ISLINGTON GARDEN WILDLIFE SURVEY 2008: Gardens in Islington make up 20% of the Borough's area, and are therefore a major haven for our biodiversity. Islington's Ecology Centre has launched a survey of garden wildlife in order to find out what Islington's gardens are like, what wildlife we have visiting our gardens, assess how best to help species which may be struggling, and what Islington residents are already doing to help wildlife in their gardens.
The deadline is Friday 8 August, and you can complete your survey online by going to: www.islington.gov.uk/Environment/outdoor.gardenwildlife.asp
KING HENRY'S WALK: After nearly three years of planning and hard work, King Henry's Walk Garden is now open. This spring there will be a sustained programme of planting, and a series of workshops led by Caroline Foley, author of 'Practical Allotment Gardening' and a special springtime workshop with BBC's Gardeners' World presenter Joe Swift, who is a patron of the garden.
58 plots approximately 6 square metres in size have been allocated to interested members of the public in the Mildmay Ward of Islington to grow their own fruit, vegetables and flowers.
The garden is a greenspace success for Islington: in 2005 Islington Council Greenspace consulted the local community about what they wanted from a disused site tucked behind King Henry's Walk Adventure Playground. A community garden was decided upon and a dedicated committee of volunteers including IG members has since raised over £170,000 to design and create the garden, including raised beds, communal area, accessible communal building (with sedum roof), greenhouse, a rainwater collection system, and also to manage its own small woodland which is graded as a 'site of borough importance'.
The garden is open to the public between 12 pm and 4 pm on Saturday afternoons, and from 10 am to 3pm on Wednesdays. Residents of the Mildmay Ward are invited to become keyholders and plotholders. See www.khwgarden.org.uk for full details. The building may be hired. The creation of this garden is a major achievement for all concerned.
NEWSFLASH: Please remember if you are finding your spring plant purchases at local garden centres very expensive that Islington Gardeners members can get a 10% discount from the Boma Centre, Capital Gardens at Ally Pally and Highgate, Clifton Nurseries and North One Garden Centre on production of a current IG membership card (Monday-Friday only). So now is the moment to join Islington Gardeners (or renew your membership), full details are on the Join/Contact page. Then you will also be able to participate in this year's members' programme with early notice of events.
A chance to save money by growing your own veggies: FOOD UP FRONT is coming to Islington. STOP PRESS: We are pleased to have the Islington Representative coming to talk to us at our Spring Lecture on Tuesday 25 March (please see events page for details), non IG members welcome
Food up Front was established in April 2007 to enable people in London to use their front gardens and balconies to grow and share healthy food. Members of Food up Front, who pay a small fee, receive a starter pack with seeds, a container, and compost. They also receive support from the Food up Front network.
The scheme took off in South London last year and received considerable media coverage, as well as winning awards. It now coming to North London, and in particular, Islington. We will have more information as the Islington scheme gets set up, and in the meantime, please have a look at the website: www.foodupfront.org.
This is what they do in Seattle: relatives of an IG member have kindly sent us these pictures of street-side vegetable growing in the Ballard district. The sticks are to keep the cats out, and apparently they work.
More about food-growing: Global Action Plan is helping the Hanover in Hackney Association to grow food and green their external spaces. For more details please see the website www.globalactionplan.org.uk/communityhousing
SPARROWS: THE LATEST RSPB RESEARCH (2007)
In a study currently running in Greater London the RSPB have found that providing mealworms through the breeding season (May to July) doubles the number of young sparrows emerging from nests. To help chicks, gardeners should be tolerant of aphids and annual weeds. Unfortunately, this success with chicks has not yet translated into more breeding sparows in the following spring, and the RSPB is now feeding seeds all year at its target colonies to see if this helps. For the full details of the research, spelled out at the recent RSPB Members' Day by Dr Will Peach, please see the article in the Library.
