants when they are still small. They will then develop much greater resilience by adapting to their conditions from a young age. Planting in autumn or as early as possible in spring could also be beneficial: the sooner roots can start exploring the soil for water before dry weather arrives, the better.
   
3. Mulching after planting can help limit water loss from soil. This will help the retention of moisture while plants establish. All new plants should be thoroughly watered and kept watered in the first season in dry periods, to ensure they establish well. Once established they will become more drought tolerant.
   
4. Choose the right plant for a particular garden soil. If a plant is growing in the soil most suited to its needs it will be more tolerant of varying climatic conditions. It will also be more resistant to pests and disease. RHS Plant Finder is an ideal tool for gardeners wanting to select plants suitable for their local soil conditions, and also for the particular aspect where the plants will grow.

For the full article see here