Green team go up wall to help new ‘wonder’ bloom
VOLUNTEERS joined forces to plant the new ‘Wonderwall’ flower bed at Spotland.
Rochdale In Bloom group took the wall at the Sandy lane end of the ground under their wing last year and planted flowers on top of it.
It’s now a green oasis and is becoming smash hit in the annual In Bloom calendar.
The Wonderwall won best new feature for the 2017 In Bloom contest, and will take pride of place in this year’s round of judging for three competitions.
As well as the North West In Bloom competition and the Rochdale township entry, it will also feature in the 2018 Britain In Bloom entry, Rochdale’s first ever entry into the national competition.
Crown Oil and Gordon Rigg Garden Centre clubbed together to donate £2,500 of plants, with Recycle for Greater Manchester providing the compost needed for the display. More than 20 volunteers came out to support the effort by rolling up their sleeves and pitching in planting over 8,000 plants on top of the seven foot high wall.
Roy Down, vice chair of Rochdale In Bloom, said: “The response the Wonderwall gets from visiting fans to the Crown Oil Arena is amazing. We are the only EFL club with this kind of community project.”
Coun Neil Emmott, cabinet member for environment, said: “There are many things that we would like to say to the volunteers who help make this a real community project. It’s a huge operation with businesses, residents and the council all chipping in to transform the borough into a cleaner and greener environment.
“We’ve seen volunteers of all ages helping out on the display, some as young as four-years-old.”
This year, the compost that’s been used on the Wonderwall has been donated by Recycle for Greater Manchester.
“It is produced from the food and garden waste residents put in their brown bins by a composting facility in Greater Manchester.