Spring has finally arrived!

March 31, 2019

The greenhouse edges ever closer to completion, we now have both water and heating, final coats of paint are being made and we are just awaiting final issues to be resolved. We now have plants in the greenhouse and I am hopeful by the end of next month we can start to see patients in the greenhouse rather than the potting shed when the weather is too cold or wet to be outside. Both Andy and I are really looking forward to being able to welcome patients into the greenhouse and it will certainly be a lovely space to work in.  We have been busy seed sowing and are starting to see the fruits of our labour. Lots of seedlings are emerging and giving us more activities to involve patients. The planters around our Village Green are filled with compost generously donated by Wyevale Garden Centres and the raised planters are slowly being planted with vegetables. Atlas carrots are the first off the mark to be followed by many more.

Fruit Tree Pruning

March has seen the fruit tree pruning coming to an end as Winter becomes Spring, the sap starts to rise, and the apple and pear trees no longer require pruning. Amazingly we have pruned all the apple and pear trees in need of attention at Martyn Kirk’s orchard and although will miss not visiting for a while, we look forward to summer pruning and fruit picking later in the year. We went out on a bang as the last tree needed felling and extracting due to disease damage. Thank you to Darlac Ltd. for your fantastic donations of brilliant tools, and Andy, for the pulling power of your truck to extract the final root!

Grafting

Just in the nick of time we managed to graft a number of rootstocks to cuttings taken from Headley Court apple trees, and are growing these on. Hopefully we may be able to create a Stanford Hall orchard in the future. This is a very skilled process and the young plants are so far looking good.

WoodBloX

Our raised beds from WoodBlocX have arrived and Andy is busy starting to lay them out. We have already had requests from patients to help us build the beds. They will provide so much more growing space and gradually expand our garden. You can follow our progress here.

Neuro Group

We ran a Horticultural Therapy group for the neuro patients earlier in the month and were able to sow sweet pea and broad bean seeds, currently sprouting, and awaiting transplanting from their current position in the neuro greenhouse. We also brought some herbs in for identification and challenged patients to identify everyday plants and their properties without revealing the name!!

Apothecary plant research

Chelsea Physic Garden has very kindly donated a wide range of seeds which are winging their way to us as we speak to help us start our apothecary garden. The plant research continues…

Gardening Volunteers

We have met several potential Gardening Volunteers over the last month, and are really looking forward to being able to welcome them to Stanford Hall to help us look after our therapeutic garden areas as they develop.

Houses of Parliament

We hosted a reception at the Houses of Parliament to promote the Charity early in March. Rural Weeks were given the spotlight and speakers who had had personal experience of attending at Bicton College took centre stage. We signed up lots of new Friends of HighGround, including Tobias Ellwood, Minister for Defence People and Veterans!

Apple Tree grafting in the potting shed

Seedlings growing in the Greenhouse

WoodBlocX arrival at Stanford Hall

Severn Trent doing ground preparation for WoodBlocX

Gob cut on tree

Felled tree on Andy's truck

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