In Memory of Jim Fryer.

On Saturday 23rd November 2019, members of our Friends group gathered on the Oxton Fields to plant a tree in memory of our dear friend Jim Fryer.  He was one of the founding members of our Friends group way back in 2007 and a true gentleman.

Jim sadly passed away earlier this year on the 5th January and we had decided, after discussion with his widow Val, that planting a tree would be a fitting and lasting tribute to her late husband.  Naturally we had to wait until November to plant a bare root tree, and a suitable spot was chosen, visible from Val's kitchen window.  We purchased a native mountain ash ( Rowan) tree, which will look beautiful, not cast a huge shadow, and will produce red berries to feed the wildlife.





A few of us prepared the planting hole before Val, their two sons, and grandchildren arrived.  Our chair Annette Capper said a few words about our memories of Jim. His family poured some of Jim's ashes into the planting hole before the tree was positioned. Val did the honours, shovelling in the first few spadefuls of earth, followed by one of Jim's sons and grandchildren.




Then we finished the planting and completed the task by staking the tree to protect it for the first few years.  Finally, we stood together for some photographs to commemorate the occasion.

Fully grown Sorbus Aucuparia

We look forward to watching Jim's tree grow and develop in the years to come.  I'm sure Val will keep a watchful eye on it from her window.  His grandchildren, we hope, will return when they have grown up, to tell their own families about the significance of this particular tree on the Oxton Fields.

Recycling Hanging Baskets 2019

Every Summer, Oxton village is adorned with beautiful hanging baskets of flowers.  These are planted up and cared for by Dovecote Nursery of Station Road, Burton, until they go up in the village at the beginning of June.  This year, Oxton village won a gold from the RHS Britain in Bloom Awards in the village category. 


Since the Friends have created composting bays at the top of the long border, we have started to empty these baskets in early November.  Despite some of their contents still flowering, Christmas is just around the corner  and soon it will be the annual switching on of the Christmas lights.








On Saturday 9th November, some members of the Oxton Society brought along all the baskets.  Many of our Committee members, along with extra volunteers, worked to sort and empty the baskets into our compost heaps.  Apart from the moss lining, all is added to the heaps to rot down for future use in the Rose Garden.

 

The wire baskets can then be returned to Dovecote Nursery to be reused for next year's display. This is a wonderful way for us to recycle so that everyone benefits.  During the year the Friends have been using a rotary seive to create perfect compost, which we use when we are planting perennials and shrubs around the Rose Garden, or potting up plants for sale to raise funds for the Friends group.






Thank you to everyone who turned out on Saturday.  It was a fantastic team effort.

RHS North West in Bloom Award 2019

Back in the Summer, I posted about the RHS judges coming to visit our Rose Garden on the 23rd July. This was part of their North West in Bloom awards.  In 2018 we achieved level 4 out of a possible 5, which classed us as 'thriving'.

It is with great delight that I can announce that this year we did even better and were awarded level 5, outstanding.  We are so pleased that our efforts have been recognised, as our volunteers work so hard to make the Rose Garden as pleasant a green space for the public as possible.

Rose Planting November 2019

As scheduled, we gathered in the Rose Garden at 10am on Saturday the 2nd November.  It started cloudy with rain forecast for later so we had to work quickly to plant the 160 bare root rose bushes .

The plan was to fill in gaps that were evident in the rose beds.  Obviously some beds needed only a few new rose bushes, whereas other beds were almost empty.  This year, the varieties of rose were selected to match in with the colours and heights already in.  There were Arthur bell, a yellow rose which has already proven to do well, Super Trouper, Pride and Prejudice, Ruby 40th Anniversary and finally Chandos Beauty.

Super Trouper

Pride and Prejudice

Ruby 40th Anniversary

Chandos Beauty

Arthur Bell

Despite England Rugby Team playing that morning in the World Cup Final, which we sadly lost against South Africa, we still had quite a few volunteers arrive, armed with their gloves and spades.  Each rose had its roots dipped in a solution of wallpaper paste and Rootgrow,  a mycorrhizal fungi in powdered form which helps the plants establish faster.  We worked well as a team, some digging holes, some dipping and handing out the rose bushes.  After a short tea/coffee break in our new Gardeners' shed, we continued planting until just past midday , at which time it was raining heavily.  We packed up and agreed to finish planting the remaining bushes on the following Monday.

