Thunder and lightning through the night and a morning of heavy rain didn’t dampen the spirits of a group of cheerful locals, who gave up their Sunday morning lie-in, to help the latest phase of the Grow Edegely Project.

Anne and Deb from GoodGym, Stockport and Mat and Pauline, from GoodGym, Liverpool, joined the enthusiastic group of young and not-so-young volunteers as they prepared to transform a sadly neglected part of the town.

A community group, Grow Edegely is run and supported by local residents and businesses, who want to improve their area.

Following a Dig Day, earlier this month, the organisers consulted residents and enlisted the help of a professional horticulturalist, The RHS, and some amature gardeners, in order to come up with a planting plan that would see the Grenville Street flower beds restored to their former glory.

Residents, responding to a survey sent out by the group, said they felt the neglected flower beds made them feel sad, and that nobody cared about the place. 99% of respondents stated that they wanted the beds to be taken better care of.

Evergreen and burgundy shrubs have been planted down the centre of the beds, and will flower in the summertime. Between the shrubs and the walls, low growing, creeping heathers and varieties of thyme, designed to look and smell good...and produce bee-friendly flowers. Finally, merging from between the ground cover, flowering bulbs, such as daffs, frilly tulips, allium and autumn crocus, to give colour throughout much of the year.

With so many willing hands, holes were dug, shrubs planted, bulbs buried and a whole wheelbarrow full of rocks and stones removed from the beds within a relatively short time. All were thanked and rewarded with drinks and snacks, which were greatly appreciated...especially by the GoodGym runners, who looked like they’d not been fed for a while!

It will be great to revisit this site next year, as the shrubs ’merge into a nice long ribbon of undulating greenery...and burgundy-ery.’