West Lancashire is blooming beautiful this summer – thanks to more than 25,000 bedding plants which have been planted by the Conservative controlled borough council.Flower beds in parks, on roundabouts and on roadsides all across the borough have been transformed by the council’s green-fingered grounds maintenance team. They have also put up 38 hanging baskets, completing all the work in just four days.
The bedding plants, which include a wide range of flowering species such as geraniums, begonias and marigolds, are purchased from specialist nurseries in the UK who, like the council, are signatories of the ‘peat free charter’ which ensures plants are grown in an environmentally-friendly way.
Over the last four years the council has maintained the number of plants it buys while reducing the amount it spends. Over the last four years, by shopping around to find the best value for money, approximately £1,000 has been saved and this year 25,000 summer bedding plants cost £5,760 – that’s around 23p per plant.
Aughton Park ward councillor, Cllr Ian Grant, Leader of the council, said: “Residents appreciate the summer bedding programme and I often hear people say how lovely the flowers are. Local people want the council to keep the borough looking beautiful and I’m pleased to say that we are managing to do this while reducing the amount of money we spend.”
When autumn comes, the council will remove the flowers and replace them with 17,500 winter bedding plants and 10,000 bulbs to ensure the borough looks beautiful all year round.