Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
The sudden disappearance of flowerbeds in Warrior Square and Gensing Park has puzzled St Leonards residents.
Local resident Alison Wright is puzzled
PICTURE: Dave Young
In Warrior Gardens south, semi-circular beds near Queen Victoria’s statue have long been a colourful feature – enhanced last summer by vertical planters. Now turfed over, they resemble a badly patched cloth.
Gensing Gardens never has many flowers but, this spring, beds have been removed completely.
When contacted, parks and gardens contractor Idverde referred HIP to Hastings Borough Council, who revealed: “The turfed-over areas are a budget cut that was agreed earlier this year.”
Since the beds were already planted with spring flowers, how does pulling them out (while still in bloom) and buying turf save money? And isn’t seafront planting part of the town’s tourist attraction?
“Maintenance of bedding areas is expensive in comparison to grass areas per metre, so turfing small areas of (not very successful or low impact) bedding can provide large savings,” said a council spokesperson.
“Bedding areas in the southern garden have always suffered from excess water levels. This shortens the life of the bedding and only tends to provide a short burst of colour. The flower towers (May to September) were brought in to avoid the wet areas and provide height for a longer summer period. It was therefore agreed that the central bedding area be removed this year as it didn’t provide best value.”
• Has your local park lost its flowerbeds? Let us know: [email protected]
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