Spring in the garden

With the very wet winter now a distant memory, the plants in Besson Street Garden are now putting on their annual show. The most recent stars were the tulips, particularly those in the bed behind the covered stage which, with their jewel like colours popping against the backdrop of emerging fresh young acer leaves, were simply joyous. It was hard not to smile at them.

Meanwhile, over in the greenhouse our group of gardeners continue to look after the plants that we've over-wintered there - plants that would otherwise succumb to a combination of frost and wet, or cuttings that need a little bit of added protection before they are ready to be planted out to fend for themselves. We've also been sowing seeds in preparation for the upcoming growing season.

This year, for the first time, we sowed some Seed Snails, a strip of recycled plastic, topped with some soil, with seeds placed every inch or so, and then rolled up and kept moist until the seeds germinate and are big enough to handle. The big advantage of this method, we found, was that you could germinate many more seeds per pot than if you just planted them into a pot of soil. When unrolled, it was easy to separate out the tiny plants prior to planting them into the ground. These images show peas, first in their snail, then unrolled, and finally in the ground with a framework of twigs for them to clamber over.

We've been recycling again. This time, we rescued the slats from a bed that had been discarded locally. We've painted them, and then stencilled the names of plants. This is particularly useful when there is little or nothing visible above the ground as they can mark the places where seeds have been sown and where hopefully plants should soon appear.

Another form of recycling in the garden is composting. We try and compost as much of the plant material that we gather as possible - soft wood cuttings, prunings, fallen leaves etc. We have three very large compost bins which get rotated over time. They are Fill: that's where the most recent clippings start their composting journey; Brew: where the full heap that may have been turned once or twice and is now full of all the beneficial creatures that turn old leaves and flowers into soil; and, finally Use: the composting process is complete and the results ready to put back on the garden as a mulch to feed and protect the plants. Here are two of our volunteers with one of the many barrows of freshly sieved compost ready to go on the garden.

Besson Street's Gardening Club fulfils many purposes. Our work ensures that the garden looks as lovely as it does all year round, forming a lush backdrop to the many activities that take place at Besson Street. More importantly, it provides all of us who garden there with the well known health benefits of gardening - reduced stress and anxiety, a physical workout, a connection with nature, and he benefits of social interaction all of which are proven to improve mental wellbeing and resilience. A huge added bonus is that we get to grow things that we can eat! Personally, I'm looking forward to the first pea and beetroot risotto of the season.