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The next Alpington with Yelverton Parish Council meeting will be held at 7.30pm at the village hall, Mon 15th May 2023. The agenda is downloadable below.
This meeting will be attended by a representative from County Broadband, following a door drop. To talk about their full fibre broadband proposal for the village. They’ll introduce the company, their proposition and timescales, before taking questions.
The last half of May was a lot cooler than we might have liked and the persistent wind has had the effect of drying out our flowerbeds and pots but thankfully we haven’t been caught out by late frosts.
As we go into June, officially the first month of Summer, there are lots of things to do in our gardens. And now thankfully the warmer weather is with us.
• Common jasmine – A strong climber, which will quickly cover pergolas, trellises and sheds.
• Star jasmine – This evergreen climber has a beautiful fragrance very similar to common jasmine. Shelter from cold, drying winds and site in full sun or partial shade.
• Peonies – There are many perfumed peonies available.
• Lilies – Easy to grow in containers or pots, they prefer ericaceous conditions.
• Philadelphus – The mock orange, is one of the most richly scented plants.
• Empty, mix and refill compost bins to speed up decomposition
• Spray roses showing signs of disease, such as blackspot, powdery mildew or rust
• Continue watering any new plantings until they’re well established
• Water newly laid turf several times a week, for at least the first month
• Trim fast-growing hedges, such as privet, every six weeks over the summer
• Put stakes in to support tall, large-flowered dahlias and tie in stems as they grow
• Prune spring-flowering shrubs, such as kerria, choisya, chaenomeles and ribes, after flowering
• Check hedges and shrubs for nesting birds before you start any trimming or pruning, so you don’t disturb them
• Remove any all-green shoots on variegated shrubs, cutting right back to their base
• Feed lawns with a liquid or granular lawn fertiliser
• Lift and store tulip bulbs after flowering
• Give wisteria its summer prune, cutting all the long sideshoots back to 20cm, to promote flowering next spring
• Support tall-growing perennials, including hollyhocks and delphiniums, with a sturdy cane or supports
• Continue planting summer bedding in pots and borders, and water regularly to help plants establish quickly
• Cut back spring-flowering perennials, such as pulmonaria, to encourage a fresh flush of foliage
• Tie in new stems of climbing and rambling roses horizontally to supports, to encourage more flowers
• Pinch out the tips of fuchsias and bedding plants to encourage bushier growth
• Give container displays and hanging baskets a liquid feed every few weeks to encourage flowering
• Fill any gaps in borders with pots of tall bulbs, such as fragrant lilies, to add instant colour
• Prune late-spring or early-summer shrubs after flowering, such as weigela and philadelphus, thinning out the older stems
• Add marginal plants, such as arum lilies and marsh marigolds, around the edges of your pond
• Plant out sweetcorn after hardening off, arranging plants in blocks to aid pollination
• Cover developing and ripening fruits with netting or fleece to protect them from birds
• Enjoy the last harvests of asparagus this month, then leave the ferny top-growth to grow up over the summer
• Spread mulch around thirsty crops such as beans and courgettes to hold in moisture around their roots
• Water vegetables and fruit in containers regularly, especially during dry sunny weather
• Go on regular snail hunts, especially on damp evenings, to reduce populations
• Tie in new shoots of blackberries, raspberries, loganberries and other cane fruits
• Apply tomato feed regularly to fruiting veg crops, including tomatoes, courgettes, pumpkins and chillies
• Rejuvenate chives by cutting the clump down to the base, for a fresh crop of new leaves in just a few weeks
• Water beans and peas as they start to flower
• Pull out any raspberry canes sprouting up out of their dedicated area
• Sow herbs in pots to grow on your kitchen windowsill, such as coriander, parsley and basil
• Plant out tender vegetables raised indoors, including beans, tomatoes, pumpkins, courgettes and sweetcorn
• Put houseplants outside for the summer in a warm, sheltered spot to enjoy the fresh air and extra light
• Harden off hanging baskets and pots of summer bedding that have been growing in the greenhouse
• Water plants daily in warm weather, ideally in the evening or early morning, and avoid splashing the foliage
• Increase greenhouse shading and ventilation to keep temperatures down on hot days
• Feed flowering and fruiting plants weekly with tomato feed
• Water greenhouse tomatoes regularly to prevent split fruits and end rot
• Start watering houseplants more frequently as temperatures and light levels increase
Jun/Jul 2023 edition of Eleven Says, the Newspaper of the Bramerton Group of Churches covering 11 Parishes.
Information sent to us by South Norfolk council:
Garden Waste collections will be delayed by one day. Rubbish and Recycling will remain on their normal collection days Tuesday to Friday and not affected by the bank holiday Monday.
To keep up to date with bin collections please download the South Norfolk Bin Collections app: http://ow.ly/u83j50Nw2cX
Alternatively, you can find bin collections dates at: http://ow.ly/riFs50Nw2cY
Here’s the schedule for 2023/24 for the mobile library that comes round the local villages each month. For Alpington and Yelverton it’s basically one Friday each month in the afternoon.
