Strictly Come Planting

Today, 7 goodgymers ran, walk & cycled to Harvard Hill Park to help Abundance London plant 800 native British trees to form a great hedgerow, providing shelter for wildlife, improving air quality in the park and supporting endangered pollinators.

When we arrived the park was already busy with lots of people from the local community also having turned up to help. A deep strip along the length of the park had been rotavated to make the ground easier to plant in, so we got to work quickly with spades, forks & trowels to put as many of the trees in the ground as we could. Digging was still a bit treacherous as the park had previously been an allotment that suffered bomb damage in the war, we came across a lot of bricks, some glass and even an old toilet pull chain.

Once the holes had been dug the trees were firmed into the ground with gentle stamping and then covered with a layer of wood chip to prevent weeds and keep the frost off the roots. We also planted a few daffodil, crocus and snow drop bulbs around the trees and at the entrance to the park to brighten the area up and once again support our pollinators.

After a quick hot chocolate and/or mince pie, we headed over to a willow arch demonstration. Once we were let loose we constructed a 5' 5" willow arch, complete with tucked in ground sheeting and some nice lashing to hold it all together. Lots of these living arches were being built along the top edge of the park to create living willow tree arches that not only bring more plant life to the park but become an interactive space for children to run in & out of.

All in all we got a lot done in the 3hrs we spent there and managed to improve all corners of the park with an plethora of new planting. Thank you to Abundance for such a well organised day and to all my fellow goodgymers who made the effort to come along. I think we did a great job!