In October we had much needed rain. This saved us the task of watering but reduced the time we were able to work in the gardens. Also, the wet ground made tasks such as scraping the wildflower areas harder work.
So, this is what we did achieve in the Storey Gardens during October 2022:
- Finished scraping the wildflower areas to almost bare earth and sowing yellow rattle seed. It is the yellow rattle plants that help to create the wildflower areas. The roots of the yellow rattle are semi-parasitic feeding on the nutrients in the roots of the more vigorous grasses. This weakens the grass giving more delicate species of wildflowers the opportunity to grow. We will see the results of our efforts next summer.
- Swept up lots of fallen leaves in both the Copper Beech Garden and The Tasting Garden. The copper beech leaves are stored in a special area where they can rot down into leaf mould. It takes a couple of years for this to happen. We will continue doing this into November.
- Weeded the flower beds and cut back some of the perennials that have finished flowering. An ongoing task.
- Fiona arranged flowers in vases for display in The Storey.
- The Bay: A blueprint for recovery group built us another table out of pallets. We will use this table in the Plants for Sale area of the Copper Beech Garden.
- Sieved some topsoil for potting up plants.
- Planted crocus and triteleia bulbs.
- Planted cowslips where a patch of ribwort plantain had been removed.
- Removed ivy from part of the wall between The Tasting Garden and the Friends Meeting House.
- Cleared the grass and weeds along the edges of the paths in order to show better the shape of the paths. Another ongoing task.
See below some photos taken of our gardening volunteers in action during the month.
Raking up the beech leaves in the Copper Beech Garden. Photo by Ruth Standring-Cox. 
Raking up the leaves under the Copper Beech tree. Photo by Ruth Standring-Cox 
Bringing a sack of copper beech leaves down to the leaf store. Photo by Ruth Standring-Cox. 
Emptying the beech leaves into a wire mesh cage – step 1. Photo by Chris Wright. 
Emptying the beech leaves into a wire mesh cage – step 2. Photo by Chris Wright. 
Emptying the beech leaves into a wire mesh cage – step 3. Photo by Chris Wright. 
The upper level of the Copper Beech Garden after clearing some of the leaves, Still more beech leaves to collect another day. Photo by Ruth Standring-Cox. 
Clearing the slope from the bottom level to the upper area of the Copper Beech Garden. Photo by Chris Wright. 
The path in the Copper Beech Garden waiting to be cleared of leaves. Photo by Ruth Standring-Cox. 
The team clearing the path of leaves. Photo by Chris Wright. 
The path in the Copper Beech Garden having been swept of leaves. There are still more leaves to fall. Photo by Ruth Standring-Cox