Going back to your roots

That sounds very horticultural but in fact it was an opportunity to revisit our ongoing vision for the churchyard and explain to a complete stranger what we are trying to achieve, what our goals are and where we are along that pathway to date. The stranger was in fact a journalist from Holland and they had picked up our involvement from the organisation Caring For God's Acre, who liase and offer help to churchyards in the form of suggestions of how to plan and monitor what you propose to undertake, invaluable in getting a project underway, focusing on a week by week seasonal guide so everything flows in a logical fashion. They also advise on looking at the Heritage of the churchyard and Caring for that, this we do cleaning and uncovering graves that have been either partly or wholly hidden for years. It's a sobering fact that if all the churchyards in the UK did something however small towards this we would end up with a conjoined area approaching the size of a small National Park.

This weekend saw the usual clearing up activities and also the planting of Wild Garlic a brilliant plant for early in the year pollinators.

Rain

It has been a very hot and dry summer, nearly empty or very low reservoirs and browned grass bare testimony to this so today on a rainy  Sunday afternoon I decided to visit the churchyard and stand in the quite tranquil space to listen to the rain pattering through the tree canopy, to also take stock of how things have fared, I was pleasantly surprised at how resilient plants are and how in the low light of the afternoon the Calendula planted in between the gravestones really pop the orange so bright against the stone. In an area nearby a couple of seasons ago we planted Sedums, these have really established a plant more than capable of surviving a dry spell and today I was pleasantly surprised to see their lovely shades of green foliage and pink flower heads flat perfect landing platforms for late pollinators.

Of course we collect rainwater in our water butt system meaning we have been able to water the pots outside the church porch. Water that would go straight into the drainage system. 

Picture Perfect

Recently I was away in Mid Wales for a break., a very rural part of the UK with a myriad of back roads and lanes only carrying light occasional local traffic and so there was ample opportunity to stand and admire the hedgerows a collage of various wild species all woven together with Hawthorn and other shrubbery in front wonderful verge and sometimes ditch, needless to say there was the constant presence of insects flying from flower head to flowerhead searching out pollen. It was this standing observing and appreciating that made me think of our churchyard and how often do we stop and stand to appreciate it. I have heard many professional gardeners on TV and radio say just that, take time to stand, absorb and appreciate. Then yesterday along came a dozen pictures into my inbox taken in the churchyard by a team member that capture perfectly the wonderful collage of colours against the stonework and railings. The beauty of these pictures is also seeing the churchyard through someone else's perspective. I make no apologies for including four of these lovely pictures this month. 

Insects

Two recent things brought insects into focus for me again, one was a trip to Lincolnshire in May where the weather driving down was very warm and on arrival I observed the the front of the car had more dead bugs on than I had seen for years. The second was the return at home of Swifts screaming around the house in an aerial display that would not disgrace the red arrows. Two indicators that we have more insects about in general than recent years. Swifts feed in flight on flying insects such as hoverflies. There is a national movement to put up more Swift boxes and even incorporate swift habitats in the form of special bricks in new builds. Old Glossop Residents Association who we work closely with are very keen on providing Swift habitats locally. Hoverflies feed on nectar as do other insects but unlike most insects they need to feed on flatter flower heads or Umbellifers broad flowerheads made up of lots of little flowers like Cow Parsley. So Umbellifers are on the planting list! Finally it was interesting to note that Chris Packham  on Springwatch this year remarked that the insect population was up. All good news and fingers crossed it is not a blip. 

Digitalis

 

Things have been happening in the churchyard, on a sad but realistic note in terms of safety we have had to have the branches removed from a tree because they were diseased and the main trunk is all that remains standing, on the plus side the removal of tree canopy means we have a whole area next to the path which now gets more sunlight and means therefore we can plant out some species to attract pollinators. Elsewhere we have Foxgloves or Digitalis popping up between the gravestones and adjacent to the path. It has been a long time wish to establish Foxgloves and get the cycle of seed to plants working. Foxgloves are biannual, setting seed, germinating and then finally flowering in the second year before setting seed and dying back in the autumn of the second year. If we have succeeded in getting this cycle established then it is very exciting and gratifying to observe the bees buzzing around to collect the pollen and nectar. In the meantime I have been looking into how we can attract more butterflies in fact the new area I mentioned before would be ideal to develop and plant out with sympathetic plant species.

Until next time.....

Preparations and planting

April has seen some decent weather and it has been nice to work in the churchyard with the sun on your back. After the success of the sweet peas last year we decided to tidy around the frame and put some wood around the bottom to retain more compost therefore hopefully being more resilient to dry weather, the wood used was windfall from around the churchyard therefore giving the natural look we aim for. Elsewhere we have continued clearing between grave slab edges particularly where they are narrow gaps making excellent planting areas for plants tolerant of this type of habitat also they nicely soften the edges and being thymes are excellent for pollinators. 

Uncovering The Past part 3

March has been relatively dry and this has had an unforseen advantage in that a couple of the graves that on preliminary investigation  last year looked difficult to clean with a wet matted mass of roots and compacted leaf mould on the surface, however the dry state meant we could separate the compost and roots enabling us to trim the roots back. A light scrub and the surface is perfectly legible. The first one we have tidied up in this way is the grave of one Richard Lee of Hadfield , research reveals little on his background apart from the fact he was a wood turner, a busy occupation making spools for the cotton mills, the second one further up the churchyard is one Michael Jackson of Glossop died 20th January 1847 we still need to clean the surface of this one and do some research. Elsewhere we have planted out some Allium bulbs 'in the green' as they say, a number of varieties but one in particular I am looking forward to seeing is a very tall white variety called appropriately enough Everest. Until next time.