Monday morning was cold but bright and some of us met up around10am. By noon all 160 rose bushes had been successfully planted.  Hopefully next June  everyone will be able to enjoy the scent and sight of all the rose beds in full bloom.

A huge thank you to all those who braved the cold and wet to help us.

Maintaining our Green Flag status

It is with delight that I can share with you the great news that we have yet again achieved green flag status. We first received a Green Flag for the Arno way back in 2010, only three years after our Friends group was formed.

So many improvements and additions have come about due to the perseverance and efforts of the Friends, in collaboration with the Council Parks and Gardens team.  Rose, tree and bulb planting, commemorative plaques, rose arches, benches, notice and interpretation boards, nest boxes, bug hotels, extensive planting of the long border and shrub beds and more besides.  A huge thank you to those people who have made all that possible over the years.  The Green Flag is a symbol of the recognition and appreciation of all that work.

In the photograph you can see just some of us gathered to raise the Green Flag for the ninth time.

Britain in Bloom 2019

Last year was our first time entering the RHS Britain in Bloom award scheme.  We were delighted to have achieved level 4 out of a possible 5, which described our Rose garden and Quarry as 'thriving'.
This year we are hoping to do even better.
On Tuesday the 23rd July, two RHS ( Royal Horticultural Society ) judges paid their second visit to the Arno.  The weather was particularly hot that whole week but it gave us a chance to show off the long border and all the projects we had been working on since their previous visit.  They were handed a folder, which our Membership Secretary Linda Atkinson had compiled. This contained photographs and details of all the events and work we had undertaken in the Arno as well as the Oxton fields.
 

Annette and John  with the RHS judges.

Our Chairperson Annette Capper talked them through the folder, which they could take away with them as a reminder of what they had seen.  John Booth was delighted to show them our progress on the Shed and explain how we intended to use it.  They seemed particularly pleased that we were collecting rainwater from the roof.  Our compost bins, leaf bins and newly built potting table showed how we are environmentally friendly in our approach to gardening.

The two Johns, hard at work.

The judges were also delighted by the Bug Hotel and sign, along with the nesting boxes which John Booth and John Hall had fixed into suitable trees around the perimeter of the Rose Garden. Finally, after a walk along the long border,  where we pointed out areas of new planting we had completed using funds raised from our Spring Plant sale, we said our goodbyes and escorted them back to their driver and car. 





All we need to do now is wait for the results. Fingers crossed for a higher score than last year!

Protecting our Insects

In recent years, we have all come to realise the importance of a good balance of nature in a garden. We no longer wish to use pesticides or slug pellets, which are harmful to insects, birds and small mammals.  Bees are in decline and yet we can all play our part to make a genuine difference, by changing the way we garden in even the smallest ways. Beetles, birds and frogs will eat slugs and snails, greenfly on the roses and so on.  We should let this wonderful balance in nature do what it is supposed to, with us gardeners working alongside, not against.



In the Rose Garden, and the shrub beds and long border, we are making a conscious effort to select plants which are of benefit to pollinators. Providing flowering plants from January through  to November so there is always pollen and nectar available. In Autumn we leave plants to die back and  provide shelter and food for wildlife in terms of seeds, rose hips and cover for spiders and insects and caterpillars. If every garden in the country followed these same principles then that would provide a huge resource for our wildlife.



As part of the school syllabus, many primary schools do a study of Minibeasts. We have seen schools visiting the Rose Garden and Quarry as part of this study. With this in mind, our volunteers have created a bug hotel, to help create a place of shelter for insects of all kinds.  You can do this on a smaller scale in your own gardens.  Leave a pile of rotting logs in a quiet corner, create a compost heap, stack some bricks with gaps between for frogs and woodlice and beetles etc.
We hope our bug hotel will be added to with dead hollow stems, fir cones, straw.  Perhaps the schoolchildren can collect materials to add when they visit.  Why not build a bug shelter in your garden, it's great fun for you and just great for insects!