Blooming good shrub beds in Kings Norton Park!

How refreshing, we now have four very smart well stocked and mulched shrub beds in Kings Norton Park.

Thank you to everyone who did something to make it happen; our members, the City Parks Department (especially Sue Amey), our Rangers, BOSFA,  Kings Heath Park gardeners, members of Kings Norton Nature Reserve, The Fields Millenium Green Trust,  Kings Norton History Society, the Street Champions, the graffiti team,  Kings Norton Nursery children, Fairway Centre users and local police.

Monday 7th March, threatened frost again but thankfully turned into a warm spring like day.  There was a buzz of excitement as the plants arrived and were laid according to the design plan - gentle sways of sustainable all year colour.   As the pots were laid out the graffiti team were busy giving the benches a lick of smart black paint.  Once the floral shape was drawn we watched a demonstration on how the experts plants and the armed with spades everyone set to it.  We working from the top central bed to the crescent boarder bed, culminating in a central silver birch which delightfully contrasted against the bronze beech hedges.   We progressed  much quicker than imagined so within 3 hours were able to admire the results of our labour and retire to The Camp for a welcoming buffet.

 


The following week’s weather brought warmth, light and rain, which helped establish our shrubs.   The sun was shinning brightly on Sunday 13th March as local residents returned to mulch the planted beds with shavings from last years recycled Christmas trees.  A good 2 inches cover, said to be sufficient to retain moisture and prevent unwanted weeds, was shovelled, barrowed, raked and spread over the surface whilst other volunteers picked up glass, dog droppings and litter which blighted the hedgerows.    We were completed by 2 pm,  It was very rewarding as the area now looks good enough to sit and relax in!



Thank you to everyone involved for your company, effort, tools and time.  We hope you will join us in helping to care for our plants.  We also aim to facilitate fun and educational activities and invite your ideas and contribution in to our park.  Contact us at Info.foknp@gmail.com   follow us at http://friendsofkingsnortonpark.blogspot.com/



The Planning Begins

The first plants are laid out





                                         The hard work starts                                                  

We've already finished our job! (Painting the benches)

Well done chaps!

It's starting to take shape!

Hello, hello, hello!

A great view of our A(handy) work!

Friends of Kings Norton Park get stuck in!

A last, some refreshments!

Looking Good eh!

Where's that missing Begonia gone?

Take your pick!

Our Chair, Lynn, ahh!

Everyone getting stuck in!

Say Cheese!

A finished bed

Finished at last! All this planting was driving me potty!

After the snow, the rain, after the rain the sun!

Hi folks, here is The Friends of Kings Norton Park update.

After the snow, the rain, after the rain the sun! 

The beds are cleared and ready for us to begin our transformation shrub planting.  We have two sessions planned, hopefully both sunny and dry days on Monday 7 March and Sunday 13 March 2011.  

Drop in on any or both days and at any time between 11am - 3pm or stay for the day! 

FREE EVENT OPEN TO ALL

Bring your spades, forks, family & friends

***********************************************************************

The Fields Millennium Green Trust

We also supported Maggie & Clive Sweet at The Fields Millennium Green Trust on Sunday 20th February at their Den-Building afternoon.

We had great fun helping the kids build dens out of freshly coppiced willow and hazel. It took some of us right back to our own childhood! All of the kids and parents who turned up that day were fantastic! The team who designed and built the winning Den did it virtually all on their own, with a little bit of encouragement from Lynn and Chris! Check out our photo's below!

We at FoKNP are keen to develop and promote outdoor environmental education experiences for children of all ages - especially in light of the devastating cuts in environmental education in schools and outdoor centres!

If you too are unhappy at these cuts you might want to check out http://www.coalitionofresistance.com/ and make your voice heard!





And the winner is...er..well...us actually! 

The Fantastic runners-up! Good enough to live in eh!

Proud Winners!



******************************************************************

Environmental Conference at the Lickey Hills

On Saturday 19th February a couple of us attended an environmental conference at the Lickey Hills Centre. It was hosted by the Rangers Service in conjunction with FEI~Forest Education Initiative ~ http://www.foresteducation.org/.

The highlight of the day was an inspirational talk by Sue Fenoughty from the National Association for Environmental Education (NAEE) ~ http://www.naeeuk.plus.com/index.htm.

We were really struck at how passionate this group were in delivering their aims of supporting those teaching environmental education. Watch this space for more on this in the near future.

Kings Norton Farmers Market 8/10/2011

Hi All

I would like to start by saying a BIG HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who turned up to support us at Saturdays Kings Norton Farmers Market! It was a fantastic day with lots of interest from people wanting to get involved or show support in some way or another!

I would like to give special thanks to Elizabeth & Carmel from Kings Norton Farmers Market for providing us with a stall. I would also like to thank Sylvia and Andy for their help in setting up. Delia, Sharon and Chris for their help and most of all everyone who stopped by to say hello, to sign our questionnaire, to give us invaluable feedback and to join us by becoming members.

Our planting events in November and December 2010 were unfortunately cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions however, with our fingers crossed, we hope to rearrange them for sometime in early Spring, so please check back to this site for details.

2011 looks like being an exciting year for the park and we look forward to having fun and working with you all!

Welcome!

Hi Folks

Welcome to the first posting of the Friends of Kings Norton Park and Playing Fields!

If you are a fan of Kings Norton Park, a Park user, you walk the dog there or take the children for a play and an ice cream, or you use the Skate Park or kick a ball around and you are interested in committing a little time to the Park, then why not join us?

You could help in planting bulbs and shrubs, get involved in planning and arranging activities or play a part in regenerating and rejuvenating the Park.

We are establishing links with many other community groups in the area and plan to hold a wide range of events in the Park. Can you help us? If you would like to you please contact us at: info.foknp@gmail.com and we will send you some information about our group,  forthcoming events and how to become a member.

We have a planting session to encourage any budding Alan Titchmarshes on Tuesday 14th December, weather permitting. We are saving four very tired rose beds by turning them into vibrant all year round colourful sustainable beds... so why not join our group in looking after the interests of our very beautiful Kings Norton Park!  

Also, if digging isn't your thing, you can still come along to our group meetings and have your say about the Park and it's future. We are a friendly bunch and you will get a warm welcome, a free cup of tea or coffee and a biscuit! (if you get there before Chris eats them all!).

We hold meetings on the last Saturday of every month in the Kings Norton area (please check with us for confirmation of venue at above email site). The next meeting will be the last Saturday in February however if you cannot wait that long to get involved,  you can help with planting in the New Year and visit our Community stall at the January Kings Norton Farmers Market. (Again, please check with us nearer the time to confirm dates)

And finally, we are looking for help with website design, newsletters and people to help raise funds... or if you have any other skills that you feel you could offer the group your help would be really appreciated.

Looking forward to seeing your very soon!


Lynn Horsnett
Chair FoKNP
info.foknp@gmail.com