A Very Warm October

Britain has enjoyed the warmest October for five years and the 7th warmest since records began. These warm temperatures make for very pleasant conditions to collect the leaves that are falling at an alarming rate around the college. Mondays will, for the foreseeable future, be leafing days.

Old Edge Removed

The new stone edge is now in place and the cement has set. Kieron spent the morning removing the old edge with the help of a pick axe and shovel. Once all the old stone and cement had been removed he then moved some of the soil into the front of the border, leaf mould will be added next week.

Whilst The Cement Drys

The last of the stone edge was laid in place today and the cement allowed to dry before any further work is done on the border.
Elsewhere in the gardens, Graham and Ali with the blowers on their backs, spent the morning blowing out the leaves from the ditch around the sportsfield. Simon and Ady spent this time chopping up some of the seasoned wood from the wood store into firewood logs.
In the afternoon, Graham and Joss mowed the banks, carefully guiding the Flymo around the bare patches of soil so as not to suck up the grass seed before it germinates.

A New Stone Edge

At the start of the day Callum and Graham laid the new stone out along the path to make sure we had enough before Simon and Kieron begin to cement them in place.
Graham then spent the day mixing the cement providing a steady supply for the two stone layers.

By the end of the day, dispite a few rain showers, the entire front edge had been completed leaving the corner to be finished tomorrow.

Whilst the new stone edging was being laid, Ali spent the time in the greenhouse potting up the 29 pots of cuttings that had been taken out of the mist unit last week. Acclimatised to their new conditions, these young plants are ready to be placed into their own pots allowing them room to grow. Early next year they will be potted up again into larger pots before being used in next summers display.

Ladders, Scissors, a Ball of String and Fleece

With frost forecast, the only banana left out in the grounds, Musa basjoo, needs wrapping up for the winter. This year, Ali and Callum have a go at wrapping this hardy banana whilst the rest of the team concentrate their efforts on making the front quad border deeper.
Ladders, scissors, a ball of string and a rather large roll of insulating garden fleece are taken over to the banana and an hour later, after managing not to wrap themselves up in it, the wrapping is complete for another year.

Making It Deeper

The border at the bottom of the quad is undergoing a face lift. First the plants that have provided the summer display are ripped out, some go into the greenhouse as the stock plants, the remainder to the compost heap. Next, some of the old shrubs are dug out and replanted elsewhere in other areas of the college.

Once the border is cleared out of these plants, work starts on the path. A guide line is put in place, 18 inches in front of the old stone edging, the path is broken up, taken away and used to make a new path by the compost heaps.

By the end of the day three quarters of the path has been removed, the team will return tomorrow to continue the project.

Waiting For Colour

The overnight temperatures have started to drop so the team continue to dig up the tender plants from the college summer displays and move them into the greenhouse for winter storage.
Having cleared the plants from The Pump Quad yesterday, Ali and Kieron turn their attentions to the display in The Provost's Yard. Fuchsia, Banana, Ferns, Aeonium, Pelargonium, Begonia and Abutilon are just some of the plants that have helped create the displays in the oak pots, now all that is left are the architectural plants, Eucalyptus, Liquid Amber, Holly, Box and Tree Ferns, waiting for the winter plants to join them.