The younger members of the Growing Well team got busy yesterday cleaning up some troughs that had been donated by a neighbour who no longer needs them.  Getting stuck in with brushes and water they worked hard for a whole five minutes before Mummy had to step in and finish off!  The troughs now look brand new and are destined for the Old School Hall car park at the bottom of the street.  The lovely ladies at the Marie Curie office are going to plant them up with nasturtiums which will creep through the fence and tumble down the wall into Well Street.  They are also taking two large pots which they will fill with strawberries and tomatoes for lunchtimes.

Not wanting to leave out the other charity which resides in Well Street, a generous neighbour has bought a lovely new window box for the Samaritans office at the top end of the street.

In both cases the staff and volunteers at the charity offices will "adopt" the planters, watering and maintaing them, and even providing some of the plants.  So we have been able to involve people who work in Well Street, as well as those of us who live here.

Bye Bye Holly Bush! By Rachel at Number 40...

A few weeks ago I felt very inspired by our 'Growing Well' group so I decided to get my green fingers out (with a little help from Archie.)

After moving into number 40 a few years ago, we had yet to put our own stamp on our garden, (except painting the front door and planting a box hedge out front for privacy reasons.)

After what has felt like a long cold winter, one afternoon the sun finally came out and the weather heated up, so I decided to jazz up our garden, and my main task was getting rid of our holly bush that was continually pricking our visitor's.

I stopped by the garden center to buy a range of treats to spruce up the garden.


With a little assistance from Annie, who kindly lent me a spade and some garden sheers, I was on my way...

... At first, I thought I would be able to dig the roots up... no luck. It was then, I had found out they had in fact invaded an old pipe that lay underneath the soil.

I then decided to get the saw out. This help get the bulk of the holly bush down but the route was still thoroughly grounded.

We then borrowed our next door neighbour (Sue's) axe. Still no luck of getting out the stump.

Hopefully we will get it out once and for all by a professional when we have some black railings put up shortly.

Until then we managed to work around it - by accessorizing with a few pots and plants...  and this is now our garden.

I even found a little time to give the back a slight bit of TLC too.

It was great fun and nice to contribute to the look of the street too.