ISLINGTON IN BLOOM 2007 RESULTS: These can now be seen in the Islington in Bloom section of the website (far righthand side). We congratulate all the prizewinners who contribute so much to the quality of life within the Borough. We are also very pleased to report that Islington Greenspace not only retained its silver gilt award in this year's London In Bloom Competition, but did so at a higher level than in 2006.
ISLINGTON GARDENERS DELIGHTED TO HAVE WON PRESTIGIOUS LONDON GARDENS SOCIETY TROPHY
At the recent awards ceremony of the London Gardens Society we were delighted to receive the Wakefield Trophy for 2007. This is won by the Affiliated Society gaining the most points from their winning gardens entered into the LGS awards. We entered a number of outstanding gardens belonging to and created by IG members, one of which won its class. This garden, in College Cross, Islington, is open under the NGS Yellow Book scheme, so look out for it in 2008. Our congratulations go to these superb gardeners.
VOLUNTEERS WANTED TO HELP CREATE A SENSORY GARDEN TRAIL AT SUNNYSIDE COMMUNITY GARDEN, HAZELVILLE ROAD, N19
This project is being funded from a grant from Islington Strategic Partnership, and people experiencing a disability are particularly being asked to help create a beautiful space which can be enjoyed by everyone. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer gardener, no previous experience required, please contact Sarah Massey, the newly appointed Disability Access Co-ordinator for Sunnyside Gardens on 020 7272 3522 or email her at Sarah@Sunnysidegarden.org.uk You can also consult the website at www.sunnysidegarden.org.uk
Sunnyside Community Garden was created by local residents from derelict land in 1977. It is a welcoming place for people of all backgrounds and abilities to come and enjoy the garden and get involved. Sunnyside seeks to promote sustainability, organic principles are used, and wildlife catered for in a range of habitats. There is a Saturday Organic Market from 10 am to 3 pm, childrens' holiday activities, bicycle maintenance workshops, a composting scheme, a garden contract service, and other community events take place periodically.
GARDEN GRABBING: THE LAND USE (GARDENS PROTECTION) BILL HAS "FALLEN" - it was so far down the Parliamentary agenda that there was no time left in which to discuss it, and the October opportunities were the its last chance. What a system. Mrs Spelman is hoping that another MP who wins a slot in the private members' bill ballot in the next parliamentary year will take up the issue as it had much support.
GARDEN GRABBING: UPDATE: Caroline Spelman's Bill on Land Use which will remove the definition of gardens as brownfield land will be considered in Parliament on 19 October 2007, the June reading having been postponed. Those wishing to urge the Minister of Housing and Planning, Yvette Cooper, to support Ms Spelman's bill, should write to Mrs Cooper at the Department of Communities and Local Government, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DU, or to your local MP, before this date. There is a sample letter available on www.saveourgardens.org.uk, and this site, which is managed by Garden Organic, also has extensive examples of developers buying up houses with gardens, overpowering the local council's objections, and building over the entire site.
TELEVISION OPPORTUNITY: we were delighted to discover Islington Gardener Rose Irving being interviewed by TV presenter Carol Klein for a forthcoming programme, snapped as they were filming in Rose's verdant and exotic garden in N4.
MORE GLAMOROUS NATURE in Tufnell Park: We were thrilled to come across a pair of large lime hawk-moths in an ivy hedge recently, shown below. Apparently "often seen in towns where limes are planted" but despite living in North London for over ten years, this was our first encounter with such splendid creatures (article in July 07 newsletter, in library).
