Bluebell and Woodland Meadow
The Friends’ gardening team have been working hard lately to turn an unloved area of Hedgemead Park into a little oasis of Spring-time colour and year-round woodland interest.
The area in question is a raised bed below the park’s Victorian Battlement & Tower, which until September was a tangle of ground ivy, brambles, weeds and self-seeded Sycamore, along with assorted cans, bottles and broken glass.
Our gardeners have spent many hours digging over the ground, removing unwanted vegetation, but preserving species such as the diminutive wild Strawberry and patches of wild garlic. We then set about the more pleasant task of planting around 600 native Bluebell bulbs, 100 Wood Anemone, 10 Solomon’s Seal, a handful of Hellebore and several ferns of various types. Quite a collection!
We’ve fenced off the area to discourage animals from digging and attached signs explaining to passers-by what’s happening. It may not look much just now but if, as we hope, the planting starts to establish in Spring 2022, it should begin to look lovely. We’ll see!
And if it works, we might ask the Parks Department if we can extend the area further in future years.
