Hello, I’m Ronny and I have (rather uncharacteristically) agreed to do a blog about my Wednesday stint at Fulham Palace Garden. Never having written a blog before and not being a reader of them, I’m wondering what you, the reader, would like to be reading about. While you think about that, a bit of background to set the scene:
Like many of you, I used to make the occasional visit to the Palace garden. While the walk was enjoyable, it made me sad to see the state of neglect around the garden in general and the collapse and decay in the Walled Garden in particular. Therefore, imagine my pleasure when I saw a notice in the Palace asking for volunteer gardeners – I knew that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to help bring this garden back to its former glory. So, I had my interview with Lucy Hart and here I am writing my first blog.
Well, that was some 2 ½ years ago and what a difference the efforts of all of the volunteers and the permanent gardening team have made – all that edging, raking, mulching, composting, pruning, tree circling, sowing, pricking out and potting up, planting out and watering, not to mention levelling what looked like giant molehills in the Walled Garden, have worked wonders – with the garden overall being cleaner, more attractive and far better managed, an increasingly beautiful Walled Garden, replete with fruit and vegetable beds, a new apple orchard, beehive (and delicious honey) as well as ambitious plans for even better things.
It is interesting that on the day in the garden, my focus is essentially set on the tasks set and less so on their consequences. It is only when I pause to think, as now, about my involvement that I recall the large amount of wonderful stuff we have achieved. Go on, give everyone involved a big round of applause.
Anyway, enough of the reminiscing of an old man and a little about what he managed to do today. Well, what we did was very apposite to what I have been writing about – we weeded and tidied up the garden of the Gothic Lodge. One of the very first projects (if not THE first) we had was to clear up and prepare this patch of ground. It was a nightmare – a large patch of horrid rubble, bottle and rock strewn clay. Boy it was fun, not! And look at it now – a pretty, colourful garden that many of us would be happy to call our own. As a metaphor for how Fulham Palace Garden has blossomed (pun intended) I can find no better example to end my first post. Onward and upward……
*Please note, the Gothic Lodge garden is private, and there is no public access.