Wexford People

The story of a flower bed at Kennedy Park

- Wexford Tidy Towns meet most Saturdays at 10 a.m. Find them on Facebook for the latest location.

Sue Rogers Tobin, well known through her involvemen­t with the Shoebox Appeal in Wexford over many years, writes about a project that she took on with Wexford Tidy Towns, reclaiming a piece of waste ground at a Wexford town housing estate and transformi­ng it into an oasis of flowers and bees.

WINDING down through Kennedy Park to the back of Browne’s pub there is a car park on the right surrounded by a flower bed. Usually it is a riot of colour, mainly orange and yellow marigolds with the odd splash of pink hydrangeas or a red rose. Considerin­g the time of year the garden is surprising­ly colourful.

Nobody looks after it, the council claim it is part of the housing estate. It thrived on neglect and the rubbish built up and the weeds went to seed and spread unchecked - groundsel, buttercup, clover, ragwort, even Himalayan balsam lived happily side by side with the swathe of marigolds.

About two summers ago there was an invasion of yellow rape and at this point Wexford Tidy Towns stepped in. The invader was removed before any damage could be done. With hoes, trowels, shovels and forks we got to work and by midday it was thoroughly weeded with daffodil bulbs planted deep, along with rose bushes, hydrangeas and heathers.

The wall that lines the bed means you can sit down and weed without bending over. As the wall gets higher you can weed standing up. Perfect for any gardener with a bad back!.

I volunteere­d to keep an eye on this particular flower bed since I drive past it so much. The yellow rape never got a stronghold again. The daffodil bulbs survived and put on a fabulous spring show. John lives next door, a keen gardener, his local knowledge is invaluable and he told me the wind comes down that side of the hill so nothing really grows in that section except the hardy marigold.

The local community are encouraged to take part and look after this local amenity, to pull the occasional weed, donate a plant, remove rubbish, keep it clean. In return I have put in fruit plants and a herb wall. The idea is to pick what you need as you walk by. So far, there is parsley, rosemary, chives and mint.

To separate the herbs from the other flowers, a bottle wall was constructe­d as an artistic feature. The bottles are filled and planted upside down in a line. They look decorative with their shiny colours and varied contents but they do have another very important purpose.

The dimpled base of a wine bottle fills with rain water providing a drinking haven for insects, especially bees attracted to the flowers. It takes about a month to fill a bottle, the stones have to be collected, washed, dried, sized, sorted, etc but sadly a few have been smashed. Hopefully when completed the importance of this feature will be realised and it will be left alone for all to enjoy.

A lot of litter is dropped on this site and I have tried to turn it into art. Bottles, both empty and full, have been found and utilised.

I started filling them with small pebbles and shells (echoes of the beach) and then progressed to the rubbish; sweet wrappers, broken coloured glass, pistachio nut shells, a straw, broken discarded Christmas bits.

My favourite item in a bottle is a crisps multi bag wrapper because it used to go in the recycling bin but since China no longer takes our recycling rubbish it goes to landfill.

At home everything about to be thrown in the bin is now scrutinise­d – will that go through the neck of a wine bottle? I have become obsessed! I have brown, green and clear wine bottles but I have my eye on a blue Harvey’s Bristol Cream sherry bottle!

My ultimate aim is to sign off on this flowerbed and to start work on transformi­ng another one, either that or to get a job! Meanwhile any donations of small pebbles or chippings are gladly welcome.

I hope to encourage others to take part in looking after local amenities, to highlight and discourage vandalism and to promote civic pride.

I HAVE BROWN, GREEN AND CLEAR WINE BOTTLES BUT I HAVE MY EYE ON A BLUE HARVEY’S BRISTOL CREAM SHERRY BOTTLE!

 ??  ?? Sue Tobin and her wine bottle wall which serves a dual purpose: separating the herbs from other flowers and providing rain water for insects, particular­ly bees.
Sue Tobin and her wine bottle wall which serves a dual purpose: separating the herbs from other flowers and providing rain water for insects, particular­ly bees.
 ??  ?? Rubbish that was collected after Christmas.
Rubbish that was collected after Christmas.
 ??  ?? Marigolds in bloom at the reclaimed garden.
Marigolds in bloom at the reclaimed garden.

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