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In the same hedge we also found a nest of spiderlings which exploded when we disturbed them slightly: |
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BROKEN-NECKED GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER IN CANONBURY
One of our members recently found a dead woodpecker below her front basement window. We assume that it could see through the room to the back window and the garden beyond. Very sad, although indicating that these lovely woodpeckers are hanging on (and possibly flourishing) in this part of Islington with lots of old trees. The RSPB has been noting this type of bird casuality, which is also connected with garden mirrors which are favoured by some gardeners and garden make-overs because of the illusion of space they give. Unfortunately the birds think that the mirrors are open flying spaces and jet straight into them, and break their necks.
c.J. Wildfoods Ltd (0800 731 2820) or www.birdfood.co.uk can supply two things to prevent these tragedies: Sentinels, which are silhouettes of hawks and falcons to stick to the windows (A94401 Black - Fly through, A94402 Red - Reflection), and Window Webs (A94400). Spiders' webs are a natural deterrent to birds.
C.J. Wildfoods' catalogue notes: "Window strikes are more of a problem with young and inexperienced birds at the end of the breeding season. If you see a bird on the ground that you suspect has been involved in a window strike, handle it very carefully as it may be just stunned and not dead. It should be placed very gently in something like a shoe box lined with kitchen roll and left somewhere warm, dark, and quiet for at least 20 minutes. Take the box outside BEFORE opening it as birds that appeared beyond hope will often shoot out past your shoulders before the lid is fully open."
WILDLIFE GARDENING: Islington Ecology centre, in partnership with the London Wildlife Trust, has just launched a guidance pack for encouraging wildlife into your garden. Covering all aspects of habitat creation (all possible within the tablecloth-sized Islington garden, and some even on your balcony), and filled with useful lists of what plants to use, how to make a sparrow terrace, pond data, places within the Borough and wider London to visit .... Pop along to the Islington Ecology Centre, 191 Drayton Park, Highbury N5, and collect a pack. Take the opportunity to walk round Gillespie Park and enjoy the billowing meadows and dog roses (they also have wildlife-friendly garden plants around the building) and forget about the hassle and bustle of London.
FAVOURITE GARDENING WEBSITES: do have a look in the Library at an article by one of our internet-minded members who has put together a selection of gardening websites from the UK and around the world which she has greatly enjoyed looking at and learning from.
GARDEN GRABBING: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: A private member's bill to remove gardens from the category of "brownfield sites" is to have its third Reading in June. This is the Land Use (Gardens Protection) Bill. It seeks to end the current planning law which classes gardens as "brownfield sites" and which allows developers who buy houses with large gardens to then cram in as many homes as possible in the site despite objections from residents, and the local authority. A petition in support of this Bill has been organised by Garden Organic (the working name of the Henry Doubleday Research organisation) and can be signed on their website: http://gardenorganic.org.uk/saveourgardens. The website also has a sample letter so that people can easily write to their MP to encourage them to attend the Reading, and vote in favour of the Bill.
ALIEN HARLEQUIN LADYBIRDS: These ladybirds can now be seen around Islington. It seems that although harlequins, which originate in Asia and having been imported into the US, are now rampaging over the US, biocontrol companies continued to import them into parts of Europe, from where they have spread by themselves to the UK. For a guide to identification, with illustrations, please go to the following website: www.harlequin-survey.org/recognition_and_distinction.htm We also published a useful note in the IG newsletter Oct-Dec 2005 (in the Library). The harlequin website includes the welcome news that a meeting of European scientists took place in March to discuss the problem and make a start towards dealing with it.
ISLINGTON IN BLOOM: Now is the time (until the end of May) enter your own patch, or your neighbour's, no matter how small, into the competition. Further details in the Events page.
NATIONAL GARDEN SCHEME OPEN GARDENS: Local gardens opening under the Scheme are now listed in the Events page. The London Yellow Book with full details and illustrations can now be obtained from local garden centres, bookshops, or you can consult the NGS website at http://www.ngs.org.uk.
FOXLEAS WILDLIFE GARDEN IN PENGE, SOUTH LONDON: This most interesting wildlife garden has its own website at http://www.foxleas.com with photographs from when the owners first acquired it, and as it is today. There are also fact sheets giving guidance as to what to do and what to plant to achieve a superb wildlife-friendly garden. The garden is open under the National Gardens Scheme on 26 and 27 May, and visits can also be arranged at other times. If any IG member would like to go as part of an IG group to this garden, please email Susan(at)lees.org.uk.
