Sandown Castle Community Garden is now in its 7th year, so CommunityAd thought who better to check in with than the lovely Linda Ford.
“We continue to receive lots of visitors since our slot on BBC Gardeners World last year and a few weeks ago our garden also featured in the closing summary on Escape to the Country. It’s nice to know it’s being enjoyed in so many forms by so many people!
“The spring this year brought us exceptional colour with lots of pink and red valerian. The plant is a real seaside favourite and great pollinator though you need to remove excess seedlings, or they can quickly overtake other plants.
“Recently we installed a Happy to Chat bench which was kindly funded by Dover District Council. This year we have also had a changeover of volunteers as three have moved away, though they’ve been replaced fairly quickly. After talking to other groups and charities, most of the volunteer sector has been struggling to recruit since the pandemic so we consider ourselves very lucky we’ve managed to keep things going.
“In June, we said goodbye to Percy our cat who was a regular visitor to the garden. Life will never be the same without him as he was a real character and could often be seen romping through the flower beds!
“On July 7th we welcomed Peter Every from Tunbridge Wells who was judging our garden in the annual South and South East in Bloom competition. It’s always a very enjoyable visit and we never cease to learn something. This year we have entered the Its Your Neighbourhood category. The results will be announced in September at the awards ceremony.
“On August 21st Rotary Pirates will be running a Picnic at The Castle fundraising event on our behalf at Sandown from 12-4pm where there will be stalls, games and music. Please do come along and enjoy the afternoon.
“We also continue to plant up and manage Deal Pier Beds, Ethelbert Road Garden and the High Street Garden (outside St Georges Church) so if you’re passing, please do pop by and take a look.”