Boston is more than 1,000 flowering plants better off after a community planting project in Central Park.
More than 100 people responded to the challenge to come along for as little time as they could spare to plant a plant in a new wild flower garden.
Organiser Jackie Lane, from Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service, said: “It has been a great week and by the end we planted 1,100 bluebells, primroses, selfheal, white campion, meadowsweet, greater stichwort, common knapweed, hedge bedstraw, golden rod and wood anemone.”
Wild flower plugs were provided and were planted by children from the Sure Start Children’s Centre and their parents and carers – they also joined in a bug hunt. Young people from the Prince’s Trust also joined in planting and weeding, a group of students from Boston College helped and, despite rain on Tuesday, two groups from the John Fielding Special School came along and planted wildflowers and, in the afternoon, although the rain continued, a group from Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Services managed between them to plant a tray of hedge bedstraw.
A second group from Boston College joined the following day and had a plant sale and donated the proceeds towards the project.
Volunteers from Boston Library, a resident and a group of pupils from Haven High finished the planting.
The project was kindly supported by Anglian Water, which promoted water saving – volunteers were given lavender seeds (lavender can thrive without much water), the younger children received Anglian Water activity books and colouring pencils, and the older children and adults were given shower timers.
Jackie said: “This project will create a colourful and attractive area in the park, wildflowers are beneficial and necessary to wildlife especially bees and butterflies, they maintain diversity and they do well in poorer soil and do not need much maintenance. We hope this corner of the park will be enjoyed by many for years to come.”
She thanked Boston Seeds for supplying the plugs, Anglian Water for paying for the plugs, Boston College for their kind donation towards the cost of the project, Boston Borough Council and Boston in Bloom for all their support, and all the volunteers.
