The West Farleigh Bloom team are very much enjoying all the spring bulbs that we have planted in the previous few years start to flower. Last October we added some more daffodils along Lower Road, both the minuture tete a tete and the taller Tahiti species that we have planted for a few years now. All coming up strongly year on year.

For 2023 we are having another break from the South East in Bloom competition, however this is not stopping us from looking for new projects and also helping to fundraise with the Friends of Farleigh:

Our next big project is the Annual Plant Sale to be held at All Saints Church along with teas and cakes.  It will be held on Saturday 20th May. We are having a 'meeting' at the Tickled Trout on Monday 3rd April, 7.30pm if anyone would like to join us to share some ideas.

West Farleigh will be judged in this year's South East in Bloom competition in the morning of Tuesday 6th July. We have entered both the Village and the Churchyard categories again and hope to build on our Silver Gilt certificates achieved last year.

 

One of the areas on the route that we will show our judge, Nick Hagon, is the layby on Lower Road. The Bloom team have been working with Kent Wildlife Trust to manage the grass cutting of this verge in a more environmentally conscious schedule. Kent Wildlife Trust have designated 'Wilder Verges' around the county which contain threatened habitats or wildlife. Roadside Nature Reserves can link existing wildlife areas, helping to reconnect and restore landscape so that wildlife is no longer struggling to survive in isolation. This supports a living landscape, which benefits both people and wildlife and makes nature more resilient to future change. 

 

In partnership with Kent Highways they will now designate this area to have a 'Conservation Cut'. This means it will be fully cut once in April and once in October, whilst the in between months will only be the edges to ensure good vehicle visibility and to ensure it looks cared for. We can see already wild annual flowers are growing and looking beautiful. Normally Kent Wildlife Trust give a signpost like the photo attached, however due to cost cuts we will have to make our own signage this year.

 

For more information on the Bloom project, please contact Bloom@TheFarleighs.co.uk

• Spring – wallflowers, hawthorn, dandelion, sweet williams, aubretia, lungwort, sweet alyssum, cow parsley
• Summer – borage, fennel, lavender, rosemary, cornflower, honeysuckle, buddleia, poppy, brambles, cosmos, cow parsley, field scabious
• Autumn – heather, carrots, dahlia, mint, marjoram, yarrow, fennel, ivy, michaelmas daisy

Some West Farleigh in Bloom member took part in an online seminar "Kent's Plan Bee Summit' recently. We learned about the decline of bees and other pollinators and ways in which we can help reverse this trend. This time of year is particularly difficult for bees as they still need flowers, leaves, longer grass, water and hedges to provide shelter. Plan Bee involves creating lines of trees, shrubs, areas of flower whch will attract bees and other pollinators. We wondered how we could contribure?

Could we build our own bee line in West Farleigh? In the cold and rain last week we began clearing a patch of verge at the top of Kettle Lane where we plan to create a lavendar bank. Whilst we wait for warmer weather to plant lavendar, we have put in some comfrey which the bees will love. We need you help to extend the bee line through the village please.

Please let us know on Bloom@TheFarleighs.co.uk whch bee attracting shrubs you have in your garden, and where you are, we can start plotting this information on a map. If you can think of any other areas of West Farleigh where we could plant some shrubs, please let us know!

We are thrilled to annouce that both our categories entered this year in the South & South East in Bloom awards have achieved a Silver Gilt. These are improvements on our Bronze in 2018 and our Silver in 2019. It's a big ask to achieve Gold but we have our sights set high.