HYPNOS AT THE CHILTERN RANGERS WILDFLOWER NURSERY

This March, 12 members of the Hypnos team lent a hand at the Chiltern Rangers Wildflower Nursery in High Wycombe, helping to prepare it for the year ahead!

The Chiltern Wildflower Nursery invites people of all ages, abilities and from all parts of the community to help grow local, native wildflowers, which form the base of the food chain feeding pollinators such as bees, beetles and butterflies.

The nursery helps to reduce social isolation, improve mental health and encourage a love for gardening amongst volunteers.

Once the wildflowers have grown, they are planted via various projects and sites across the Chilterns. So far, volunteers have grown and cared for a stock of 500 native wildflowers, many of which are grown from seeds of local provenance. Some of the wildflowers grown at the Chiltern Wildflower Nursery have even been used to help grow our own wildflower garden at Hypnos!

The volunteering began with an early morning start, and after a short coach ride, the team arrived on site. We were greeted by clear blue skies and beautiful sunshine! Following a quick briefing from Chiltern?Rangers and a coffee, the team eagerly got stuck in!

Our enthusiastic volunteers were involved with many tasks. Some of which were building raised flower beds and a growing frame, painting the planting stands and bee hives, re-laying pavement and planting seeds. It’s amazing what can be achieved in a day! The raised flower beds was the biggest task involving cutting wooden planks to size, measuring the ground, precisely putting them into place, loading the logs and soil and then individually planting the sweet peas and lettuce. The duck egg blue and light pink planting stands are inviting and add a beautiful touch of colour into the nursery as people first arrive.

One local Chiltern Ranger volunteer had brought her own wildflowers grown from seed. The team loved planting them and were fascinated to hear her vast range of knowledge on the wildflowers. It was interesting to hear that the wildflowers typically take a few months to establish and grow best in an open and sunny environment with weed-free soil. Therefore, despite moving the soil being a heavy task and the de-weeding taking a little while, it was an important role!

After the wildflowers were planted, the team used their initiative by utilising the leftover wood to also build a growing frame, which was a lovely surprise for the Chiltern Rangers team!

The day was thoroughly enjoyed all round! A few volunteers felt inspired to even start their own wildflower patch, with one Hypnos volunteer aspiring to get a garden or allotment with their next property. It‘s great to see how this small amount of time has inspired positive new hobbies, exactly what it is inspired to do!

One of our volunteers mentioned: "It’s so nice to be outside doing what you love, whilst knowing your work is contributing towards a great cause".

We look forward to visiting the wildflower nursery in a couple of months’ time when it is in full bloom! Hopefully, there will be bees in the hives and if we are lucky we might get to try some honey! We look forward to continuing our close partnership with the Chiltern Rangers with more events in the nearby future!

Find out more about the Chiltern Rangers - https://chilternrangers.co.uk/ .

If you would like more details of how to volunteer locally visit www.thebighelpout.org.uk .