Wells Voice Article September 2021

One of the local highlights on this side of town over the summer has been the sparkling display of wildflowers on what was once a small patch of long grass in North Road. Thanks to the hard work of Drew Horsfield this was transformed into an array of ox-eye daisies, poppies and cornflowers, all to the delight of passers-by, bees and insects. Gardens do not have to be confined to boundaries.

The Wells landscape is extensively defined by the spillage of evergreen plants overhanging ancient stone walls. Ivy in particular, our only evergreen native climber, softens the hard structures, shelters insects, feeds blue butterflies and hornets but is too often ripped down in the name of tidiness. This year, though, things have started to change. There are more plots of wildflowers, unkempt grass and even weeds left unplucked. Chilkwell Street in Glastonbury is a prime example. Perhaps we should all make a decision to redress the balance, though few of us are in the position to follow Lionel Rothschild's directive: 'Every garden, however small, should contain at least two acres of rough woodland'.

The Gardening Club has been meeting, as it usually does in the summer months, but outside in the delightful gardens which we, in Wells, are fortunate to be able to visit so conveniently. The meeting scheduled for September has been postponed yet again and no firm decision has been made for the remaining autumn events. Please check the publicity on our website, see here  Wells Gardening Club

Pip