What a fantastic day!
300 whips, 10 standard trees and a flower bed all before lunch.
Trees for Life and Birmingham Parks Department certainly know to work smoothly with schools and business. Thank you for all your preparatory work and a very professional and smooth implementation.
Massive thanks to the wonderful pupils of Kings Norton Junior and Infant School and accompanying teachers and parents. Who like a huge long red caterpillar twisted through the park along the canal feeder, over the bridge and across the informal football pitch and gathered before Steve, Senior Ranger for a thoroughly entertaining and very important, but humorous brief> Pupils they found their feet and dived into planting... all whips going the right way up! Well done everyone you were all absolutely brilliant, thank you.
The School Council, during a change over of classes shared their interest and environmental knowledge in a discussion about trees and wildlife. I learned a lot!. The 3 Oak trees which form a line, the 4th Oak having been previously cut down, are just above the strip where the whips have been planted. Having been recently measured the mature Oaks are known to be about 200 years old and were planted to create a border of between two fields, which were arable and pasture land, once called School House Field and Church Field.
We would like to invite King Norton Junior and Infant School to come back periodically to study the trees growth and development and to join in other environmental activities.
This event was only made possible this year due to the financial support by Trees for Life and their co-sponsors, Deutsche Bank. They are a fairly new business in Birmingham who not only donated funds but in taking their community responsibilities very seriously, release staff for 2 days a year to get involved with different aspects of community. Twenty of Deutsche Bank's enthusiastic staff members shared the planting experience with pupils, teachers, parents, volunteers and parks staff on the day. The result 10 large ornate trees, which will in time form part of a tree trail and 300 whips which when developed will form a natural corridor between the formal Park and the River Rea. By midday, the DB team who were also in red, had worked very hard all morning without a break, could safely say 'the prospect for growth in the park had substantially increased'!
BCC Parks donated shrubs to pad out a failing shrub bed which had become immersed during the flooding season and Friends planted up after helping with the trees. A big thank to you, particularly those who consistently help out in a number of different ways.
Future ventures to help plan and get hands on involved include:
- Wildlife event 23 March - . 11 pm until 2 pm.
- A Wetland Area in the old Marl Pit - planning, sourcing funds and practical side
- Tree Trail - source funds, design and print
- First Friday in the month at the Park at 11.30 am for tidying up beds, pruning and other such tasks. Come along, its good company too.
Get in touch with us at: info.foknp@gmail.com
Contact: Friends
of Kings Norton Park
