From Litter Pick to Leafy Growth

Our May volunteer morning was one of those sessions that reminds you why volunteering is worth getting out of bed for. The sun was out, the air was fresh, and the mood was light, with close to thirty volunteers gathered on the Esplanade for a couple of hours of genuinely satisfying work. A mix of regulars and new faces, with the police cadets among them making a particularly welcome contribution, there was great energy from the off.

Litter picking

The session opened, as ever, with the litter pick: a cathartic sweep of the site that keeps Churchfields and the Esplanade looking their best for the community. It’s one of those tasks where a good turnout makes a real and immediate difference, and many hands make short work of it.

Progress on the hedgerow

The main horticultural focus was our native hedgerow, which runs along our border with Hathaway Court. Planted to support biodiversity, create habitat for wildlife, and provide a natural screen against antisocial behaviour, the hedgerow is one of FoRCE’s most significant ongoing projects; you can find out more on our Hedgerow project page.

With the warmer weather encouraging weeds to establish themselves around the base of the young plants, we worked carefully along the planted section, clearing them out before applying a thick, generous layer of mulch, kindly donated by local tree surgeons PMC Tree Care, for which we’re very grateful.

Mulching at this stage of the season does three important things: it suppresses further weed growth before it can take hold again, reduces competition for water and nutrients with the hedgerow plants, and helps the ground retain moisture as we head into sunnier, drier conditions. It’s methodical, satisfying work, and the young plants will be all the better for it through the summer.

A tree gets long-overdue care

We also turned our attention to a tree on the site that had never previously been tended - and it was well overdue! The tree had developed a significant amount of basal growth (new shoots from the base that draw energy away from the tree’s main structure), along with a fair amount of dead, diseased, and dying wood throughout the canopy.

What’s next

More mulch will be delivered for at a forthcoming session to complete the remaining section of hedgerow, the final push on a significant project milestone.

If you’d like to join us, details of all upcoming sessions are on our volunteer activities page - no experience needed, just turn up. You can explore what the hedgerow project is working towards on our Hedgerow project page, or make a donation to support work like this across the site.