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Two white men in work clothes piling garden waste into wheelbarrows at Osney Lock Hydro

Eco-friendly gardening at the hydro

Over the summer we started developing the hydro site as a wildlife garden. Visitors will have noticed the flowers in the border just inside the gate. We also stopped cutting the lawn to let the grass and other plants there flower and seed.

Recently we cleared a huge pile of hedge trimmings which had built up since construction of the hydro. In its place we have installed two compost bins made from recycled timber so that we can manage our green waste more effectively.

There was a lot of good compost at the bottom of the pile of hedge cuttings which has been added to the flower border. We also unearthed a quantity of half-rotted logs which have been arranged as a wood pile along the hedge to support beetles.

From the spring we’ll be adding more plants to the flower border. Our focus is on species which are native or naturalised to the UK and are known to be used by moths, bees and other insects. We have planted a native English honeysuckle against the railings.

White man in work clothes building compost bin from wood
Jeremias building the compost bins

We are grateful to our volunteers Jeremias and Rowan who helped shift the garden waste, and to Jeremias in particular, who built and installed the compost bins.

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