Garden centre staff put their green fingers to work to complete a garden makeover for the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice.
Volunteers from Wyevale Garden Centre at Birchencliffe joined hospice personnel and a local handyman to transform an overgrown stretch of land at the Brackenhall hospice into a bright and colourful haven for families to enjoy for years to come.
The garden was designed by local groups, including Elizabeth Joice, of Lepton-based Elizabeth J Design, Ben Phillips and Mark Shaw, of Banney Royd Gardening Services in Edgerton and the team from the Birchencliffe garden centre.
The new features include six specially-constructed raised beds accessible to wheelchair users, a giant bamboo xylophone, wind chimes, colourful windmills, a bird box and feeders, a bee “hotel” and a hibernaculum – or winter hideaway for insects – to complement the wildlife meadow that had been sown in the garden previously.
Andrew Tyers, garden centre manager at Birchencliffe, said: “We are exceptionally proud to have been involved in such an important community project and to have had the opportunity to contribute to making this garden a place where the children and their families can feel the true benefit of being outdoors.”
Sharon Burton, director of care at the hospice, said: “Working alongside all the volunteers involved in this project has been a pleasure and we loved being able to contribute all of our ideas to the plans too.
“We know that this will really make a difference to the children and families who use our service and will be a very popular addition to our hospice.”
