AS the warmer weather begins to make an appearance, Winsford’s Town Park has had a spruce up, with a new bench and plants for residents to enjoy.

The Prairie Zone beds are the central feature of Town Park's planted area, and new plants have now been added and the area tidied up.

A spokesperson for the Friends of Winsford Town Park said: “Designed by Jo Fawcett in 2018, the scheme is influenced by the work of Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf, whose plant designs in public spaces help connect and engage people with nature.

“The scheme is intended to create naturalistic swathes of ornamental grasses and colourful perennials, providing colour and structure from spring to autumn. 

“Since the scheme was established, much has been learned about which plants thrive, and which don't.

“This can only come after several seasons of careful observation.

“Over the last few weeks, the beds have been a hive of activity, with large areas stripped and tons of soil improver brought in to enhance the soil structure and aid replanting.”

At the same time as the replanting, the beds are having their edges recut to neaten them up.

The cost for this work has been met by the Friends group, with the support of Winsford Town Council.

As well as new planting, there is a new bench in place in the park, funded by the group.

A spokesperson added: “’Our Bench’, named by a group of teenagers whom the Friends talked to a couple of years ago, is a matching bench to 'The Friendship Bench', installed in 2021, and is located by the lower pond.”

The Friends of Winsford Town Park also announced it has been able to make a donation to St Luke’s Hospice, which it does annually if funds allow.

A total of £300 was donated to the hospice from profits raised by the 2023 Winsford calendar, published by the Friends, plus an additional £294.04 from a bucket collection - most of which came from shoppers at Morrisons, Winsford, where the Friends had a table for sales of the calendar.