Topsham Allotments and Gardens Society

    1. Plant bare root roses, shrubs, hedging and ornamental trees, as long as the ground isn’t frozen or waterlogged.  Be guided by the weather.
    2. Take root cuttings of fleshy rooted perennials such as ornamental poppies, acanthus and verbascum.
    3. Take hardwood cuttings from deciduous shrubs, such as forsythia, willow and viburnam.
    4. Establish new colonies of snowdrops and hellebores – buying plants in flower so you can choose the flowers you want. Do not deadhead snowdrops          after flowering but allow to go to seed to spread the display.
    5. Remove and bin hellebore foliage marked with black blotches to limit the spread of leaf spot disease.
    6. Divide winter pansies and other bedding plants regularly and remove any foliage affected by downy mildew.
    7. A good time to move deciduous shrubs that are in the wrong place to a more suitable site.
    8. Check for rot on stored bulbs and tubers and ensure dahlia and canna tubers haven’t totally dried out.
    9. Continue pruning climbing roses while they are dormant and remove and bin leaves with black spot.
    Weather permitting there is plenty to do but keep warm and look after the wildlife by ensuring access to fresh water.

    Pam Bush and Sue Parr - Gardening Reps

On 14 January 2024 the team, which has been laying the Butts Park hedge alongside Elm Grove Road in short spells each winter since 2017, finally completed the task of laying around 140 metres of dying elm hedge. This 7 year project spearheaded by hedge layer and chainsaw wizard, Derek Hazelden, has been supported by a small but tight knit team of TAGS members/allotment tenants and interested others in varying numbers for each season of work. (Note, no laying done during COVID). Financial assistance and some practical help has come from the council, TAGS and the Woodland Trust for which we are very grateful. Also note, the council has promised to take down the remaining 3 medium/large dead elm trees next to the entrance.

On 18 February 2024, a number of the volunteers and allotment tenants joined a short meeting at Butts Park with coffee and pastries to celebrate reaching the ‘finishing line’ and also to plant some 150 tree whips in the hedge. These small trees were grown from seed collected by Sarah Piercy, who has the wheelchair adapted plot at Butts Park. She collects seeds from local trees, as she keeps fit while wheeling round the local area, and then plants them in her raised beds and nurtures them for a year or two. A massive thank-you to Sarah and all those who participated in this project. It has been quite demanding work but the fruits of all their labour shows in the revitalised hedge in all its different stages along the hedgerow.

We felt this project was important because hedgerows have an important place in our landscape, particularly in such a prominent location in Topsham. It acts as a screen, protection and barrier. Moreover, the environmental benefits such as more varied habitats for plants and animals, ecosystem diversity, wildlife corridor function etc. are well known. The logical conclusion of no action is shown in the car park inside Butts Park Allotments where there is just a grassy hedge bank.