Yet another Shrub bed transformed!

As you walk up the main path from the Storeton Road entrance, you see the Long Border on your right. Halfway up the path on your left is what we call the weeping Birch shrub bed, so called because of the two weeping Birch trees which are its main feature.  This area has caused us concern for some while as the Eleagnus had spread to such an extent that it had killed off the grass and shaded out other plants too. There was a lot of bindweed in the ground which was hard to reach and control properly.  The bed also contained many wild dogwood ( Cornus) which had sent suckers up and was also getting out of hand.

Once again our trusty duo Dave and Sian Turner, who had already worked to improve other shrubby areas, decided to take on the task.  With help from several other volunteers work began on cutting down and digging out many overgrown and unwanted  shrubs .  The aim was to open it up and give the two trees a chance to stand out.  Dogwoods with substantial root systems were carefully dug out and taken away.  The Eleagnus was chopped back drastically but will soon recover, albeit on a more modest scale. Some evergreens were removed as the plan was to introduce a selection of more choice shrubs once the clearing work was complete.  After all the digging was finished, Dave and Sian planned out the new shape of the shrub bed and turf was purchased  and carefully laid to create a smart edge to frame the newly designed area.

The new shrubs which have now been planted are as follows:-

Magnolia Stellata

Prunus Incisa Kojo-No-Mai

Winter Flowering Honeysuckle

x2 Skimmias

Sarcococca

Cornus Midwinter Fire

Hypericum

Many passers-by have already commented on the magnificent weeping birch trees which they had previously not noticed properly.  It will take time for all the new shrubs and magnolia to mature but it has been a mammoth undertaking to transform this area and now it will be much easier to keep on top of any weeds which will inevitably appear. We hope you agree that this work has been a huge improvement and special thanks go to  'Team Turner' for all their efforts and vision.