Don’t Bush me ‘cause I’m close to the Hedge

Five festive goodgymers went to the Oasis Foundry School for one of our favourite tasks, the next stage of the wildlife area being developed for the school. I was met by a large welcoming party of friends from GoodGym, the school and the Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust; but most importantly, four friendly Alpacas! We wasted no time getting down to business, with Jake showing the size of the turf we needed to dig up and the spacing required to turn the trees we were planting into a vibrant hedgerow. He explained how vital it was going to be for encouraging wildlife into the area along with the pond and bee mound we had helped with previously, which we admired as the finishing touches have been made. We assigned Fiona the tasks of photographer, cheerleader and general motivator as she was suffering with a bad back. As much as she did this with great aplomb as we began digging trenches, she also took on the role of tree expert. After some training she was able to tell the difference between a Hawthorn tree and other trees, until she forgot the name and started calling them Mulberry Bushes. I dug squares of earth with Balal and David on one side of the gate while Miriam joined Megan from the school on the other side. All of our respective trenches met in slightly wonky joins but this will make the mature effect look more natural, or at least that’s our story. That’s when we got our resident tree expert in to help arrange the planting, and we were soon filling in the holes with soil and upturned turf. I must admit I had a bit of a DIY SOS emotional moment looking at all the parts of this area that members of our group have been involved with, as I know this area well and can imagine what it will mean for the wellbeing and learning for the children. In the midst of the extremes of this year, it is going to have a hopeful impact on the local community as we look forward to better times.