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!

Just as the cold snap was really setting in, 4 runners met on Hope street and made our way just over 1 mile to Blundell Street. It was great to welcome Amy for her first task in Liverpool, but 100th overall! Congratulations on earning your wings!

This week we were helping Elaine from Urban GreenUp to tidy up the Wapping site. Having just won a biodiversity award for the project, Elaine was keen to have it looking it's best. Were tasked with leaf raking and removing the Joe Pye (who knew this was a weed!?). Thankfully, due to the sandy soil, the weeds came up with ease and we were able to remove more or less all of it - Well done everyone!

4 runners met on Hope Street and meandered down to Park Lane. Lovely to be joined by Farnaz once again! Once there, we were met by 4 more goodgymmers and Elaine from Urban Green Up.

We have done a few sessions here, and I am always amazed at how different it looks each time and how much the plants have grown! This time around, Elaine greeted us with the fantastic news that the project has been nominated for not one, but two Landscapes Institute awards for 'Excellence in Biodiversity' and 'Climate Change Environment and Social Outcomes'. It's an amazing project and we have everything crossed for a win!

The task tonight was weeding, with creeping thistles being the main culprit.

As the light faded we worked quickly and Elaine was amazed with how much we achieved, although it was difficult to see the results by the end! Well done everyone! Cant wait to be back soon for some planting.