Author: alpington-yelverton-admin

Alpington with Yelverton Parish Council Website Administrator

Time to prune your trees and hedges and keep footpaths clear

Winter is an excellent time to prune trees, hedges and shrubs before the bird nesting season kicks off in Spring. 

It’s especially important to check any trees, hedges or shrubs you have that are alongside a public footpath or highway as hedges or shrubs and trees that overgrow a footpath can seriously inconvenience and even endanger pedestrians forcing them into the road or even causing injury – a poke in the face from a branch is no joke!  You should also check for and remove any low hanging branches from trees that could potentially impede or injure a passerby.  Remember you are responsible for ensuring that your plants, trees, shrubs and hedges do not encroach beyond your boundary line, especially if this affects the use of the road or path.

If you are thinking of planting new trees, shrubs or hedges then check what the eventual width will be – you may need to plant further back from the boundary than you thought.

So be a good neighbour and check your hedges, bushes, trees and shrubs in your gardens where you have a public right of way adjacent to your boundary and where necessary cut back any overgrowth as soon as possible. 

Thank you for your cooperation.

Alpington with Yelverton Parish Council

Things to do in the Garden – Jan 2025

Plants to buy this month

• Snowdrops and hellebores. Buy plants in flower, so you can choose the blooms you like

General Garden maintenance

• Clear soggy leaves, algae and moss from paths, patios, decking and steps
• Top up bird baths with fresh water and feed birds high energy food to help them through the cold weeks ahead, remembering to scrub the feeders regularly
• Repair wobbly or damaged fences
• Give your lawn mower a basic service while not in use
• Put up bird boxes in sheltered spots, on tree trunks, sheds or walls
• Clean and sharpen your tools, including hoes, secateurs and shears. Spray metal tools with oil
• Sprinkle an all-purpose fertiliser along the base of hedges and around shrubs
• Trim back ivy, Virginia creeper and other climbers
• Give empty pots and seed trays a thorough wash and scrub

A coal tit facing right on a tree stump

Flowerbeds

• Plant bare-root roses, shrub & hedging and ornamental trees, as long as the ground isn’t frozen
• Clear away and compost soggy, collapsed stems of perennials
• Remove larger leaves of established hellebores to reveal the flowers
• Press mistletoe berries into the bark of apple trees to establish your own mistletoe plants
• Clear leaf debris from small alpines
• Move dormant plants that are in the wrong place to more suitable sites
• Check for rot on stored bulbs and tubers, and ensure dahlia and canna tubers haven’t totally dried out

Pruning

Yellow secateurs

• Continue pruning climbing roses, while they are dormant
• Prune apple and Pear trees

Greenhouse

• Sow winter salads in a greenhouse or on a sunny windowsill, for harvesting in a few weeks
• Tidy up the greenhouse, disposing of any broken pots & old compost etc
• Move potted strawberry plants under cover to encourage early fruiting
• Prepare your greenhouse for spring – look at ventilation, shading & heating
• Ventilate the greenhouse on sunny days to prevent humidity building up

Road Closure – Framingham Earl – Gull Lane – 3-4th Dec 2024

Gull lane is closed 3rd and 4th Dec 2024, which is one of those smaller roads cutting across from the a146 through to Poringland.

From the official notice:

…affecting the C187 Gull Lane from its junction with U76369 Yelverton Road for 1150m northwards (the “Road”) in the  Parish of Framingham Earl to facilitate Norfolk County Council drainage works, the Road will be temporarily closed (except for pedestrian access) for the duration of the works/period the closure is necessary which is anticipated to be from 3rd to 4th December 2024 but may continue to be closed/restricted until the 15th January 2025…

Road Closure – Alpington – Cherrywood – 7-11th Oct 2024

A small section of Cherrywood in Alpington will be closed 7-11th Oct. But as Cherrywood is a loop you’ll just be able to go round it the other way so shouldn’t cause too much disruption.

From the official notice:

…affecting the U76524/18 Cherrywood from its junction with U76524/12 Cherrywood for 40m westwards (the “Road”) in the Parish of Alpington to facilitate works for a new UK Power Network connection, the Road will be temporarily closed (except for pedestrian access) for the duration of the works/period the closure is necessary which is anticipated to be from 7th to 11th October 2024, but may continue to be closed/restricted until the 22nd November 2024 where the closure is still required beyond the anticipated dates.