Dying plants make Kenilworth look '˜shoddy'

The majority of the planters, which can be seen in Warwick Road, The Square and High Street, are usually filled with vibrant flowers.

But the recent warm and dry weather of the last week or so has meant a lot of the plants have shrivelled up and died.

Shona Perkins, who was running a stall at last week’s market, was in shock at the state of the displays around her.

She said: “All the tubs that surrounded us without exception were dead and as dry as a bone despite the previous day’s rain.

“The irony is only a few weeks ago I posted stunning pictures of the town to my friends and family around the country of the beautiful flower displays that then surrounded the clock tower.

“I as a tax payer can’t believe that money is being spent on beds and tubs to be left to die.

“It makes the town look shoddy and uncared for, certainly by Kenilworth Town Council who too put their name to this.”

Kenilworth in Bloom, the voluntary group which maintain the plants with help from town council grants and sponsors from several Kenilworth businesses, should be replacing the plants ready for summer today (Thursday June 7).

Cllr Dave Shilton, who is the president of Kenilworth in Bloom, said leaving the plants unwatered at this time of year has been the policy for years, but accepted the displays looked bad.

He added: “The winter and spring plants are not watered as they are maintained by the weather conditions.

“It’s so expensive to water plants all year round, so we let these ones die and replace them with summer plants, which are watered.

“I don’t want to interfere with what Kenilworth in Bloom do because I think they do a great job.”

The planters have water reservoirs in them, which allow water to be sucked into the soil evenly across the planter, allowing for optimum growth during the summer.

The reservoirs are filled up every week until September, when the natural weather conditions are expected to allow the plants to grow without the need for watering.

Kenilworth in Bloom review its planting policy every year but have maintained the current policy of letting the winter and spring plants die before replacing them for a number of years.