Volunteering
Change is on the horizon! After serving four years as Head Ranger, I have decided to move on to pastures new and will be leaving at the end of June. In addition Paul, our Estate Ranger, will also be leaving at the same time to take up a position in Northamptonshire.
June has been exceptionally busy with school & nursery groups and we are now looking forward to our ‘Summer Wild days out’ activities.
Summer - Wild Days Out
Fun filled activities with the Rangers from 2pm aimed at children up to 10 years old, who must be accompanied by an adult.
• Tuesday 3rd July - Bug box making* • Wednesday 4th July - Scavenger Hunt • Tuesday 10th July - Tracks & Trails • Wednesday 11th July - Mask Making* • Tuesday 17th July - Birds • Wednesday 18th July - Den Building • Tuesday 24th July - Ranger Runabout • Wednesday 25th July - Woodland Art • Tuesday 31st July - Orienteering • Wednesday 1st August - Scarecrows • Tuesday 7th August - Mini Beast Hunt • Wednesday 8th August - Totem Poles
*additional charge of £1.50 to cover materials used Sun 8th July - Get Wet - 1pm – 4pm
An afternoon of fun filled watery games! Caution you may get wet!
Sun 15th July - Flutter by Butterfly - 2pm - 4pm
Join us on a butterfly hunt to learn about these beautiful insects during ‘Big Butterfly Week’.
Sun 29th July - Cowboys and Indians 1pm – 4pm
Saddle up for an afternoon of Wild West games with the Finlaystone Rodeo Rangers. Fancy dress welcome!
Garden Competition 2012
Renfrewshire Council’s annual garden competition is now open for entries.
The competition is open to all council tenants, and tenants of ex-Scottish Homes houses. Owner occupiers of ex-Council and ex-Scottish Homes houses can also enter, but they are judged under a separate category for the best overall gardens in the Paisley, Johnstone and Renfrew areas.
Renfrewshire Council’s annual garden competition will be judged on Thursday 9th August. All gardens entered in the competition will be visited on that day by a panel of independent judges from other councils and horticultural societies, and trophies and cash prizes will be awarded to the winners.
The closing date for entries is Monday 9th July 2012.
Entry forms are available from local neighbourhood offices or you could complete the online form at www.
renfrewshire.gov.uk
For more information on the annual garden competition please call 0141 840 3405.
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We’ve just had a very good day with RBS staff from their Mortgage Centre in Greenock undertaking tree maintenance and are looking forward to another day with employees from Scottish Water as part of their ‘Employee Volunteering programme’. We would be pleased to hear from any group, business or individual that would like to join our existing volunteers who continue to devote their precious time to numerous tasks in the woods & gardens and certainly help make a great difference to what is achieved on the estate. One particular project we currently need assistance with is re-staking all the young trees which were blown over in the winter storms.
Garden
Our gardener Willie says ‘The hot temperatures of late May and June provided growth spurts on all of the plants in the garden (including the weeds!!), and the garden has transformed into a riot of colour. The oriental poppies in the walled garden benefited greatly from this heat and provided us with a glorious display in June; these should still have some flower in July and after blooming they will be cut back to provide us with another flush of flower, later in the year.
My Plant of the month for July is Astilbe or false spirea; the flowers on these plants can appear insignificant, but when grown in mass and in swathes of varying shades, the effect can be outstanding; examples of these plantings can be seen in the courtyard, knot garden, and sunken garden beds. Astilbes like plenty of water and prefer to have partial shade, they will grow in heavy clay soils, but should not be allowed to dry out in summer; we have pots of these for sale at reception, along with a selection of other plants and fruit and vegetables (grown on the estate).
The espalier apple trees which dress the walls of the walled garden now have small fruits on them, as do the peaches, nectarines and apricots in the peach house. Summer raspberries and strawberries are now providing us with tasty fruits. Broad beans are now cropping well, and early potatoes are about ready to harvest. New plantings of artichokes have been made to replace those lost by the frosts last year; these plants provide excellent structural plants and large thistle-like flowers, and provide an interesting change to the more common vegetables. In the polytunnel we are growing; sweetcorn, tomatoes, salad crops, and new this year, sweet potatoes.
David L Finnis, Head Ranger
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