Welly Road revisited!

Community re-plant

Our wellies are starting to look scruffy so it is time for a clean up and replant to make it look wonderful again and I have arranged for a community re-plant to which you are all invited on Saturday the 22nd of September at the shops on Wellington Road, Oxton, Prenton, Ch43 2JE from 10.30 til 2.30pm

Facebook event page for our community re-plant

We need all hands on deck - bring a trowel, bring cuttings, bring old wellies for planting. Some plants, some wellies and some trowels will be provided but anymore that you can bring with you will be most helpful. 

Radio Four's wonderful programme Gardeners Question Time (GQT) recorded me asking a question about the wellies on one of the recordings made at Ness Gardens last week. The radio show has a potential audience of 2 million and at the moment, the wellies are not looking good so to save our blushes in between the broadcast on the 21st of September and the 23rd of September, let's make the road look as fab as it did and have some fun while we do it. Light rain will not stop play but heavy rain will....!

• Any neighbours with wellies that need replanting, please bring them along, and any neighbours with gardens, take a look for any plants that need dividing or any with small plants you want rid of that will fit in the wellies as it will help to stretch our budget a little further.

The Fireman's wellies

Neighbours start getting their wellies

Wonderful day for the neighbourhood!

Local neighourhood kids and cubs with Alison Bailey Smith, Mathew Patrick and Frank Field MP for Birkenhead

Paul Doughty of SDA survey and design and young neighbour who helped plant, water and nail all the wellies down

Hursts get their tiered stand so check it out when you go and get your hot cross buns

Stacey taking care of the plants

Yesterday, I picked up the stands (made from old pallets) from Cornerstone Vocational Training Centre in Birkenhead to start putting the wellies together for Hursts Bakery. I chose red, black and green wellies for them to fit with their distinctive bright red paint work. We decided to put the stand in an used doorway on the cafe side of the business. The staff seemed thrilled that they have their plants as the excitment about the new project is building. We are just waiting for one stand for The Hair Lounge to be completed. The others are being stored at SDA Survey and Design in their yard. Gary in the Festival Flowers has been working on his own ideas and think we may see it very soon...great!

Thanks to Darren from The Coffee Shop and Lloyd from Simply Food and Drinks for helping move the stands into position, they were too heavy for me!

Barb from Streaks Ahead has been doing a great job sweeping and tidying. Thankfully, the back alley has remained tidy for over a week now. We are expecting our planter from Wirral Council any time now but until then other plants have been appearing around the shops and a pair of concrete welly boots with foxgloves and periwinkle in is overseeing it all from the first house after the shops.

We have been getting loads of wellies through the Green Community Shop and Centre in Oxton Village on Christchurch Road but we have been getting also loads through the dumps.....I have got to have enough wellies for the 7 stands still to do and then the pairs for each householder so don't stop giving us your wellies we still need them so we can be "welly" good. So find a welly wheelie bin at Clatterbridge, Bidston or West Kirby dumps (thanks to Veolia Environmental Services) or take them to The Green Shop in Oxton Village or to The Coffee Shop on Wellington Road (in fact any of the businesses on Wellington Road as they are as keen as me to get this done) It has already started bonding the businesses and building the community spirit.

I am planning to create some bunting from plastic material used for creating bouncy castles that I have seen at The Play Council in Birkenhead for some of the businesses. We want each business to develop it's own style on their stands. Each shop has been given a watering can for them to take care of the plants.

Streaks Ahead and Simply Food and Drinks get their stands

Today, I put together the wellies for two of the businesses on Wellington Road using wellies planted by Birkenhead Woodcraft Folk, Birkenhead School, Members of The Green Community Centre and Shop last year and a few wellies planted by neighbours and staff of some of the other businesses. I chose pinks, yellows and soft blues for Streaks Ahead for a feminine soft display and chose blue to match the fascia signage for Simply Food and Drinks.

Thanks to Wayne the postie for helping move one of the stands down, he arrived at the right moment!

 

  

I made the decision to put some of the wellies out now as they have flowering bulbs in and there is no point them being stuck in the dark up the side of my house waiting for the big event on May the 13th as part of Secret Gardens of Oxton. By getting the two stands on the street it gives an idea of what it will be like and today people were chatting. Paul Doughty of SDA in the former Post Office (and Councillor for Prenton) has arranged for hanging baskets through Gary in Festival Flowers, all the businesses are contributing and Alan Brighouse (Councillor for Oxton) has arranged for a permanent planter for the street...and all the businesses are discussing "when are we getting ours?" and an old neighbour came up and chatted and said "you're the artist, aren't you?" Even the community police officer stopped by for a chat, and friends and my own customers...so the plan is working - more communication and unity in Wellington Road!

Welly collection points increased!

Had a call today to say that Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc  who run various recycling plants around Wirral will be putting donation bins for welly donations at my closest dumps. So very soon as well as taking wellies to The Green Community Shop and Centre and The Coffee Shop on Wellington Road, you can take them to the donation bins at these dumps:-

Bidston HWRC,

Wallasey Bridge Road,

Birkenhead,

CH41 1EB

Clatterbridge HWRC,

Mount Road,

Bebington,

Wirral,

CH63 6JE

West Kirby HWRC,

Greenbank Road,

Wirral,

CH48 5HR

Many thanks to Chris O'Brien at Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority for passing on my email to Veolia

And further thanks to

Lucy Stuart, Waste Awareness Assistant for Veolia Environmental Services (UK) Plc  for arranging the bins and for arranging a visit to the recycling plant for the artists I work with through my networking event With These Hands

101 wellies planted!

