Rock, Paper, Thistle

On their twenty-minute walk between the cafes in Pitshanger Park and the old Perivale Golf Course, a trio of GoodGymers encountered a sign announcing the opening of a new green space in Ealing: Pear Tree Park. Did the new park have anything to do with where they were heading? Sevan, Steph and Kash, following last month's session with Ealing Greenwayers, were on a mission to rejuvenate the grounds surrounding the Perivale Golf Course Cafe.

Today's session was a loose interpretation of the rock-paper-scissors game:

• Rocks were the key part of an overgrown rockery the Greenwayers and GoodGymers were supposed to reveal by pulling out weeds, especially thistle. Thistle beats rock.

• Paper was a weapon against thistle. Richard, the chief Greenwayer and a dedicated first-aider warned the GoodGym folk about the nastiness of the thistle thorns and recommended crumpled newspaper as the remedy. Our volunteers couldn't believe the thorns would pierce through their thick gloves - but they did! Kash adapted the newspaper method and became the GoodGymer with the least number of ouches shouted. Paper beats thistle.

• Scissors were absent in this game as the weeds could be pulled from between the rocks by the sheer force of gloved (and newspapered) hands. Sadly, scissors didn't beat anything in today's episode.

The ultimate objective was to conquer the mound of rocks and free it from the reign of thistles. The strategy was to besiege the rockery with an army of three Greenwayers and three GoodGymers and climb the mountain, continuously pushing the thistles back.

During the one-hour session, the GoodGymers were attacked by the thistles' allies, the insects, from the ground and the sky. Sevan disturbed a couple of ant nests in the rockery and had to retreat from the battlefield, finding his new purpose in wheelbarrowing the green waste out of the scene. Steph unsettled the pollinators visiting the thistle flowers. Bumblebees seemed to be forgiving, but the sight of bees forced Steph to change tactics and attack the mound from a different side.

There is always one more weed

That should be the gardening GoodGymers' motto. It was no different this time. Despite the crushing victory over the thistles, the thorny weed persevered at its last stand. Had the team started 30 minutes earlier or had one more pair of hands, the scores might have been different. Nonetheless, the vast majority of the vegetation was successfully removed, and the volunteers were able to marvel at the shape of the rockery.

Sevan, Steph and Kash finished the session with a 3 km run to Dean Gardens in West Ealing, where they parted ways. They will reunite at the Tuesday's group run to help St Andrew's.