Businesses help make care home's picturesque wildflower garden a reality

Noah Vickers

Published: 10:35 AM July 7, 2021

A bumblebee enjoys the nectar of wildflowers not previously found on the care home's lawn - Credit: Woodstock Care Home

Local businesses have helped a care home transform its outdoor space into a beautiful wildflower garden.

One of the planter benches, built from pallets and provided by a local waste-clearance company - Credit: Woodstock Care Home

Naomi Daglish, activities coordinator at Woodstock Care Home in Gressenhall, near Dereham, said the project started after the National Trust’s ‘No Mow May’ season, which encouraged people to leave their gardens unmowed throughout May to aid pollination.

A resident paints one of the planter benches - Credit: Woodstock Care Home

“After May, it seemed such a shame to cut it down, because there are so many beautiful flowers growing out there, so we decided to turn it into a wildflower meadow… to keep the colour going all year round,” said Ms Daglish.

Wildflowers sprouting up in the care home's meadow - Credit: Woodstock Care Home

Plants were donated by a staff member at online sweets retailer Sweetzys, while local waste-clearing company A & T Clearances transformed several wooden pallets into five large planter benches, sold to the home at the cost price of the pallets.

A resident works on the garden's bug hotel - Credit: Woodstock Care Home

“When you’re in a wheelchair, it’s actually quite difficult to do gardening, so with these pallet benches, there’s space underneath them for the residents to sit in their wheelchair and do the gardening,” said Ms Daglish.