Kirkstall in Bloom secretary JAMES CORAH writes about the community garden’s forthcoming gardening sessions and how work done in October and November will ‘spring up’ in Spring.
I will be the first to admit that I have always been around gardens, either home ones or visiting them. Though I will also admit that my interest in them was a late bloomer. Becoming a ‘gardener blossomed’ was later still.
It happened like this. In mid-2004 I came across a book by the Independent newspaper’s gardening writer Anna Pavord about the tulip (The Tulip, ISBN 9870747542964), about it’s cultural impact and the flower’s wide varieties.
Beautiful morning, come get your green gym on! Can’t miss us opposite the leisure centre …. pic.twitter.com/l4V6LhYuNm
— Kirkstall In Bloom (@KirkstallBloom) September 24, 2017
Pavord is a fantastic writer (and her books are great if you’re already thinking of Christmas gifts for the green-fingered in your life), and she awoke my desire to plant bulbs.
“This year has been about celebrating”
This year is Kirkstall in Bloom’s fifth year. We’ve had some ups and downs along the way (two stolen fruit trees, pretty annoying, though the constant disappearance of oxalis is fascinating, they are not that dear for a plant that has lots of impact), though this year has been about celebrating.
We had a fantastic time in the summer with our stall at the Art Trail, finders keeps at Kirkstall Festival, and our second round of judging by Yorkshire In Bloom.
Our final bit of celebration will come in a couple of weeks’ time, and then again in the Springtime.
You see, we’re holding a bulb planting session. What goes down in Autumn will come up again in Spring, next year and afterwards, so that you and I, when we are wandering around Kirkstall in years to, come will be able to say, those flowers mark the fifth year of Kirkstall in Bloom.
Two bulb-planting sessions
There are actually two Kirkstall in Bloom sessions in the coming weeks. On Sunday 29 October we are running our annual Winter preparation session. Starting at 10:30am at the Drink and Be Grateful Fountain Garden (now on Google Maps, did you know?), our volunteers will be working at all our sites in Kirkstall district centre.
Personally, I will be working on the planters around the Kirkstall War Memorial, clearing away leafs, and generally making sure the site is ready for Armistice Day on Saturday 11 November.
Other sites include near the Leisure Centre up to behind the 38/49/91 bus stop (so, making it nice for First Bus passengers to look at, really).
Get involved!
We need volunteers to make this happen. You don’t have to commit to every session, just an hour or two here and there would help massively.
The bulb planting session will take place on Sunday 5 November, 10:30am at the Drink and Be Grateful Fountain Garden. It will last a couple of hours, and we’re looking to call in help from other community groups and volunteers.
The project is supported from help supplied by the Leeds City Council Inner West Community Committee, and our three fantastic Ward councillors.
We need volunteers to help make this project happen. It will not be a great deal of work, though it will have a lasting impact on Kirkstall over the next five years of our In Bloom group.