We all know what summer means… things are going to get pretty busy! The month of May has tried to ease us into this here in Birmingham with a glimpse of how hectic it’s going to be. After our first community event of the year at Ley Hill we had another successful day at the Woodgate Valley Open Day.
Community fun at Woodgate Valley
This event, set up by the ranger service, had a number of stalls with people such as Brum Bats, The National Trust, numerous charities, The Vegan Society, Birmingham and District Beekeepers, and many more. There was also entertainment in the form of morris dancers, a drumming circle, stories from Harborne Arts Society, and woodworking. To promote the Health for Life programme we helped people plant up free mini edible gardens and also gave them seeds to take away and grow at home. We hope that people will enjoy the vegetables, fruit and herbs that they took away and that they will help them be able to live a little bit healthier.
I have been increasing my level of work with the ranger service again and have gone back to accompanying them on their weekly conservation work day with the wonderful Friends of Ley Hill. In the last couple of weeks we have undertaken a litter pick of the brook and surrounding areas, as well as carrying out a Freshwater Invertebrate Network (FIN) survey. Many of the Friends had never done such a survey before so it was great for them to learn new skills and understand the abundance and diversity of wildlife in their stream. They were shocked to see how many creatures were happily living in the water, such as freshwater shrimp, olive mayfly larva, blackfly larva, leeches and worms.
Barney the dog was not added to our list of recorded wildlife in the brook!
We are hoping that the volunteers will receive formal FIN training, but as myself and senior ranger Leo had done the sampling before at Woodgate, we were able to show the group how to survey the stream by observing the invertebrates attached to rocks and collected in nets during kick samples. The results will be submitted to FIN and will help form a picture of the health of Merritts Brook and other water courses around Birmingham.
The most exciting part of May for me was heading down to London with Birmingham City Council for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will always remember, especially because we not only won gold but also the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee award, a prestigious award for the best garden as chosen by the judges.
Chelsea: during the build-up
Before all the flowers were put in!
The build-up started a week before the judging and there was a lot to be done. As the design was based on Birmingham’s St Philip’s Cathedral, it included a five-metre tall replica of the bell tower, two bells, church pews, an angel, a bible, fishes and loaves of bread, as well as water features and last but by no means least, hundreds upon hundreds of beautiful flowers. When I first arrived the bell tower was being lifted into place in the centre of the plot and was, at that point, the biggest thing in the room. It was an impressive sight and it only got better, and I couldn’t stop smiling for the entire five days that I was there. My jobs included the very important task of watering plants, as well as painting, making plant labels, cleaning up mirrors and Perspex, tacking up black draping, and just generally lending a hand whenever I could. When I left, the exhibit still had a few days to go, and I gave up my pass so that other staff could take part in the arranging of the majority of the plants. This means that I saw the garden before it was finished, when most of the foliage but none of the flowers had gone in; however, even at this stage it looked incredible and I have no doubt that it wowed the crowds once it was in full glory. I feel very proud to have been part of it, and have no doubt that my influence is the reason we won the Diamond Jubilee award…
The finished garden looking stunning – photos courtesy of Birmingham Mail Online
Most of the rest of May was spent on our food growing spaces at Woodgate Valley and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, which are both progressing nicely, as well as preparing for Gardener’s World Live, which is happening this month and will most likely be the focus of my next blog post!
Thanks for reading
Holly