I had a moment today to do some planting on my own as I was worrying about bulbs not getting in the soil before I have a chance to do a community plant, so our grand total of planted wellies is 101 with about 3 at Birkenhead School. Today's bulbs were Rembrandt tulips & crocuses. I have even colour sorted the wellies, so all reds together, blues, blacks, greens, reds and patterned and 3 yellow wellies. Surprising really, would have thought yellow wellies would have been more popular.

Impromptu community plant

Catherine of The Hair Lounge on Wellington Road and Derry

Danny from SDA Survey and Design who are based in the old post office on Wellington Road

What has been planted so far

10 Red Red Hood tulip bulbs

10 Golden Yellow tulip bulbs

10 Blue Crocus bulbs

10 Jeanne d'arc bulbs

10 Plaisir Tulip

100 Muscari


and more...

The Cornerstone Vocational Training Centre

Today I went to take a look at the wooden structures made from recycled pallets by The Cornerstone Vocational Training Centre, made by young men getting a chance at learning vocational skills. They have made about a 1/3rd of the planters, although the remaining ones are more complicated but I am happy that they will be strong enough to cope with the filled wellies.

Welly Road gets the boot in! will link into Secret Gardens of Oxton

Wellington Road is just outside of the conservation area of Oxton Village, actually to be exact about 2 metres of Wellington Road is in the area and the rest isn't. We (Welly Road gets the boot in!) are going to be linking up with the event. In fact that is when I am focusing the unveiling of our project.  Darren from the Coffee Shop on the street has ideas-a-plenty and we have the support of the scout troup from Birkenhead School too.

Here is the information about The Secret Gardens of Oxton:-

Sunday 13th May 2012 10.00am to 5.00pm the Secret Gardens of Oxton.

Bring your family and friends to visit 30 hidden gardens in the historic conservation area of Oxton. Walking round this pleasant village you will come across a wonderful array of plants and flowers and be inspired by a variety of creative garden designs.
This annual event is enjoyed by newcomers and regular visitors who return every year. In addition to the gardens, musical entertainments and art shows will be taking place in the village centre. For children there are Punch and Judy shows and pony rides. Village shops, plant and craft stalls, cafes and pubs will all be open on the day.

Selected charities play an active role by helping the organisers to run the event. All proceeds are shared by the charities.

There is a Park & Ride located on the corner of Woodchurch Road and Storeton Road (post code for Sat Nav CH43 5TW)

Tickets price to be confirmed. For tickets visit www.oxtonsociety.org.uk or ring 07963 248 268 for more details.

Buy tickets in advance and save money.

Wellies in the snow

On the 16th of December, Wirral was hit with a flurry of hail and possibly snow so I nipped out to take some shots of the wellies for you all.

Photos from the planting at Overdale

First, take a welly and add a layer of gravel and then a thin layer of soil,

put in 2 or 3 bulbs with the shoot up and the roots down,

top up with soil and tamp it down, do it to within a centimetre of the top of the boot.

Lots of lovely wellies donated by parents at Woodchurch Road Primary School and patrons of the Green Community Shop and Centre

On the steps of Overdale for now

Please water occasionally

Some of the years 7 & 8 at Birkenhead School who took part

The pupils help load up in my car for me to look after the majority of the wellies until spring. When I got home I added some more gravel on the top and some ivy and other cuttings to take root. The gravel on the top should keep down the slugs who have taken a liking to our bulbs who have sprung up early.......shredding them! Naughty slugs...can't let them put our project in jeopardy!

Let the planting begin (again)

I am off to do some community planting at Birkenhead School today at lunchtime with Overdale, so had the car loaded with umpteen wellies (but umpteen more required) bulbs, gravel, tarpaulin....think I am going to get very messy later....The planting will going on inside the lovely foyer of Overdale (years 7 & 8 at the school).

 
Today, I have been scrounging for pallets too. I got one from my friend, Theresia Cadwallader and was just on the way to Rightway to ask for some as they frequently have them available and spotted a building site in Oxton Village and they gave me all their broken ones and an opportune stop off to The Green Community Shop and Centre with some donations gained me some spindles for staircases which Cornerstone, the vocational training place in Birkenhead who are making the planters can use for either demonstration purposes or re-create into something else.

Desperately seeking Wellies- even leaking wellies

Wellies galore
ANY WELLIES GLADLY RECEIVED AT THE GREEN COMMUNITY SHOP AND CENTRE on Christchurch Road, Oxton Village

We now have a Facebook page  

Bought more compost and bulbs today

Went to our chosen provider of plants,  a special place for adults with autism where they can get a chance to learn about gardening and growing plants. I purchased more compost and bulbs for future community plantings. Established in 1992, Bromborough Pool Garden Centre (formerly Raby Hall Garden Centre) is part of Wirral Autistic Society and has a wonderful selection of plants, seeds and bulbs as well a nice little selection of seasonal goodies. They were wrapping presents as I went in and having the same dilemma I have every year, how do you wrap odd shaped presents!

Collect all the lovely wellies  that have come into the Green Community Shop and Centre, either by word of mouth or by the request on Freecycle.

Leaflet-ed the neighbourhood today

I took a few of neighbourhood kids out to leaflet every door on Wellington Road with a little flyer to inform the neighbours about the blog and the project, in the hope that more people will get involved and more wellies will appear. Nice to meet some of our new neighbours as well as folks we have met before.

Presentation Birkenhead School

I was invited to give a powerpoint presentation this morning to years 7 & 8, in Overdale and I now have a couple of young men who are going to help with posters and organisation. Hopefully, they will bring lots of wellies in for planting.

I have left 2 pairs of planted wellies with them for the stairs of their house to inspire them.This is a shot of their house pre-welly additionsfrom their website.

Powerpoint slides for presentation tomorrow

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