Return to the Crystal Palace Museum Garden

Goodgym Bromley had some pre COVID plans for this garden, originally planted with fruit and bee friendly plants by Crystal Palace Transition Town. These were put on hold, but a few weeks ago someone shared a photo of grapes ripening, so I went along to tidy, weed, prune and train. One of the vines had a decent amount of fruit, and it looked as if there had been some on the others, but much was withered - possibly diseased, maybe just because they were shaded by the hops? There's some serious training of the vines to do over winter, and in 2021 we can decide whether to keep going with the less productive ones, or let the healthier one extend.

I did some pruning on the fig, on which there was just one fig about to ripen - there should be a few more. I think there could also be some harder pruning of the fig this winter

We should have a plan for the raspberries - some are under the vine, some behind the fig, neither of which helps them flourish. The space on the left as you enter the garden might be better.

Weeds not much of a problem - next time a hoe would be good for the annual weeds, and a small spade to dig out the roots of perennials like dandelions, alkanet

A bit of litter picking - not that much

I mean to replant some of the hops so they climb over the building at the end, and don't shade the vines so much. I noticed that some of the bines were bearing male flowers, which aren't any good for flavouring beer. I'll contact Ignition Brewery, who use these hops, to see if they want me to remove them.

I'll contact other stakeholders for help / checking they are happy with what is being done