The return to Urban Green Up

Following on from last week we returned and once more double gloved we carried on where we left off last week - the nettles were very much depleted after last weeks task and we took on other tall unwanted plants uncovering more and more smaller plants and some flowers. Elaine, as always, was on hand for plant identification when we were unsure. Bags of litter were picked up and in amongst the plants lay a broken toy guitar an echo of last week's pun perhaps.

By the end of the task the site looked transformed by our two sessions - many hands make light work

And talking of light - Being near to November the 5th there were a lot of fireworks to be seen and heard but the bright sparks working at Urban Green Up were the best show of all. Some people stopped to find out about us gardening at night with torches. Its all in a Goodgymmer's Monday night of course.

Thank you Elaine for having us.

This evening was a first of a two part task.

We were faced with a forest of nettles that needed to be liberated to the weed pile in order that other plants could breathe and see the light. Even the path was obscured by them in some parts.

On the outskirts of the plot on the pavement was a significant amount of leaves which if left would have ended up a slippery mess in the next rainfall.

So we set to it with brushes loppers spades and all double gloved (thank you Elaine for the loan of marigolds to put under our gardening gloves).

The nights have drawn in and we worked under torch light - it feels a very warm feeling to see glows of lights and hear the chat of Goodgymmers we can brighten any dark night I reckon.

Jake was on form tonight coming up with tonights pun and managed to get another one in as he was sweeping the leaves up - saying 'Leaf me to it'. (And a huge well done for 40 tasks completed Jake)

We managed to clear the path and a significant about of nettles uncovering many smaller bushes and plants that will have the space and light to grow now and a ladybird!

We will be back for part 2 next week

Our booked task had been cancelled however Elaine stepped in and invited us to do some work on the Park Lane site. We havent been here for a while and when we arrived we were met with the sight of a large amount of triffid like plants... ok i exaggerate a little but they were very tall himalayan balsam plants. Elaine who always talks us through what we are going to do and why explained that these are an invasive plant that is just taking over the plot and the other plants are being swamped by them. Go Goodgymmers!

We spent the evening making our way through the forest of balsam often only being able to locate each other by the sound of our sneezes. it was one of those nights that a focused effort and good teamwork meant that by the end we had managed to reduce the triffid like forest significantly. Thank you Elaine for stepping in at the last minute and booking us at short notice.

Dike, Sophie and Sallyann ran to the task, the rest of us met at the garden on the corner of Blundell street and Wapping. For a lot of Good Gymers the last time they had seen the garden was in the dark so it was lovely to see it in the beautiful early evening sun with so much in bloom.

Elaine was there to explain what was growing. Ema commented that the garden had the look of a hot climate garden and Elaine said that care had been taken to grow a variety of plants that could survive any climate. She said that the garden also had late bloomers so, when the rest of Liverpool has stopped flowering, the bees can come here for a late season party. There was towering globe artichoke, Fennel, Evening Primrose and lots of Salvia. There was an alpine sea holly that was such a vivid blue, if you’d painted it you’d be told that the colour was too vibrant. There was Jerusalem Sage that had pretty bulbed heads on stalks which apparently turns yellow in late summer. Elaine said that this shrub had spent some time spreading its roots before flowering. Elaine has to decide which plants are taking over the space but she said that now it is more about taking plants out that are getting too prolific rather than planting new ones.

And so, to the job in hand, which pesky plants are we culling this evening? Elaine explained to us that it was the grass that was taking over. She explained it was the flat leaf grass we wanted rid of and other varieties were ornamental and should stay. We set about rooting out this grass and some of us litter picked. The site is right next to a fast food restaurant so litter is a problem. While we were working a young lad went passed on his bike and shouted, ‘because of people like you, the world is a better place!’

This week we were back on Park Lane with Urban GreenUp ahead of the project being judged for a competition.

The initial plan was to cover the sight with mulch to keep the weeds at bay and allow the plants to flourish. However, we arrived to find Elaine with a distinct lack of mulch - it had not arrived in time. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as we were able to weed and litter pick the sight ready for the mulch to go down next week!

It was wonderful to be working in daylight once again and definitely made it easier to identify the weeds!

It didn't take long for us to tackle the bulk of the weeds. Well done everybody. Excited for the mulching next week!

Our last group run of 2023! Few of us ran from Sefton Park and met the others at the suitcases on Hope Street for a wee warm up. Then we were off for a little run down towards the docks to Urban Green Up project to meet up with Elaine and cutie doggy, Riley.

We learnt that the Alder tree nearby the Wapping site had been severely cut back therefore it went into mother nature survival mode and dispersed many, many seeds.
Therefore this resulted in many little baby Alder saplings all over the Wapping site, they were every couple of steps, we were all in awe of the Alder's pervasive nature but they had to be removed to ensure the right balance of plants at the site.

All of us enjoyed the satisfaction of pulling up the saplings, with varying levels of noise pollution and trying to decorate them as alternative mini christmas trees to find them another life. In the end, they had to be handed over to Elaine with the help of Riley who collected them up for us. In a short time our last group run of 2023 was over and the Alder was out!