Cleveleys is a very exposed and windy place. This harsh salty air blowing straight off the sea makes it challenging to grow anything! After a lot of thought and research, the volunteers have been planting trees at Derby Road car park in a bid to green up the town.
Each year, Cleveleys In Bloom receives a grant from Wyre Council towards the cost of the years activities. This year the team decided to spend the money on saplings. It’s the start of a longer term plan to try and bring more trees to the town.
Research and Planning
This piece of work started back in late summer 2023. First steps were meetings with Wyre Council in order to discuss the best way forward. The grass verge around Derby Road East car park is their land which they mow and maintain. Our ambition to improve the street scene and planting aligns with theirs. They also have a target to plant a large number of trees across the borough.
The next step was to consult with Wyre Council’s Tree Planting Officer. His advice was sought about actual planting and which species might fare best in those salty winds.
Research didn’t stop there. Obviously we’ve done our own research in books and online. One of the volunteers also made a fact-finding visit to World of Hedges on the A6. The business owner offered a site visit to scope and assess our plans. And if all that isn’t enough, volunteers went back to the nursery to look at suggested saplings and make sure they were just right. Planting trees isn’t cheap and it’s a lot of hard work. So Cleveleys In Bloom has taken every step it can to try to ensure success!
Thank you to World of Hedges for donating four more trees than we paid for. Much appreciated.
Planting Trees at Derby Road Car Park
These trees for Cleveleys have been grown in the ground in a nursery bed, lifted and supplied ‘bare rooted’. They’re a bit different to garden centre type pot-grown plants. Our bare rooted type have to be lifted and planted during the dormant season. That’s generally before the end of February/middle of March at the latest. Pot grown trees can be planted at any time through the year. They don’t tend to settle in and grow quite so quickly as the bare rooted ones.
With the volunteers mustered and ready to dig, Kevin and Liz went to mark out exactly where they would go. Delivery day dawned and the volunteers turned up bright and early to dig the holes in preparation for their arrival.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite so straight forward, because the van had an accident at Norcross roundabout! Cutting a long story short, they were held up before they could be delivered to site. Some were missing from the delivery and damaged. It all came well in the end though, when the remainder were rescued and planted on another day.
Species selected
The species which we eventually plumped for include a variety of trees. With different year-round interest and habits they will create different habitats. It’s also spread the risk of the effect of the weather. Some might do better than others – and we’ll learn which are the best for next time.
- Hornbeam – supposedly indestructible (!)
- Silver Birch – lovely white trunks and pretty catkins in Spring
- Alder – another catkin flowering tree
- Paul Scarlet – a variety of hawthorn with red flowers followed by berries in autumn
- Holly Oak – an evergreen variety
Creating Biodiversity
Our little saplings have a long way to go before they become home to thousands of diverse insects. But they’re planted and with leaves beginning to unfurl it’s the beginning!
Plans for the entrance to Derby Road East car park don’t stop there. Cleveleys In Bloom is planning to sow seeds to increase the existing variety of wild flowers which already grow in the grass. And later in the year we’ll be underplanting the trees with spring bulbs. These will provide nectar for early insects and bees. Plus a warm and cheerful welcome to us humans!
This Spring we’ll also be planting a mixed bed at the entrance to the car park, to welcome motorists and visitors to our town.
Everyone Welcome to help with Cleveleys In Bloom 2024!
Please follow what we do (and join in) on our Care for Cleveleys Facebook page. We post photos there of every activity, including events and meetings for people to join in. It’s great fun and a good way to get out and about and make new friends. Why don’t you join in and give it a go!
Thanks go to Wyre Council who provide an annual grant to the town to support our In Bloom entry. It makes a big difference to what we’re able to do.
But everything costs such a lot of money and it’s nowhere near enough for the plans that we’ve got!
So the Care for Cleveleys team run various fundraising projects throughout the year including the In Bloom Spring Raffle. All proceeds go to making Cleveleys look lovely.
Thankyou
The intention is for Cleveleys to keep blooming! We want it to continue as an attractive destination for visitors as well as being a wonderful place to live.
The more people who join in the more that can be achieved.
We’d particularly like to thank everyone who is really embracing the spirit of Care for Cleveleys. It’s encouraging to see so many helping out and really helps to encourage volunteers to do more.