St. Paul’s Nursery, Belfast
Date: 28 February 2007
No. of trees planted: 501
No. of people involved: 39
On a chilly morning in March, our red van arrived in St. Paul’s Nursery off the Falls Road in West Belfast. A mix of 500 native trees, including hawthorn, blackthorn and hazel was waiting to be planted in a 60m hedge along the school fence.
After scones and banana bread provided by the friendly staff, nine mothers surprised us with their willingness to help and the planting finished earlier than we expected.
A large downy birch, which we planted in the middle of the lawn of the nursery, attracted the childrens’ attention during this showery day. Some of the kids were amazed by the height of the tree as it was even taller than their teacher!
We used a roll of mulch material to make sure that weeds won’t harm the new hedge. Let’s hope that the young hedge also stays protected from vandalism (a common problem for the school).