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November 14, 2006
Garden story
The garden opened with a well-attended ceremony on Saturday (see main story here).
It took a while to organise the garden. We agreed to lease the land from the Council in August 2005, but it took until March this year to get a legal agreement from them. Work thus started in April, and it took much longer to excavate the old soil - we found large amounts of the old air raid shelter, tree roots, tarmac and concrete to dig out. Sean Jones did a fantastic job of excavation helped by a fair number of volunteers, and 20 truck loads of soil were deposited at Acaster airfield.
However there were never enough volunteers with the time and skills to prepare and lay the paving, so we paid to have this done. It was during this time that local firms did us proud with the loan of equipment and time, helping move materials and so on. The Marcia provided tea and bacon sarnies, and stored the paving bricks at the back of their car park. The paving was largely finished by August.
The raised planters were designed and built by John Bettridge, and installed by workers from Brunswick - who had to dig down through the hardcore just laid beneath the paving! The Brunswick workers, lead by Geoff Freeston then dug out and prepared the beds, adding composted garden waste collected and re-cycled by the Council, with a weed suppressing membrane and mulch on top. Plants were then planted in to this. The sight raised planter was filled with pansies and tulip bulbs by the Gardening Club. This was complete by early October.
The water feature was brought from a Welsh quarry and a base plate added by Ian Jemison. It was installed on its sump with the combined efforts of Jim Davey, Richard Parkin and Martin Dudley. Richard Williams completed the electrical works started by Russell Turner, and installed the low voltage LED lights in the pavement, sold to us at cost by Howard Green. After a protracted delay, the electricity supply meter was installed and we were able to try out the lights and water pump.
Jenny Harris sourced and purchased two seats, and they were installed by Simon Sykes. Older residents at Vernon House completed a sunflower mosaic under the guidance of Art and About, and United Utilities gave the gas kiosk a makeover. The Library Service contributed too by paying for resurfacing in front of the library.
It was a long slog, but we got there in the end. You can read about progress in the stories written about the sensory garden on this web site, and there are more photos on the Photo File (see under Library).
The garden has been designed to allow people of all ages and abilities to access it. The flat hard surface allows wheeled vehicles (no bikes though!) easy access, and the raised beds allow easy access to the plants.
Thanks to the donation of funds, local people were able to add their time and skills to the project. Timber, fencing, railings, signing and materials were sourced locally wherever possible.
From this...
To this...
Posted by martin at November 14, 2006 12:04 PM
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