Fresher's Day 2013

A year has passed and it's Fresher's Day again, the day when the gardeners down their tools and help the first year students with their arrival at the college. Simon greets the students and their families as they arrive in their cars full of luggage. 

Graham

Once registered, those with rooms in the furthest corners of the college are given assistance with their luggage by way of the tractors and trailers, driven by Graham, Kieron and Joss. Those closest to the car park have the use of wheelbarrows and trolleys.

Kieron

Joss

Ady and Callum

Ady and Callum organise the car parking whilst Ali helps to organise the luggage transfers with the assistance of second years students, freshers themselves last year. 

Ali and Callum

Simon and Ady

Every year the welcoming team receive some delicious home baking during the day. Thank you to Elizabeth and Emma from the Academic Office, cookies and cake, a lovely treat.

Elizabeth, Joss and Callum

'A Taste Of Worcester'

 
The team have been producing 'Worcester College Apple & Pear Juice' since 2009, collecting the fruit from the orchard and taking them to Waterperry Gardens for juicing and bottling. This year the picking will start in the next few weeks, and looking at the huge crop of fruit on the trees, this year could be the best yet. An article about the juice, 'A Taste Of Worcester', has been published on page 11 of this month's 'Blueprint', the magazine for staff at the University of Oxford.

Root Drench Against Vine Weevil

Although the temperatures are still above the expected average for this time of year, the tender plants are being brought to the greenhouse for winter storage. Before the plants in pots are put in the greenhouse they are all receiving a root drench of 'Provado Vine Weevil Killer', a systemic insecticide to control vine weevil larvae. The concentrate is mixed with water and each pot given a drench to give protection against one of the most devastating pests seen in container grown plants, see blog entry 11th November 2009 'Vine Weevil'.

Tibouchnia urvilleana (Purple Glory Tree)

Tibouchina urvilleana (Purple Glory Tree, Princess Flower)

Located in the same display pot as the Phymosia umbellata, featured in the blog entry 11th September, the Tibouchina urvilleana is putting on an equally stunning display of its own. Also known as the Purple Glory Tree or the Princess Flower, this tender, evergreen shrub has soft, hairy stems and leaves, satin like purple flowers with hooked stamens being thrust out from their centre.

Belamcandra chinensis (Leopard Lily)

Belamcandra chinensis (Blackberry Lily, Leopard Lily)

The seeds for this plant, Belamcandra chinensis, were given to the gardeners by the Head Gardener at Merton College. Sown in the spring, the seeds were quick to germinate, pricked out into individual pots and planted out once the frosts had passed in early June. Hidden beneath the taller plants in the orange themed corner border, the flowers had gone unnoticed until the border was cleared on Monday, when the delicate, spotted flower was seen for the first time, opening up before the gardener's eyes almost as if it was waiting to display its beauty. The flower, bright orange with dark spots, gives it the common name of the Leopard Lily, which will be followed by its clusters of black, berry like seeds, giving rise to its other common name, Blackberry Lily.

Wildflowers In The Fellow's Garden

A small area of rough ground in the Fellow's Garden has been chosen to be new wildflower meadow, following the unsuccessful attempt to create a wildflower meadow in the orchard last year, see blog entry 17th February 2012 'Wildflower Meadow'.
Joss, reunited with his old Dennis mower and its scarifier cartridge, scarifies the grass to remove all the thatch. Ali, using a Honda rotary mower, then cuts the grass down gradually reducing the height of the cutting deck from high to low until the area is almost bald. Using a spring rake, Ali then scuffs up the soil to a fine tilth, then mixes the wildflower seed with sand and broadcasts it over the bare soil. The wild flowers are: Betony, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Bulbous Buttercup, Californian Poppy, Catsear, Cowslip, Common Knapweed, Cornflower, Fairy Toadflax, Ladys Bedstraw, Oxeye Daisy, Salad Burnet, Self Heal, Shirley Poppy, White Campion and Yellow Rattle. Hopefully the summer of 2014 will see the start of a beautiful meadow in the corner of the Fellow's Garden.

Another Concrete Cold Frame Base

Five smaller cold frames have already had their gravel bases replaced with concrete since the 20th August when the project begun. One of the two large frames had it's old base dug out last week in preparation for today's concreting.

First the remains of a small concrete ledge is chipped away and the rubble left in the base. Ballast and cement are then mixed to a smooth consistency and poured into a wheelbarrow.

Unlike the other cold frames, a wooden frame is fixed in place for the lids so the concrete has to be poured very carefully between each gap.

Once filled to the required depth for the base, the surface is levelled and the concrete allowed to set overnight. With one large frame left, the project continues.