CROW (Conserve Reading on Wednesdays)
Wednesday, 21st August 2019
Five a Day Market Garden, Englefield ~ Garden maintenance

Our focus for the day, a willow tunnel heading skyward .....

..... and a border in danger of being overwhelmed by ground elder.

While a start was made on the tunnel .....

..... (surprisingly) most of the team decided to concentrate on the ground elder .....

Ground elder is thought to have been introduced by the Romans being used as a spring leaf vegetable and a medicinal herb to treat gout and arthritis, alternative names include goutweed and gout wort as well as bishop's weed and herb gerard. Today it is regarded by many as a pernicious weed, highly invasive and difficult to eradicate because of its underground rhizomes from which it derives the name Devil's guts.

..... before setting off for coffee at the Englefield Tearoom.

Back to work .....

..... followed by lunch.

An extra task, clearing along the boundary edge where the mower could not reach. While this had provided useful habitat it was now coming to look untidy and the gardens are not lacking in areas for wildlife.

Before (left) and after.

By the end of day the tunnel was much improved with most of the longer growth woven into the structure but work remained to be done.

Elsewhere an excellent start had been made clearing the ground elder.

What more civilised way could there be to end the task than with a wander round .....

..... and a refreshing afternoon cup of tea.

Updated: Sunday, 1st September 2019
Photographs: Alan Stevens; Lara Sansun