COLUMN - Melton In Bloom
Our hopes for some reasonable weather over the last few weeks were fulfilled, and we managed to complete the first stage of planting in the new Dry Bed, as well as finishing planting all our spring-flowering bulbs.
Now we can look forward to seeing some beautiful colour from early next year.
Some of our volunteers were carrying out a very important task last month, which was collecting leaves, to make leaf mould.
The Stephen’s Footprints Baby Memorial Garden is surrounded by trees, just outside the boundary, which results in a carpet of leaves clothing the central gravelled area, as well as the borders.
The borders were left intact, but we raked off all of the leaves on the gravel.
The easiest way to make leaf mould is to put leaves in bin bags; tie them up and pierce the bags all over, then place them where they can be left for around 12 months.
The leaves should be reasonably moist; if not, then water them before tying up, as dry leaves won’t rot properly.
Leaf-mould is one of the best soil conditioners you can make; it turns solid clay soil into something completely wonderful when dug in, and it is well worth the effort if you have a decent supply of leaves.
We have, of course, recently enjoyed the Christmas Tree Festival at the town’s St Mary’s Church, and our tree (pictured here with volunteers Linda, Gill and Lucy) was themed ‘All things bright and beautiful’.
it was adorned with lots of small creatures and flowers, together with blue and yellow ribbons (the colours of the Commonwealth flag), picking up on our theme for 2026, which celebrates the Commonwealth Games.
The town centre planting, as well as the buckets, and part of the Heritage Garden, will all have a medley of blues and yellows, to bring the look of sunny skies to Melton.
With the year coming to a close, we will be enjoying our annual Christmas lunch; and on this note, we would like to wish all our supporters and readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.