Issue 28

Spring                          

Spring is a busy time for gardeners. The hours of daylight increases and the sun shines more. Now the garden leaps into life, trees unfurl new foliage and spring bulbs burst into cheerful colour after the cold grey winter. Now there is much sowing, planting and great attention is given to weeding and pests. Do not be deceived by an early break in the weather, a sudden late frost will kill off any young tender plants way before they have a chance to establish themselves.

The new season has only just begun, so at first you would think not much has been done and we have all to do in the next few weeks. True, March is the start of the New Year for gardeners and there are all those seeds to sow up in trays in-doors or in the greenhouse and over the coming weeks, pot on and later plant out. But on reflection a great deal has been done over the winter.

The OT Garden Group had been busy. Patients with the support of staff have completely cleaned both greenhouses, washing inside and out, no easy task. Time had been spent maintaining the paths of moss and grass and the group spent time cutting back the hedges and tidying up the flower beds, as well as raking the lawns and collecting fallen leaves, a necessary job as we had found signs of a fungal disease on the pear trees and we feared that the wind would spread it to the near by apple trees. Remember to destroy all infected branches, stems and leaves. Do not put them on the compost heap.

Some of the ward within the clinic has also been very busy over the winter months. Both Tenby and Cardigan courtyards have been washed, with patients learning the skills of using a power jet-wash. Tenby garden had a re-vamp last year, with the aid of the Activity Co-ordinators and plans are well in hand to plant new flowers in the Tenby's raised beds for the year ahead.

Cardigan courtyard has also had a major re-vamp over the winter months. Much hard and labour intensive work has been done to remove a great deal of the shrubbery, with patients giving up many hours to help improve the appearance of the courtyard for the new season.

Spring bulbs have been planted up and a new area now clear is ready to seed up for a lawn which can be used by the patients in summer. Boarders have been prepared and now ready to seed or plant up for a beautiful coloured summer display. Our plan is to have a lawn, edged on three sides with a low, well kepthedges. The three trees remain to give height, order and produce shade; one or two ferns planted between the trees will create a forest feeling. The lawn area has already been planted up with daffodils, planted in clumps, around the trees. I will also add a few daisy and buttercups, to give the lawn a real aged appeal. Boarders have already been planted with spring bulbs and will soon be seeded with summer flowers, we are planning a riot of colour, and time will tell if we get it right. The patio area will be filled with pots of summer flowers, crowned with a display of hanging baskets. My thanks go to E.S and G.H. who put most of the work into this project and not forgetting C. T. (A/C) for all of his hard work and support

Alan T