With the thermometer barely reaching three degrees above freezing an incredible 18 volunteers came to the Gardens this Thursday.  There could almost have been a competition for  the greatest  number of layers of clothing everyone was wearing to keep the cold at bay – but what a lot was achieved.  Down at the rhododendron area the work was begun on digging out the weeds and pruning the shrubs ready to begin the new planting in spring.  More wood chipping was put down on muddy areas, a huge pile of logs was made ready for selling on open Sundays and David beavered away in the comparative warmth of the poly tunnel preparing the wooden benches for a fresh coat of paint and oil. Weeding, tidying and pruning were the order of the day in the Italian garden and elsewhere and not a moan or groan about the cold was heard anywhere!