Seven from MNTV met ranger Holly and Biddulph volunteer Nigel on a damp Sunday morning in the main car park at Biddulph Grange Garden near Congleton.
This was an 'extra' workday for MNTV at Biddulph Grange as usually we only visit in the Spring to stake out and plant the Dahlia tubers and in late Autumn when we dig up the tubers so they can be stored for the next year. Sadly though, we never get to see the dahlias at their best, in full bloom, unless we visit the garden independently between times.
For this workday, we'd asked if we could view the dahlias before we started the task(s) for the day and, although it started raining on us, it didn't deter our delight at seeing the different varieties, colours and shapes of the dahlia blooms.
We'd already dropped our rucksacks off in the volunteer room, so after seeing the dahlias we walked to the Sequoiadendron giganteum (Giant Redwoods) on Wellingtonia Avenue (Long Walk) where we met up with Holly, who had brought all the tools we needed in the NT vehicle. We then started clearing the brambles and small trees from under the Giant Redwoods using shaped hoes, loppers and tree poppers. The poppers helped to get up the roots of the small trees and large brambles. Some of us also scraped the weeds from the edges of the path to tidy it up.
It drizzled and rained on us most of the day, so we went back to the house for our morning break and our lunch to sit indoors, in the drawing room.
By the time we had to leave, we'd tidied up the Long Walk path edges and had cleared the brambles and small trees from under more than half of the Giant Redwoods. Although it was disappointing not to have been able to finish it all before we left maybe, if we get a good turnout when we're back in a few weeks to lift the dahlia tubers, we may have enough people spare to finish today's task as well,
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