Stan has used up all the mulch on the perimeter borders.  It’s made a huge difference. But there’s still a lot to cover and we hope we can get some more to finish the job.

We’ve been cutting back the hedge at the terrace border so that you can see the view.  It’s not finished yet but the improvement is quite clear from these “before and after” cutting views from the benches.

And we weeded some more, flower borders, gutters and paths!  Just look at the nice clean borders!

The park is looking good in the sunshine.

We are still busy, battling away against the weeds , cutting the hedges back and generally tidying the park

The wood mulch has arrived and, thanks to Stan, it is already being spread over the perimeter borders.  It is a huge step forward in our battle against the weeds.

It was a glorious summer morning at the park on Wednesday and we celebrated by “anchoring” the Friends of Starbank park boat planter at the gate next to the Starbank Inn.  We’ve even started planting.

There was loads of other activity this week with the area round the Marion Morton planter tidied, grass seeding and yet more weeding!

Some roses, together with an occasional bug, in Starbank Park on 2 July.

And a French Marigold

It was an excellent morning for gardening today and we made best possible use of it, doing loads of weeding and edging.  There is always more to do but the park is looking pretty good.

A report from the Heritage Lottery Fund shows a growing risk to parks in Scotland, with councils having to make budget cuts. It predicts that the quality and condition of many parks could dramatically decline if action is not taken. As part of the research, an Ipsos MORI survey also showed that 1 in 10 people across the UK use, visit, or pass through their local park almost every day.

This morning on Radio Scotland’s Morning Call, Louise asked: Should local parks be a council priority?

Julie Proctor the Chief Executive of Greenspace Scotland gave Friends of Starbank Park a very complimentary mention.  The programme is still available on

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0480spv.

The item on Parks starts after about an hour and our mention is about 25 minutes later, just after Lesley Hinds is interviewed.

Julie and her team have finished planting out the summer bedding.  They have done a brilliant job and have made a huge difference.

The Friends have been busy clearing out the rose borders, only one left to do.  Some have thriving roses but others have had no live bushes left.  These bushes have been removed and the beds dug over.

The border at the east wall is looking great.

Julie and her team have planted the bedding plants (geraniums and French marigolds) in the star and the crescents in Starbank park.  The borders are really tidy and the bank will be full of  colour in just a few weeks.  Many thanks to Julie and her team and to the Council.

Another glorious morning, if anything it was too hot for gardening.  The weeding continues and we cleared weeds from another four rosebeds and from the back of the east border. The compost heap is growing.

The Council are very active here just now.  Julie and her team have cleared the bedding borders and are replanting at a great rate.  Thanks Julie.

Most importantly we spotted a frog escaping the undergrowth.