On Monday evening this week, we were back at Eden Gardens Orchard in Philips Park to give the trees inside the orchard a bit of a trim. Ben and Peter completed a couple of laps of the park, while Scott cycled on a scenic route and Sanjeev used public transport, all to converge onto the site for 6pm.

The main focus was a plum tree overhanging some neighbouring plots in the allotment site. We were provided with ladders, various loppers (manual and ratchet varieties) plus a range of bow saws, hand saws, plus pruning saws (one of which could be extended to reach the high up branches). Peter was the main protagonist with the saw, climbing the ladder to saw the target branches and trunks to remove, while Scott and Sanjeev trimmed down any pieces to fit inside the tonne bags. Ben stabilised the ladder and caught any branches coming down from high up, combining this with a lasso-type method to encourage them to fall on the right side of the fence.

After tidying up the cuts and moving the equipment to the orchard side of the fence, we were tasked with pruning (lopping) a larger tree inside the orchard. While more accessible, the trunks were certainly thicker and through a combination of the extended pruning saw, tied ropes, and gravity, we managed to get the desired branches down, with only a few cuts and grazes to show for it.

The remainder of the tasks involved us trying to cut the pieces down to be small enough to fit in the tonne bags, with the larger and thicker trunks left. Three overfull tonne bags later, we were done, with the midges starting to come out and bite.

Tough task, with a loose adherence to health and safety, but we seemed to enjoy it all the same. We will be back at the orchard in the autumn and perhaps in the park to clear some areas for future planting.

Another successful gardening session for Mr S. He's been getting out in the garden himself with the dog, which is great to hear, particularly for keeping moving and his mental health!

Today I focused heavily on bramble removal in a section of the garden. Surprisingly went well with the electric clipper and manual loppers with the rake effective in collating the garden debris. 90 minutes of tough work showing good outputs!

Mr S is hoping to get out with the mower now the brambles have been diminished a bit. Solid session.

Another productive gardening session for Mrs L. This time sprucing up the front garden after the warm weather and rain last week.

Lots of lopping of branches from the hedge overgrowing at the front, weeding of the paths, a thorough clearing of the beds, and a mow of the overgrown grass. Swept up and all the garden waste placed in the green bin, which was full to the brim.

Poppies and ferns left to flourish and some of the rose bushes dead-headed. Looking splendid in the sunshine and Mrs L was very pleased.

Welcome to Amrinda and Antonio for your first GoodGym volunteer credit with a big litterpick in Hatchett's Wood in Wythenshawe 🚮

Hannah and Ash from City of Trees 🌳 were leading the group, with volunteers of all ages joining in to help. With tea, coffee, and biscuits on hand to fuel the litterpick, plus good litterpickers, bags, and hi-vis, we dived straight in.

Alongside normal litter of bottles, cans, and lots of plastic containers (some apparently to feed the local foxes), there was also a lot of fly tipping that took the headlines. Antonio and Amrinda did a sterling job unearthing lots of carpet plus some other glass items to be safely disposed of. Ben managed to find a battery, a black bin, and a kids red car 🚘 Some sharps (needles) and a trolley were also found along with a few cones.

A busy 3 hours of litterpicking culminated in 34+ bags of litter and a sizeable pile of fly tipping that was all reported for collection.