The idea
Wall Heath in Bloom is a volunteer group aiming to make our village a colourful and appealing place to live, socialise & work. We care about our local environment & want to further improve it with vibrant planting & pleasant areas to enjoy. To achieve this, we need to purchase recommended mobile watering equipment to help volunteers water safely & more efficiently. Water supplies are limited, step ladders are needed and the A449 is a busy road. This year saw our first entry into the RHS In Bloom competition - working with residents & local businesses to purchase all our own Amberol planters to provide vibrant displays and a planted seated area. We have worked with schools, churches & sheltered housing to significantly improve their grounds - recycling materials and promoting the environmental benefits of gardening. Next year, we aim to extend our range and type of planting to further enhance our village and reduce the impact of traffic for our residents, visitors & local wildlife.
What we'll deliver
- Manage existing planted areas across the village throughout the next 12 months with plants, compost & fertiliser
- Purchase esential mobile watering equipment that enables a variety of planters to be watered safely by volunteers
- Purchase additional planters to develop seating areas & hanging baskets; develop/enhance more green spaces for all ages
Why it's a great idea
Already, we have made links with our local residential home, church, schools, local community group (WHVP), councillors & our wonderful businesses - now we want to strengthen these further by using gardening & planting to continue boosting a sense of pride in the Wall Heath community. Our local businesses are key to the area, therefore visually improving the village and making it feel cared for, will help attract people to visit and use local services. We are proud of entering the In-Bloom competition, but this is also about encouraging participation and enjoyment across all ages & abilities. There is a large population of elderly residents and families, grateful for the planting, attractive seating and advice with gardening via plant sales. Local schools are limited on resources and keen to participate in environmental initiatives. Encouraging young gardeners is key to environmental awareness and combatting increased traffic pollution benefits people & pollinators alike!
Steps to get it done
- Purchasing watering equipment that enables all abilities and ages to participate
- Purchase 'kneeler and seat' equipment to allow volunteers with mobility problems to move between standing & ground level
- Purchase essential gardening equipment for use by both volunteers and residents at the Gables
- Purchase and plant hanging baskets, to be tested by the council where appropriate
- Purchase plants, compost, bark, manure for Spring 2025 (for Central village planters, Gables, Church & Co-op bed)
- Clear the remaining area of scrub from the Co-op bed and replant
- Bring existing planting under control at the Gables; enhance with shade loving plants for colour & to encourage wildlife
- Support the group of volunteers at Church of the Ascension with further enhancing their grounds
- Use recycled materials to create raised vegetable planters for the Gables
- Use recycled materials to provide further planters throughout the village to encourage a positive sense of place
- Incorporate planting to absorb increasing traffic pollution and encourage pollinators
- Add water butts to make use of rainwater for daily use
- Extend our 'Young in Bloom' initiative to include more child-centred institutions (including the community centre)
- Assess the feasibility and costings of wild flower planting in key areas (verges, islands and Wall Heath Park)
We are aiming for an award from the RHS. Hours of hard work have gone in behind the scenes in the past three years & we are keen to extend our group to include people of all ages. Working for the community & enjoying the outdoors has many benefits - both physically & mentally. All are welcome; we want to raise awareness of this & encourage participation so that people are welcomed to feel part of their community & enjoy gardening as a hobby. Thinking ahead, we want to widen our circle to include many other hardworking groups in Wall Heath. Our aim is to grow our group of volunteers & enjoy the social benefits of this. To do this, we need to make the physical work accessible for all. As such, we need watering to be more manageable & safe for our mostly retired volunteers and look at fundraising for equipment that enables more people to get involved. To manage both this & planting costs for the coming year, we need support to keep this project going and build on this year's success.
