COLUMN - Melton In Bloom with Marie Walters
The better weather we were all hoping for did finally arrive and our gardening volunteers have worked non-stop to start catching up with the backlog of work.
The newly-transformed Woodland Corner, which is now the Dry Bed, was top-dressed with manure and compost, followed by a thick layer of bark chips.
We thought we had lost a couple of plants due to the extremely wet winter, but they are showing signs of life now, so that is really good news.
This just leaves the rear section of the bed still left; to have some old plants removed, and more suitable ones added to complete the design.
We look forward to seeing a summer full of lovely colour, in what is quite a prominent position in the town.
A lot of the plants in the design have been chosen to support wildlife, and in addition, a log pile will be placed in a sheltered spot.
One of Melton in Bloom’s ex-volunteers has also generously donated a bug house to the project, which we will attach to the last remaining tree.
Finally, we would like to source a small sculpture of a lizard, which we think would look good sitting on top of an old tree stump there, to add yet more interest.
The recent sunshine has brought out so much colour in our other projects; masses of yellow daffodils in Lesley Chester’s Rose Garden, together with beautiful scented hyacinths in blue, pink and white.
In the Heritage Garden, we have white daffodils, blue grape hyacinths, and small red species tulips in the Jubilee Bed; red tulips and violas in the Painting the Town Red border (as pictured here on this page) and lots of pink/blue/white in the Waterways and Sign Beds.
Speaking of which, we have some exciting news. The one-third scale canal boat has definitely seen better days, and is going to be removed next month, to be replaced with a brand new model; details of which are to come.
New planting will surround it, and we will be retaining an area of wildflowers, as before, to keep the wildlife happy.