Before and Afters

This week, painting the perimeter railings was completed. Today, shrub planting was undertaken, with the help of 9 volunteers.

The only distraction during planting out was a photographer from the council's newspaper, anxious to get shots of a community project in progress.

We've put in low maintenance shrubs that will be refreshed with bulbs and perennials seasonally. The main island bed at the entrance to the park has been planted with purple phormiums and 'Persian Carpet' wallflowers for spring colour and perfume.

The £500 grant hasn't gone far. £330 on compost and the rest on plants.

However, Nigel Gibson at Coblands Designer Plants Nursery has been incredibly supportive, allowing me to scramble over their dumping grounds for the last couple of weeks in search of unwanted shrubs (it's been a gold mine!). My local parks department have also been helpful, providing me with fertiliser, grass seed and a small quantity of shrubs.

I've managed to blag a couple of sacks of daffodil bulbs from our local Homebase, and will be approaching local garden centres for further 'end of season' leftovers.

All in all I think it's a great improvement. I can't wait to see how it develops over the next year

Dickie