Sunday 4th February
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Report written by Sevan
Sevan was greeted at the door by Mrs M's very enthusiastic and grateful daughter. As Mrs M's sole carer, the garden wasn't high on her priority list even though she knew Mrs M took great pride in it. Her daughter was willing to get stuck in and help Sevan through the task and it's ups and downs.
Sevan started at ground level as the autumn leaves that covered the ground were causing a slip hazard for Mrs M. This was made easier as Mrs M's daughter didn't want to bag the leaves, rather, they were going to be piled onto the flower beds. Sevan swept - well with short bristles, more like squeegeed - and then helped Mrs M's daughter scoop the leaves onto the plants. He also helped with the giant worms that emerged as Mrs M's daughter was a bit squeamish with them, so Sevan put them onto the soil to help the plants.
Next, Sevan took a step up to trim some ivy that was climbing up a neighbour's wall and into their guttering. He climbed up the step ladder and saw that it was worse than expected. The gutter was dealt with fairly quickly and some tall bamboo was cut down to size. Sevan found that the ivy and other branches were reaching further out to the neighbour's patio door. He tried to pull what he could towards him to cut it. It'll probably need a trip next door to trim properly.
On the other side of the garden, wisteria was growing off a trellis, onto a flat roof, then up a drain pipe to the roof. With a bit of step ladder manoeuvring, Sevan managed to cut all of the branches here too, leaving the sky bound branches to wither and die. He also found that some were growing along the gutter and had formed knots in it.
To finish the trilogy of tasks, Sevan had to go beneath ground, or at least a spade did. Mrs M wanted a hydrangea that she was very fond of moved from a large pot into a flower bed. Sevan started digging, after a while hitting something solid. There was the same result when moving to either side. Eventually, he uncovered a thick tree root that there was no way he was going to chop through.
At this point, Mrs M came to say hello and have a sit in the garden. Importantly, she was also asked what to do with the hydrangea as the hole wasn't deep enough. It was decided to plant it in the hole and pile the spare dirt around it. It's roots would find a way.
With that, time was up. Mrs M's daughter was happy with the transformation of the garden and with GoodGym.
The hydrangea is thanking you and so are the gutters
Ealing
Help run drop-in service on a Friday where homeless can get free clothes and wellbeing services