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Friends of Daisy Farm Park, Billesley.
Blooming Soho
Flowers bloom in many of Birmingham’s Parks every year, but this year one park has a flower bed like no other! A riot of reds, pinks, oranges and blues currently brighten up the entrance to Soho Pool Park, in Hockley. The park was chosen as the site for a trial of an experimental method of creating brightly coloured, cost-effective floral displays by the Soho Green-up Project. Stuart Unwin, Parks Officer with Birmingham City Council, and Karen Fry, Parks and Open Spaces Officer with the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, have worked together with local people to create this annual meadow. The meadow, measuring 500 square metres, was sown with the help of residents at The Willows, the neighbouring home for adults with learning disabilities. The seed mix was developed by Pictorial Meadows Ltd, who through years of research have selected flowers which are colourful, grow well without gardening, and last a long time. Flowers in bloom right now include Shirley Poppy, Californian Poppy, Cornflower, and Fairy Toadflax, with more awaiting their turn later in the summer.
‘We weren’t sure what to expect, but we are really pleased with the result.’ said Karen. ‘It has created a lot of interest and is an ideal way of bringing more colour into parks without a lot of expense. We will be looking into ways of creating more annual meadows in other open spaces in Birmingham next year.’
Meanwhile more work is planned with the local community this autumn in Soho Pool Park, helping to regenerate another neighbourhood park.
NOTES FOR EDITORS
For further information contact: Karen Fry on 0121 515 1702 karen.f@bbcwildlife.org.uk
The Wildlife Trust is the local charity working to make Birmingham and the Black Country a better place for wildlife and people. We have projects across the area working with decision makers, communities, schools and conservationists. Founded in 1980 we have over 5000 members,
Nationally there are 47 Wildlife Trusts covering every part of the United Kingdom, with over 500,000 members and 2,600 nature reserves.
The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country
28 Harborne Road, Edgbaston
Birmingham B15 3AA
Tel: (0121) 454 1199
Fax: (0121) 454 6556
Email: info@bbcwildlife.org.uk
www.bbcwildlife.org.uk www.pictorialmeadows.co.uk
Greenspace Learning Network's
Photo of the Moment - Wildflower Meadow - Soho Pool Wharf, Hockley, BirminghamThis photo, taken by Karen Fry, is the winner of our Photo of the Moment competition. Congratulations and a £10 voucher to Karen.
It shows a naturalistic annual meadow planting scheme at Soho Pool Wharf Public Open Space, in Hockley, Birmingham. The meadow was planted as part of the Soho Green-up Project, a partnership between Birmingham City Council's Parks and Housing Departments and the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, funded by SRB6 and NRF. Soho Pool Wharf is in a very urban and multicultural area (the building in the background is a new mosque on Soho Road) and this year the addition of goal posts, seats and bins, the annual meadow and a conservation meadow in Soho Pool Wharf have greatly improved the facilities for local people (The park is named after the pool used to power the nearby foundry run by Matthew Boulton - it is a very historic site!).
The planting scheme used seeds from Pictorial Meadows Ltd, and were chosen to give a long-lasting display of very colourful flowers at low cost. Seed-sowing was done with the help of people living at The Willows, an adjacent residential home for adults with learning disabilities. The Soho Green-up Project is planning a community event this autumn to involve people from The Willows, a local housing association estate, and local businesses in bulb-planting and woodland management, to further improve the park and engage the community in its management.