Next weekend there is a rare opportunity to help create a new hedgerow of native plants in the rural depths of Palmers Green - to be precise, in Broomfield Park alongside Aldermans Hill and Powys Lane. The work is being carried out by volunteers from the Friends of Broomfield Park, who have been given 420 "whips" - young bareroot saplings - by the Woodland Trust.
The volunteers will be planting eight types of tree - Elder, Hazel, Blackthorn, Dog Rose, Crab Apple, Birch, Rowan and Oak.
A whip-planting gang near Powys Lane, November 2012.
Younger people are also very welcome!The whips may look pretty unimpressive at the time of planting, but the small amount of effort needed to get them in the ground will pay off when they burst into leaf in the spring, and before long they'll merge into a hedge that supports wildlife such as birds, insects and small mammals.
Hedgerow planting is just one of the activities that Friends of Broomfield Park carry out to help maintain this beautiful park in these days of stretched Council resources. They also look after the Sensory Garden, Garden of Remembrance and Dipali Garden, not to mention the elegant 1930s Conservatory and the Community Orchard, planted in 2009 on the site of a disused bowling green. They always welcome anyone willing to come along and lend a hand, so if you're free on Saturday 16th or Sunday 17th November, why not come along between 10am and Noon, get some healthy exercise and make some new Friends? Meet outside the Orchard (click here for a map) at 10am and bring a spade if you've got one.
You can keep abreast of activities in Broomfield Community Orchard on their Facebook page.
