21st Century Thame (Thame Trees) have created new hedges in the Skate Park and Elms Park.
The Skate Park
On 22nd February, 12 hardy volunteers from Carmichael UK Ltd gathered at the Thame Skate Park with Thame Trees volunteers. Not put off by a deluge of torrential rain, in only 90 minutes the team had managed to plant around 65 metres of hedging.
This was along the boundary with Thame Football Club and complements the young hedge which Thame Trees planted previously on the site, running perpendicular to it. A mix of native species were selected, with hawthorn making up half of the whips and the rest being a mix of hazel, field maple, dogwood, spindle, and guelder rose.
Elms Park
Although no more fortunate with the weather at the next planting party on 29th February at Elms Park, the group was certainly in luck with the fantastic turnout of hardworking volunteers, including Thame’s mayor, Cllr Adrian Dite. Thame and District Rotary kindly coordinated the attendance of staff from several local companies who support 21st Century Thame – Lucy Electric, Lightfoots Solicitors and BP Collins Solicitors. The team planted across two sites in the park, covering the two sides of the children’s play area. The front fence has been left clear to allow good visibility for parents supervising their children from outside the playground. The trees chosen were a beautiful mix of beech and hornbeam, which retain their leaves to offer year round interest, combined with fast-growing field maple. The remaining trees have been planted at the front of the park to form a long section of hedge behind the houses on Park Street, which can be continued to a full line across the front of the park in the next planting season.
The hedges will establish themselves over the next couple of years and we hope they will do well despite some stray footballs. The hedges will provide important shelter for small mammals and birds, as well as insect life. Hawthorn in particular provides food for pollinators in spring and a food source for birds during autumn and winter.
There are more planting parties to come before the season ends later in March so we will be updating you as we go.
Want to get involved in planting or maintaining new trees? We’d love to hear from you. No experience needed. Drop us a Facebook message via 21st Century Thame or email [email protected] .
The project materials were kindly covered by a grant from Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment (TOE). Thank you again to all the volunteers, the companies for releasing staff and to Thame Town Council and Thame and District Rotary for your ongoing enthusiasm for helping see our projects to fruition, and to Helpful Hirings for loaning equipment.
