THE REGIONAL PARK
Judging by the number of people who visited the Regional Park Ballincollig in 2020, the place is hugely popular.
Many people who come to the Park to walk fail to take in the beauty around them.
No matter what entrance you take there is so much to see. For instance, if you take the Innishmore entrance near the Allotments, following the path towards the Powdermills entrance and onto the An Fionn Laoi entrance the sights are spectacular.
Cork City Council Parks Department have put a huge amount of time, planning and investment into the amazing trees that are planted there. Some beautiful Pollinator and Wildflower Meadows with paths cut through them.
The many trees have name plaques in front of them, definitely worth veering off the paths to enjoy them. They include Scots Pine, Glaucum, Japanese White Pine, Fraser Fir, Serbian Spruce, Japanese Umbrella Pine, Colorado Spruce to name but a few.
The Powdermills App which was launched recently allows an insight into the buildings and their uses when they functioned as a Gunpowder Mill.
This area is steeped in history. Be sure to slow your pace to fully appreciate it all .
PHOTOGENIC
Numerous people have been seen taking photos using the Towers and the Parklet as backdrops.
The Parklet has been one of the best additions to the Main Street.
BIN AND GONE
City Council Staff were out early emptying all the bins on both Sunday and Monday mornings ever before our Volunteers began their Litter Picks.
The crows usually attack the rubbish pulling it out of the bins and shredding it all over the streets so it was a lovely sight to see empty bins.   
LITTER PICK
There were fourteen Volunteers out for the weekly Litter Pick on Sunday of the Bank Holiday weekend. There were six Volunteers out litter picking on the Bank Holiday Monday.
Twelve bags of Litter were collected in total.
One bag of Green Waste was collected from Leo Murphy Terrace.
Four bags of Green Waste were collected from Powdermills and one bag of Green Waste was collected from Fernwalk.

Four bags of Litter, one bag of Glass, one bag of Plastic and one bag of Cans were collected from the daily Litter Picks during the week.
LOVE BLOSSOMS
After Ballincollig Tidy Towns received a phone call from Aldi on Sunday last some of our Volunteers collected thirty-nine trays of Geraniums from them.
These lovely flowers are in need of some serious TLC and they will now spend some time in our Intensive Care Unit at the Allotment.

 

Two of our Volunteers look after the Allotment. They take care of the Flowerbeds there. All the Plants and Shrubs have been recycled. They have been kindly donated to us by various shops and have been cared for in the tunnel.
Wednesday we received a call from Tesco offering Ballincollig Tidy Towns two trollies of flowers that were past their sell by date. We collected them and took them to the Allotment for evaluation. In the coming days we will plant the majority of them in the flowerbeds and the remainder will be put in the polytunnel to bring them on.
MAIN STREET PLANTERS
With the Planters in full bloom, we are already planning the flowers for 2022.
Our first meeting to review the Planters takes place this week. Each Planter will be reviewed to see how we can improve for next year.
The choice of plants, colours, pollinators all have to be taken into consideration. This year the feedback from people has been extremely positive which makes all the effort worthwhile. 
ONGOING WORK
John continued his work on Barry’s Road.

 

Once again Adrian began the tedious job of cleaning around the Hydrangeas from Carrigrohane to Poulavone Roundabout.

 

 

WATERING
Last Thursday’s Watering of the Planters was put off until Friday evening due to the rain. The Watering took the Two Pats three hours and they used fourteen hundred litres of harvested rainwater.  
The recent rain has allowed our Water Harvesting Tank Farm to fill from the roof of Scoil Barra.
All the Planters, including the Towers and the Parklet were watered.
The Waterboys took two-and-three-quarter hours to do the Watering on Tuesday night and used fifteen hundred litres of water.
All the Planters on the Southern side of Ballincollig as well as the Planters at Eastgate and halfway back as far as Station Road Junction were watered. The Parklet and Towers were also watered.
It took half an hour to water the remaining Planters on Wednesday night and two hundred litres of water were used.
Because of the rain over the past few days Thursday’s watering meant that the two Pats only used six hundred and fifty litres of water. It took them two hours to water all the Planters, the two Towers, the Parklet and the Wooden Planters. 
Fr Sexton Park and Station Road did not need watering due to the heavy rain during the day.
 

 

 

WORK NIGHTS
There were seven Volunteers our for the Tuesday Work Night. We worked on the area near the Wildflower Meadow on the Link Road.
Before we cut the grass back slightly, we edged beside the footpath and it made a wonderful difference. This was such a positive step. Using spades and brushes and despite the fact it took an hour, it was so much better than spraying.
All the sods that were removed will be recycled and used to fill in areas that need building up.
There were also Volunteers dead heading flowers and litter picking.
Thursday’s Work Night found us on the Link Road where we cut a strip of grass alongside the footpath below the Wildflower Meadow. Efforts to finish the edging were interrupted due to a torrential downpour. Next Tuesday’s Work Night will see this area completed.
While the edging was being done another one of our Volunteers spent time removing suckers from some trees. 
Two more Volunteers were litter picking and another was busy dead heading the flowers.