This was our second visit to help get Mr B's gardens back under control so it's more manageable for him to maintain himself.

This time we concentrated on a corner next to the patio close to the house. We cut back a rampant plant, untangled masses of bindweek from the fencing and peeled it away from the ornaments, pulled up weeds, trimmed a couple of trees that were encroaching on the path and brushed up a carpet of crispy leaves. Then we gave the path a good sweep and the transformation was complete.

Mr B chatted with us the whole time, telling us some amazing stories from his life. He also has a great collection of garden tools and provided just the right implement for the job at every turn!

Once we finished the main task, Mr B invited us to collect plums from the tree further down the garden - not being a fan of fruit himself he was keen that we should make the most of them. We were very happy to oblige 😋!

Our instructions were to lop off the branches and pick the plums from them - pruning and harvesting all in one. However, we had to rethink because the plums were still pretty hard. So, anticipating one final visit to tame another area of the garden, we decided to wait until next time to for the fruit gathering.

Our monthly session at the Community Hospice this morning saw us heading down the garden path, well actually two of them!

As usual, we met Head Gardener Jas in the café, for a quick catch-up over a cuppa before making our way to the tool shed to collect the equipment we would need.

With the sun beating down, Jas kindly directed us to jobs in the shade.

Johnny returned to the block-paved path leading to the main entrance, armed with a scraper and on a mission to finish what we'd started a few months ago. The remaining moss and weeds didn't stand a chance!

Meanwhile, Jas, Alice and Sarah headed into the woodland area to work on a path that was steadily disappearing beneath a sea of bracken. Wearing trusty yellow gauntlets, we moved along the route pulling up the ferns as close to the roots as possible. Some of the plants weren't ready to be evicted and put up some resistance, but that just made for an excellent workout!

By the end of the session, the entrance path was looking fully neat and welcoming, while the woodland trail had been reclaimed and was once again easy to follow.

With our work done we headed back to the hospice cafeteria for plenty more chatting over a tasty lunch.

We'll be back again next month to see what Jas has in store for us. He likes to keep us on our toes and always has a new task up his sleeve, which helps make these sessions varied and interesting. If you'd like to join us next time, you can sign up here.