On Sunday May 26 Otley in Bloom volunteers joined community representative, Jonathan McGee, to brighten up a corner of an Otley town centre car park which had become scruffy and neglected. Earlier in the week an OIB litter picking team cleared a lot of rubbish which had accumulated in this car park.
Over the last few weeks a small team of dedicated Otley in Bloomers have been out walking the town spraying the weeds. They were joined on Tuesday by several others to clear away the dead weeds and to have a general clean up of Boroughgate, Garnett Street, Manchester Square and Walkergate.
Otley in Bloom volunteers mended the wall and planted flowers on two stone planters on Birdcage Walk, which runs above the south side of Otley bypass. We also cleared litter which picnickers had thrown over the wall.
In the last 6 months several members of the group have been busy planning and working through the installation of a plant bed specifically designed to provide year round colour and constant nectar for bees, butterflies and other essential pollinating insects. They have been working closely with the local parks team and got agreement to take over an existing bed in an ideal spot within Wharfemeadows Park. The “Nectar Bed” has been cleared and the plants recycled elsewhere by the parks team and OIB. It has been dug over several times and had a load of Manure added and dug in.
Following RHS recommendations for Nectar rich planting, a plan was put together, plants were accumulated at the allotment and nurtured to be ready for an Easter planting. The plants have been sourced from local nurseries, have been salvaged or divided from elsewhere, have been donated by members of the public and by group members themselves. The vast majority are perennial plants which will provide a bright colourful nectar rich bed for spring and summer. They will include primrose, snowdrops, viburnum, rudbeckia, lavender, fox gloves and various spring bulbs. The planting programme started just after Easter.
We have also been working on sourcing and designing a permanent information board illustrating the importance of pollinating plants and insects and this was installed before the bed was planted up. We have applied for a grant to pay for the board as it needs to have a special vandal proof coating. See Appendix 2 for the design.
Towards the end of 2012 we purchased ten bird boxes from a local social enterprise, “YORLEX”, who provide activities and life skills for adults with learning and other disabilities. We chose two types: the usual ones which attract birds such as coal tits and and great tits, and ones with open fronts for birds such as robins. Eight of the boxes have so far been placed in town, mainly in locations where OIB have previously been working. There is also now a plan to place another ten in the local parks, Memorial Garden and other town centre locations.
Otley in Bloom 