It’s your neighbourhood – community gardening

My wife Pat and I are involved in ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ along with 37 other groups, we are known as Forest Road Greenbelt Garden’s. This competition was set up to encourage the improvement of our community gardening through innovative use of trees, plants and shrubs.

Our wildlife area, that we set up early on in the year, is well established. It is completed with a blue tit’s nesting box and we have seen a lot of fish in the stream along with 2 king fisher’s that we have not seen for a long while. 2 families of duck’s have also been raised on the stream which we have fed with corn and they have got quite used us. I have also built a bug house and bee hive that I built for our ‘wildlife haven’.

Wildlife

We have also had plenty of bees and butterfly’s on the wild flowers.

Wild flowers

I have also been trying out Thompson & Morgan’s Incredibloom® and the plants are thriving. I have never had so many flowers, the climbing petunia’s and begonia’s love it as you can see.

Petunias

We have also set Bob the Builder’s wheel barrow with it.

petunia

We have planted our Begonia Whoppers in the front garden and everybody just loves them.

begonia-whooper

Al the Best

Harry

Making a willow dome seating area

On a resent visit to Foxton Locks near Market Harborough, I saw a dome made up of willow with a seat. I was so impressed with it, I thought it would be nice to make a willow dome for the green belt park area where we live. I am involved in the RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood and Loughborough in Bloom and look after the green belt area.

Making a willow dome seating area

The willow dome

I decided to make one myself and, after getting the willow together, I set about making the dome by planting the willow, so that it would grow into a living shelter. Once the seat had been put in, the job was done!

Making a willow dome seating area

The finished dome

We have also recently started a wildlife area by a stream which has a lot of trees and bushes in, putting up nest boxes and also bug boxes for bees and insects.

Making a willow dome seating area

Ready to put up the bird boxes (I’m in the high-vis jacket!)

At the moment I’m getting an area ready with bee and butterfly flowers, using Thompson & Morgan’s Butterfly Mix.

Making a willow dome seating area

Wildlife area

 

Pin It on Pinterest