The start of summer…

1st June. The Met Office forecast fine weather with blue skies and sunshine. Despite a cool breeze from the northwest, down at Chadkirk there’s shelter in the Walled Garden and it is a pleasant day to tend the soil.

There’s gentle work for volunteers who care for the garden.

On Saturday, Friends of Chadkirk gave their attention to replanting some of the herb beds. Two of these beds had been planted with box, which became blighted by a virus. On an earlier gardening afternoon affected plants were removed. Re-planting with box is not an option as the virus is present in the soil; instead cuttings of geraniums and geum rivale have been used. They will be quick to get established and provide attractive ground cover as a temporary infill.

In time the box may be replaced with ilex or lonicera. These plants have a similar impact in the garden. They look a lot like box. But they are unaffected by the virus. The volunteers are looking to source plenty of cuttings for the next phase of planting.

In the meantime, Pat will visit daily and water the plants propagated from her garden. By the time of the festival, the new plants will be thriving.