News
Latest news from Chipping in Bloom is featured here. You can also view our videos at the Chipping in Bloom YouTube Channel.
For previous years' news, use the following links: 2025, 2024, 2023
New planters around the village
This year we have been repairing, renewing and replacing some of our planters around the village, supported through grant funding from Ribble Valley Borough Council. We have mostly added herbaceous plants which require less watering once established, and should last for many years.
2026 Village Help Out Day
The morning was wet, but is cleared out in the afternoon for our annual help Out Day in early June. Around 50 local people of all ages joined Chipping in Bloom volunteers and Chipping Parish Council to pick litter, clear weeds, prune shrubs and tidy our village.
Rejuvenating the Bus Stop Beds
This year we continued our cycle of REVIEW, REVIVE, RENEW with the planting beds next to the bus stop on the Village Green. Spring saw some weeding, clearing and pruning, after which we reviewed the bed to see what was growing well (and what might need a bit of TLC). Then we spread a thick layer of bark mulch to keep down the weeds and keep in the moisture. Next planting season we will start to fill the gaps with shrubs and herbaceous plants to create a wildlife corridor from the Village Green to the surrounding countryside.
Sowing the Annual Wildflower Nectar Patch
On a dry sunny day in April, Chipping in Bloom volunteers were joined by pupils from St Mary's RC Primary School, so sow seeds in our Nectar Patch. The seeds had been collected the previous autumn by the Year 2 Eco Committee at Brabins Endowed Primary School, stored safely over the winter and were now ready for sowing. The children from St Mary's also planted more wildflower plug plants on our stream side area.
Wildflowers for the streamside
With the support for the Bowland Meadows project, we have been able to plant out wildflowers into the stream side habitat at St Mary's Community Garden. Volunteers carefully cleared the ground and put in the small flowering plants. The aim is to increase the diversity of species in this part of the garden, and help local grassland species to grow and thrive.
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March Coffee morning
On a sunny Saturday in March, we held our first Coffee Morning of the year at Chipping Village Hall. Around 75 people joined us for drinks and cake, to buy Mother's Day floral arrangements and from our well-stocked plant stall, and to take part in our ever-popular raffle. We are always stunned by the warmth and generosity of the people of Chipping. The money raised will go towards the cost of floral displays, new planting containers for the village, new water butts, and shrubs to fill in gaps around our bus stop beds on the Village Green. A huge thank you to everyone who came along!​​​
​​This year we also welcomed a local knife sharpener, who was able to repair, sharpen and spruce up garden tools for local people (and for Chipping in Bloom).​​
Winter tasks at St Mary's Community Wildlife Garden
It may be January, but Chipping in Bloom volunteers have been hard at work sprucing up the Wildlife Garden. The bug hotel needed a bit of renovation, and now has new clay pipes and hollow canes for the mini beasts to shelter in. We also took the opportunity of our trees being dormant to carry out some pruning to remove dead and diseased wood and to bring light into canopies where the branches were dense.
