It was orchard planting time this afternoon and we were lucky to have the sun come out for us to join the Friends of Kingston Road Recreation Ground, a community group established by local residents to help protect and improve the area. The Woodland Trust have kindly donated a variety of trees and hedge plants to diversify the flora in the park.

When we arrived we were given instructions to help plant the rows of cherry trees and rowans as well as the silver birch trees to be planted in the grove marked out by canes. Doug was the expert at techniques with a shovel and many holes were doug within the hour with his guidance. We were given a pizza advice about the best method to get planting. We were instructed to mark out a circle with the shovel around the canes and then to quarter them and pull out the slices of turf and flip them upside down to go back in place with the grass facing down to add nutrients to the plants. Rafal and Gosia made a great team and got dug in right away while Jo and Kate paired up to tackle some tougher ground and get into a system.

Meanwhile, Samia, Caroline and Karen went off to the other side of the park to cut back some overgrown brambles. This required much pulling, stripping back, snipping and tucking away the clippings to make the path way safer for the community. Karen working the strip and Samia on the pull, Caroline was left to pick up the pieces.

With a brief setback having run out of topsoil and compost, we were not deterred and continued to dig to make sure the holes were ready. Just a short while later the compost arrived and we carried on until all saplings were planted.

After checking all saplings were securely in the ground and protected, we had a quick regroup for a photo before tools were collected and we parted ways to enjoy the rest of the afternoon’s welcome sunshine. We look forward to returning to lend a hand again with the lovely Friends of Kingston Recreation Ground group on the next part of their project.