It stops at Cherrywood at 3.10pm, and then the village hall at 3.50pm. Next one is Friday 14th July 2023.
April gave us a real variety of weather but the warmer days at the end of the month have certainly given everything a welcome boost. May is recognised as the last month of Spring, we are now well on our way to early Summer and our dormant gardens have now transformed themselves into a world of new growth and greenery.
Euphorbias, Wallflowers, Honesty, Tulips & glorious Peonies, Nicotiana, Honeysuckles, sweet peas & the fragile, stunningly-fragant Lily of the Valley are but a few of the lovely flowers to enjoy this month.
Azaleas and Rhododendrons are also at their best in May together with Deutzia, Cornus (flowering dogwoods) and Viburnum plicatum.
• Hoe or hand-weed beds weekly, to prevent weeds establishing themselves
• Put supports in place for perennials that are prone to flopping, such as top-heavy peonies or phlox
• Apply nitrogen-rich summer lawn feed to encourage green growth
• Trim topiary and shaped shrubs regularly to promote bushy growth and keep them neat
• Sow grass seed or lay new turf by the end of this month
• Check shrubs for nests before you start any pruning, to avoid disturbing nesting birds
• Clean out and scrub bird feeders regularly to maintain hygiene
• Build sturdy wigwams and supports for climbers such as runner beans, sweet peas and morning glory
• Watch out for aphids on shoot tips and young foliage, and wipe them off or spray with a shop bought solution
• Scoop out pondweed, blanketweed and algae from ponds
• Paint or treat wooden garden furniture ready for summer
• Prune spring shrubs eg: forsythia and chaenomeles, after flowering to keep them compact
• Plant out dahlia tubers and cannas after all risk of frost has passed
• Tie in the new shoots of climbing plants, including clematis, wisteria and honeysuckle
• Plant up hanging baskets, but keep in a greenhouse or porch for a few weeks to establish, before putting outside
• Apply liquid feed to tulips, daffodils and other spring bulbs to encourage a good display next year
• Plant out summer bedding and tender annuals, including sunflowers, cosmos and nasturtiums, after the last frost
• Check lilies and fritillaries for scarlet lily beetles and their larvae, as they can rapidly strip plants of all foliage
• Harden off tender plants raised indoors, but bring them back in at night to protect from late frosts
• Pinch out the shoot tips of bedding plants and young annuals to encourage bushier growth
• Add interest to shady borders or corners by planting a selection of hostas and ferns in the ground or in pots
• The Chelsea Chop is a way of cutting back herbaceous and perennials plants to make them bushier, with more stems and more flowers. It’s good for plants which can get too tall or leggy later in the year, such as Nepeta, Phlox, Alchemilla and daisy-flowered perennials like Asters and Michaelmas Daisies.
• By chopping of the top of the stems in late May, growth will be checked and the plant will throw out more shoots and flower later. The Chelsea chop is really a light prune, and the result is a more compact plant which will flower slightly later.
• Traditionally done in late May to coincide with the time of the Chelsea flower show, the idea is to prune the plant back by about a third, by reducing the length of the plant stems. You can either chop the whole plant, or selected plants in the group, or individual stems on the plant to stagger flowering. Whilst May is the traditional time, it depends on the growing season as the plant needs to have put on a decent amount of growth to be reduced by the Chop.
• Earth up potatoes, covering the shoots with soil as they appear
• Start sowing dwarf and climbing French beans, as well as runner beans, directly outdoors in warm weather
• Pick rhubarb stems and water plants with liquid feed
• Start hardening off tender young plants, such as tomatoes and courgettes, ready for planting out in mild areas
• Sow batches of salad leaves and stir-fry crops every few weeks to provide continuous pickings
The next Alpington with Yelverton Parish Council meeting will be held at 7.30pm at the village hall, Mon 15th May 2023. The agenda is downloadable below.
Below is a communication from the Parish Council on the improvements proposed at the pond.
The proposal centers around a much more accessible seating area with a ramp. The letter attached below puts this work into the context of the recent works and overall plan.
Comments on the drawings are invited by May 21st (to the parish clerk, clerk.alpington@gmail.com) after which date the parish council will be
reviewing the proposal for detailed design and submitting a planning application. The aim is
to progress the works during late summer this year, subject to the necessary approvals.
The full letter and drawings are attached below, and they will also be put up onto the village noticeboards.
There are 4 drawings. The originals are the PDFs attached below, but I’ve also converted them to PNG images so they’re more easily viewed online. Some of the detail may be hard to see in the PNG images, so you’ll need to refer to the original PDFs in that case.
There will be a street party at the Wheel of Fortune pub in Alpington, to celebrate the King’s Coronation. Sun 7th May, 12-3.30pm. come and celebrate with your friends and neighbours!
Hot food available to buy from Broadland Bars (or bring your own picnic)
Cakes for sale from The Jasmine Cakery
Live singalong music from ukulele group Jelly and the Biscuits!
Apr/May 2023 edition of Eleven Says, the Newspaper of the Bramerton Group of Churches covering 11 Parishes.
Alpington and Yelverton 