With cooler, wetter September weather and the planting and insect hotel almost complete, there wasn't such an urgent need to water and weed however Kate, Harry and Anita found time to visit and keep things looking good:

Anita, Tuesday 1 September.

As usual, a short weeding session turned into a marathon yielding a whole bag of weeds. I was pulling up lots of things with tiny white flowers which are everywhere. Cathy suggested a weed guide and it’s definitely time to work on that, maybe as part of the next group session.

Lots and lots of people stopping to chat and praise the garden which is looking lovely with the pink cosmos really setting off some of the pink and purple late summer flowers and creating a real continuity across the whole plot.

One of the originally team from the Richmond Society stopped to chat and we discussed how we had developed their initial idea and planting. We also discussed the Arcade (known to us as the lockup) which, along with the houses behind, are all that remains of the Beuclleuch Estate. The Arcade is listed and was originally restored with the intention of it being used for events. She was disappointed it was being used for storage and was looking a bit untidy, I owned up to this being GoodGym and not the council who were responsible and promised to tidy it and sweep up the leaves as part of the next Group Session.

We also discussed the ‘rockery’ in front of the arcade, which used to be a herb garden and is now just rocks and earth. Maybe we could extend our GoodGym adoption to this?

Kate, Wednesday & Friday

On Wednesday I went with the intention of doing a quick lunchtime weed to remove lots of 'quickweed' from the sweet williams patch. I'd spotted the problem on Saturday but not had time to get it all. When I arrived though it was plain someone had had the same idea (now I know it was Anita!) and the patch was looking much better. I circled the rest of the plot in search and still managed to find a bucketful.

I went back on Friday for another quick weed before work and then again at lunchtime. In the morning I went on a general weed hunt and at lunch came back armed with a trowel so I could tackle the dandelion type weeds. I also had a go at the lawn grass & gathered handfuls of fallen leaves out from amongst the flowers, I feel like these are going to be a problem come Autumn!

*Harry, Sunday *

'Stopped off during a Sunday walk for a bit of litter picking, sweeping and tidying up.