Page 2 - Garden Flip Booktmp

In the spring of 2014 Terry, one of the Ivy Estate residents, had an idea about
creating some form of meeting area for all the community. After much

thinking and revising of his idea he managed to get Green Square and
Sovereign interested and a meeting was planned together with Wiltshire
Wildlife Trust (WWT) on a small, grassed area on the estate, surrounded by

trees and well used paths. As a result of this first meeting the idea of a
wildlife garden was started.

In late April WWF supplied some pre-cut planks of wood which were

assembled into raised planting beds. A few residents helped lift up turfs of
grass to enable this. These raised beds were soon filled with soil and planted

with an array of colourful plants. By these beds was a very overgrown area of
brambles, prickly bushes etc., which were cut back to provide a sheltered area,
but not so much as to affect the local wildlife. A nearby 500-year-old oak tree
was being pruned and the contractors willingly gave up the resulting wood

chips. These were used to make a more attractive sheltered area and one of
the branches from the tree was used to make a sign for the garden. Soon bird

nest boxes appeared, and hedgehog friendly areas were created along with a
designated area for small reptiles.

A local loft conversion company noticed the work taking place and offered

some offcuts of timber which would normally end up as landfill. From these
offcuts a picnic style table was made + a half size one for children. With the
left-over wood a storage box was made to keep bird feed in + a small

compost bin. Soon a bird table was found and a number of bird feeding
hangers arrived. An increase of bird life has been noticed including a very
friendly robin, some tits and blackbirds. Terry has even been visited by a

small hedgehog. A fitting visit for the man who had the first idea of a garden.

This project is growing beyond anything Terry envisaged almost two years
ago, but he agrees it is amazing what can be achieved when a small number

of enthusiastic people give of their time and energy. More is planned and the
garden is becoming a focus of interest to the whole estate. All it needs is this
interest to be channelled into ideas and construction. To all in the area please

use the garden just to sit and pause for a short while either in the sun or the
more sheltered areas. The children will love the small animal ornaments

dotted around.