Another gift
In my post entitled ‘The gift’ on 04 February 2020, I described my involvement in the creation of a Community Orchard & Permaculture Garden as being a gift.
Well, guess what? I have been given another gift in the form of another project: ‘The Mini-enhancement of the Meeting Hut and Allotment Site Frontage’. Thank You!
I offered to help improve the utility and aesthetics of a small area at the front of the allotment site that I grow many of my plants on. The allotment site is emerging from years of neglect and decline, and still needs people who really care about it to keep the momentum of positive change going.
The Meeting Hut is a ‘brutal’ window-less, structure built of concrete slabs. The roof leaks. The door locks were vandalised last year. The whole building needs to be replaced. Until that can happen, the allotment society has opted to make the most of what it’s got and beautify the site frontage. It will be a mini-enhancement on a super-thin, shoe-string budget.
What a gift!
Central to the enhancement will be the planting of bee and butterfly-friendly wild flowers in newly-created beds around the dilapidated Meeting Hut, as well as in ‘spots’ and ‘drifts’ near surrounding shrubs and along parts of the site’s chain-link front fence. The space needs to cater for wildlife and human life, and must be sustainable. I’m re-using unwanted items such as flower pots and donated two conifers wherever possible.
I’m working towards completing the task by mid spring but do not have a rigid design or plan. The less rigidity, the better for me at the moment. It’s a small-scale project - nowhere near as big as the orchard - so I feel I can cut myself some much-needed slack.
I see this work as both a gift to me and an opportunity for me to make a difference to the allotment society. Thankfully, I am able to do this work at my own pace, and in my own way.
February 2020, before Storms Ciara, Duncan and Jorge:
The beds have been dug. Two donated conifers of unknown name have been potted up in some old concrete-textured containers that I donated to the allotment society, and placed on either side of the hut front door to add focus. I initially tried to plant the conifers directly into the ground, close to the wall in the border surrounding the Meeting Hut. This proved impossible because I discovered that the soil around the hut is quite shallow. There’s an impenetrable wide ledge of concrete about 15 cm below the soil around the hut. OK for some annuals. Not OK for conifers.
I placed a few more concrete pots strategically to break up the expansive slabbed concrete wall on one face of the building and a visible concrete landing. What’s gone into these pots? Spring-flowering tulips and mixed hyacinths, all planted late. I’m on standby to add bedding plants such as violas if the tulips and hyacinths don’t bloom.
February 2020, after Storms Ciara, Duncan and Jorge:
There’s no sign of tulip growth at all. So far, I’ve resisted having a little dig to see whether anything’s going on.
The hyacinths are peeping out of the soil in the concrete pots! And I can see the tops of the heads of the florescence in the middle of some of them! Brilliant news! Now it’s fingers crossed that their root systems will be sufficient strong to support further growth and help complete the flowering process. Remember, the plant needs to throw up a stout stalk to support a (for want of a better word) ‘complete’ hyacinth florescence. I think I read somewhere that the bulb should have enough stored-up energy to produce flowers … I’m not sure. Should I feed them or will that ruin things?
I wasn’t totally happy with the way the two potted conifers looked on either side of the hut door. It was all wrong! One: I think they could have done with larger pots (more compost and higher cost). They would look more balanced, and it would be better for the roots. Two: They looked out of place on either side of the front door, not quite right. The building frontage was too basic, with nothing to showcase really. There were no plans or funds with which to get the building painted. Not this year, anyway.
In a funny way, the three storms helped me make the decision to change the conifer planting that I wasn’t satisfied with. The wild and windy weather caused the potted confers to lean precariously to the left despite being re-positioned and staked a few times. They definitely needed to be nestled more deeply into larger pots. But, did I really want to confine their roots in pots? Was that really necessary? I needed to find a way to get them into the ground or possibly not use them for the mini-enhancement at all.
I decided to dig in locations further away from the hut perimeter in the hope of being able to find a concrete-free soil for the conifers to be planted in. I also decided to move away from using the conifers as ‘sentries’ on either side of the hut’s door. Bingo! I found two new spots for the conifers and I’m happier with the way things look now. Much better!
02 March 2020: Hyacinths are growing!
The worst of the storms are over but the weather is still very wet, wet, wet. There’s still no sign of tulip growth in the pots, but the hyacinths are coming along slowly. I’m still asking myself if I should feed them … I’ve read that overly rich soil can lead to floppy, weak stalks … yikes!!
The Hyacinth orientalis bulbs I planted in pots seem to be are coming along OK.
I’ve sown wildflower seeds in all of the prepared beds, whether they be around the Meeting Hut, along the chain-link fence, the spots or drifts in the grass. If all goes to plan, we’ll have lots of wild flowers coming through by May or June.
The way things look now: View 1
The way things look now: View 2
06 March 2020: Tulips are finally showing signs of growth!
Some tulips are finally coming though! Other tulips that I have in the ground elsewhere (planted in autumn 2018 - this will be their second blooming season - thankfully no sign of the Tulip Fire disease!) have at least 3 decent leaves but I’m just happy that these potted ones that I planted late are growing. As it happens, these potted tulips are late-flowering ones. I’m feeling more confident that they will have enough time to put on decent show late in the tulip season.
First tulip leaves breaking through the compost.
So, what else is there to be done?
I’ll need member help for the remaining tasks, which are:
Erect a notice board.
Fix and repaint the hut doors and other woodwork, and install a letter flap in one of the doors which will act as a box for members to post comments, suggestions and complaints to.
I am looking to see how best to camouflage or further break up the expansive concrete side face of the building that can be seen as you approach the site (from the curb), but haven’t settled on anything yet. I want the space to be transformed bleak and barren to at least ‘almost quaint and interesting’ by the summer. Failing that, ‘easier on the eye’ might be good enough for the time being. Let’s see what I come up with …
