Grass won't grow under bulb planters' feet

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Locals give St Mary's Churchyard a makeover

Camilla Phelps has recently moved in to her new home in Acton but grass doesn’t grow under her feet: she took one look at St Mary’s Burial Ground and decided it needed some help. A few posts on the Actonw3.com Forum and a little flexing of her organising muscles brought results last Saturday. Camilla managed to motivate more than 15 local residents and three park and town rangers into a massive bulb planting session in the churchyard.

Willing adult volunteers, helped by a number of children, planted several hundred assorted daffs, crocuses and tulips in clumps all round trees and along paths under the informed guidance of park rangers Vanessa Hampton and Andy Witkowski. The park rangers were happy to help and would love to hear from other groups who want to improve their green spaces by adding some colourful bulbs.

Camilla says she has taken the Burial Ground under her wing because “it’s at the end of my road and I wanted to give the graveyard a bit of TLC as we are lucky to have such a lovely space” She reckoned about half the volunteers had come through postings on this site and the rest were either friends, neighbours or had come through the Churchfield Community Association. One local resident, Fabrice Serafino, looked up from his planting to add “It’s a great idea and nice to try and make the place happy”

Asked what next for the burial ground, Camilla replies “That’s it for this year but next year we hope to do something with the walls, maybe putting in some climbing plants and we’d like the council to re-seed the grassy areas properly”.

Sara Nathan

February 2, 2007