Hello Conservation Volunteers
A big thank you to everybody who came to help on our latest volunteer work morning in Bingham Park to continue our restoration of the worn out verge areas.
We started back at the end of May with a special work morning to rejuvenate some of these areas with digging and then sowing of wildflower and grass seeds, and some further planting of plug plants, including bluebells, had been done on a special Saturday work morning at the end of September, but we were back again for more of the same and do some tidying up.
Andy Phillips and a team from Parks and Countryside joined us to bring a few lorry loads of top soil, wooden posts, hessian rope, and tools including a post rammer. By the time we all arrived they had already ripped up the plastic matting behind the coffee cart, one of the areas we were to tackle.
With mechanical rotovating ruled out and no option but to dig the compacted soil by hand to loosen it in readiness for topsoil and planting, the majority of the group went to their task of forking and digging in the stretch behind the coffee cart.
Meanwhile the fencing crew started to measure out the area opposite the coffee cart to replace the temporary fencing with a wooden post and rope fence. Once laid out in position the posts could be knocked in ensuring the posts were plumb using a post spirit level. Hidden concrete in some areas meant the posts could not be as close to the path edge as desired. Two holes per post were drilled in to take the rope strings.
As the morning progressed wildflower and grass seed was spread on the newly dug areas along with some plug plants and the fencing crew moved onto fencing the area behind the coffee cart. Some temporary fencing where we are not intending to install permanent fencing has also been installed to protect the newly planted areas until it is established.
Dave's battery finally ran out on the second stretch of fencing behind the coffee cart but fortunately he had a spare (that's his drill battery!).
At the end of the morning the intended programme of work had been completed with two areas of new rope fencing and the bare areas reseeded and we now look forward to seeing how it all looks next year. A good morning's work all round!
See below how the areas looked back in March 2023 before any work took place and also in May 2023 after the first phase of digging and sowing.
The next work morning is on Tuesday 24th October 2023. An email will be sent out nearer the time with details.
Lyndon
A Selection of photos from the work morning
Preparing the ground
John doing a soft shoe shuffle in prepration for sowing seed!
...and after a light rake over, sowing seed
Tearing down the temporary fence and readying for the new posts
Mike, Dave and Tony starting to knock the first post in
Getting posts ready on the second area
Roping up
How it looked in March 2023...
...in May 2023...
...and now with the new fencing and greening up of the first area
