On Saturday 10th September we were due to hold a WEGA Show and competition at Northleigh Road. Like many other organisations, we cancelled it as a mark of respect following the death of Queen Elizabeth.
More passionate about horses than horticulture and wild life, the Queen loved gardens and the natural environment. She had a particular love of trees, and in her Platinum Jubilee Year launched a campaign to enhance our environment and counter climate change through tree-planting. This was called the Queen’s Green Canopy and people from across the United Kingdom have been invited to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”. So in the official planting season October to March 2022, and then again October 2022 to the end of the Jubilee year, everyone from individuals to Scout and Girlguiding groups, villages, cities, counties, schools and corporates are encouraged to get involved by planting trees.
So if we want to create a WEGA legacy in honour of The Queen’s leadership of the Nation, to benefit future generations, we could plant lots of (dwarf) fruit trees on our plots! See below for more information.
The Queen has reigned from 1952, when most of our plotholders weren’t even born yet. I can just remember her coronation and I’ve watched as she welcomed and embraced the many political and cultural changes that have happened in my lifetime. Ward End is a microcosm of the changes that have taken place in the UK.
Even people who don’t support aristocratic privilege could admire her sense of service to the nation and the Commonwealth, and the way she accepted the responsibilities of her position. She played her role with discretion, self-restraint and good humour, aswell as showing resilience and fortitude when facing disappointment and upset within her own family. We could all benefit from following such an example instead of going for instant judgments and quick fixes.
Closer to home, WEGA has also had to say goodbye to two gardening veterans recently – Stan Wallace, who died on 2nd July, and Derek Cullen who died on 5th September.
Stan Wallace 
Derel Cullen
Stan and his wife Maureen came to live in Birmingham from County Down, Northern Ireland in 1972. Both keen gardeners, they took on plots at Northleigh Road, Stan was the vegetable supremo, and Maureen the flower queen. Stan loved life on the allotment, and both of them carried off many awards while they were plotholders – just look at the boards in the Northleigh Road pavilion listing cups and awards over the years. But he had to give it all up when he had a stroke. Despite his health problems, he continued to contribute and stay involved right up till 2021 by auditing the WEGA accounts every year. He also popped in from time to time and came along to WEGA events and Christmas parties. This Spring, he was still planting vegetables in his back garden – carrots, leeks, tomatoes and so on – but sadly didn’t live to enjoy them. Our sympathies go to Maureen mourning the loss of a true companion for 67 years.
Derek Cullen was also an amazing gardener whose passion and skill lay in cultivating award-winning vegetables and flowers. His carrots, parsnips, leeks and onions had to be seen to be believed, but he also grew pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, and wonderful flowers.
Derek and his wife Chris came from May Lane Allotments to our Northleigh Road site some years ago, and their daughter Joanne and son-in-law Sam Percival also followed suit with their family. His plot became a place where you could get expert tips and advice, and see the results of his meticulous attention to the on-going care of plants. Ably assisted by Chris, he would plan his year’s planting, come most mornings the year round to do something on the two plots they rented, including setting up composting bins and fitting guttering and butts to harvest rainwater from the various polytunnels and sheds.
He joined the WEGA Committee and was Show Secretary till 2019, organizing up to 3 shows a year between June and September – Early Flower Show, Annual Vegetable, Fruit and Flower Show, and late Flower Show. He took on other roles – helping Mick Merrill run the WEGA Stores and ordering stock, running the WEGA Website. He also became Show Secretary for the Birmingham and District Allotments Confederation (BDAC), organizing their Annual Flower and Vegetable Shows at Cannon Hill Park, then the Midlands Arts Centre and Bordesley Green Allotments. His final input was to type up the new Draft Management Agreement (with Birmingham City Council) including all the suggested improvements from the BDAC Working Party and consultations with allotment associations city-wide. Sadly he won’t be there to see the outcome of the discussions with the City which are likely to take a good while longer.
Photos from the 2017 Annual Flower and Vegetable Show at Cannon Hill Park
Heartfelt condolences go to the families of both Stan and Derek: we hope that Maureen and Chris will accept the appreciation of all WEGA’s members for the contributions made by their husbands to the running of WEGA and our sites over a long period.
It feels like the end of an era, as the older generation born in the 1930s to 1950s – times of depression, war and end of empire – let go of the reins. As one of that generation myself, I am keen to step down from too much responsibility so I can spend more time on allotment gardening. But we old-timers still have knowledge and skills which are useful in the modern world, including running allotment sites and growing plants. So we’ll just keep going like the Queen did, and Stan and Derek, as long as we’re able, mobile and sound of mind! We are happy to share this experience with younger people willing to listen and learn from the best of what we know. They will then be able to run allotments with their own ideas, aware of the pitfalls as well as the practices which make things tick along to everyone’s benefit.
Plant a Tree for the Queens Jubilee
Planting a tree is a time-honoured way to celebrate a life, to remember someone or to leave a legacy. On allotment plots, we are only allowed to plant dwarf trees (up to 6 allowed in the Council’s Allotment Rules), because a standard-sized tree could end up monopolizing the water and nutrients at the expense of vegetables. Trees with large roots can also affect the growth of plants on neighbouring plots.
If you like fruit, having some fruit trees on your plot is a great idea: once established, they just need pruning and general care; no need to plant new seeds every year, and a good investment if shop prices rise for fresh fruit. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines and apricots are all possible. But for plots, they must be on dwarf rooting stock i.e. grafted onto a root system that isn’t their own. This means they crop more quickly and reliably, and don’t outgrow their welcome by growing too tall. Some can be grown in pots (good if you want to transfer to another plot), or as cordons (vertical) or espaliers (horizontal on a framework) which are suitable for small plots.
So why not plant one or more fruit trees to remember the Queen or someone you have lost, or mark the birthday of a child? Plant one this winter and maybe harvest a few fruits next summer, in time for our 2023 Show and competition to make up for the one we didn’t have this year!
Look out for dwarf trees (M26, M9 or M27), patio fruit trees or miniature fruit trees.
Dwarfing root stock M26 grows to 2.4-3 m, (8-10 feet) and is the largest; M9 grows to 1.8-2.4m (6-8 ft) or M27 extremely dwarfing grows to 1.2-1.8 m, (4-6 ft). Buy bare root trees to plant between November and March. Sample prices of a 1.2-1.5 metre bare root tree (4-5 ft) from Pomona Fruits which has many varieties of quality trees: £25 to £40. Some stockists sell collections of 3 trees eg apple, pear, plum, with a discount.
For more information on what to buy, where to buy it from and how to look after fruit trees, Go to:
Gardeners World: www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/grow-plants/dwarf-fruit-trees-2
Royal Horticultural Society: www.rhs.org.uk/fruit/fruit-trees/rootstocks
Chris Bowers: www.chrisbowers.co.uk/article/complete-guide-to-dwarf–miniature-fruit-trees/
Pomona Fruits www.pomonafruits.co.uk/fruit-nut-trees/cordon-columnar-fruit-trees/cordon-pear-trees/
J.Parkers: www.jparkers.co.uk/3-midget-fruit-tree-collection
Thompson and Morgan: www.thompson-morgan.com/dwarf-fruit-trees
Suttons: www.suttons.co.uk/vegetable-fruit-plants/patio-fruit-plants
Primrose: www.primrose.co.uk/plants
YouTube: Dwarf Fruit Trees To Grow When Space Is Limited