>Please look at the Events page for the spring events being organised by Greenspace, the Islington Ecology Centre and a number of local community groups which have just been added to our listings. Lots of outdoor events to give everyone the opportunity to get to grips with the soil and nature. We have only skimmed the surface of what is on offer,picking out those items of most interest to gardeners, so to order the full brochure giving details of Greenspace's community and sustainability events please telephone Greenspace on 020 7527 4953.
LATEST LIBRARY ARTICLES
There are two new pieces in the Library - on DIY wildflower meadows by Richard Meyers of the Islington Ecology Centre, and an analysis of an extensive array of mulching materials by an IG member. Both timely items as we move towards spring planting and summer droughts.
2007 CONSULTATION ON GREEN SPACE STRATEGY IN ISLINGTON
Islington Council has asked Land Use Consultants and Groundwork to prepare a green space strategy for the Borough, setting out an "overall vision and objectives" and identifying where parks (principally) money should be spent, and on what. As an important element of this they are seeking the views of Islington residents about the Borough's parks and open spaces. In addition to canvassing people in parks and at home Land Use Consultants have made a consultation form available online at: http://www.groundwork-surveys.org.uk/greenspaces. Please take the time to register your views; the survey will be available until about mid March, whereupon the results will be analysed and a draft report produced.
JANUARY 2007 NEWSLETTER
The newsletter has now been posted in the Library Section, and contains an article on growing clematis from seed, with photographs of our author's beautiful new plants in flower. Do have a look.
BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH
As the song thrush has sadly become a very rare sight in Islington these days, it was with great joy that I saw a PAIR of thrushes working over the grass in Elthorne Park, N19, earlier this week, while mulling over my sightings for the RSPB's Birdwatch. Could it be that Greenspace's efforts to use less weedkiller etc are delivering results? For the online recording form, please go to www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch .
"GARDEN GRABBING" - ALL IN A FLAP
We have had permission from the Guardian newspaper to place in the Library Section of the website a very interesting and relevant article about the building over of backgardens, a practice which is favoured by property developers, no doubt because it is cheaper than cleaning up old industrial sites. What is lost as new flats are shoehorned into backlands is the outlook of existing residents, the biodiversity of the old gardens, the ability of the space to absorb rainwater, and peace and quiet. If you have Islington examples (the article focuses on Tunbridge Wells and the North of England) of such garden grabbing, please let us know in the discussion forum.
ECOLOGY CENTRE WIND TURBINE
Islington Gardeners were pleased to be invited to the launch on November 20th of Islington Council's plans for pioneering wind turbines, one to be installed at the Ecology Centre (subject to planning permission) as part of its campaign to cut carbon emissions across the Borough. The Ecology Centre wind turbine will make the Centre entirely self-sufficient for its electricity needs, and it is hoped to install it in February next year. The Ecology Centre has recently had a refit and now contains light-channelling sun pipes, a windcatcher, and solar hot water panels.
The Leader of Islington Council, James Kempton, also signed the Nottingham Declaration, which commits the Council to publicly monitoring climate change-causing carbon emissions within the Borough and reporting on its efforts to reduce emissions. Some 160 local authorities have now signed up to the Nottingham Declaration. As a further step in the right direction Islington has recently adopted new planning rules which require all major developments to incorporate renewable energy on site, reducing their carbon emissions by 20 per cent.
WE HAVE FOUND THE NAME OF THIS MYSTERY GERANIUM! We think it is G.rosthornii Rozanne.
GERANIUM EXPERT NEEDED!
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An IG member bought this hardy geranium at our Spring Plant sale this year and cannot identify the cultivar. Its habit is rather lax and sprawling and the stems are reddish. The flower size is about 1.5 inches, and although it is very like Buxton's Blue the foliage is not as deeply cut as those of the Buxton's Blue our member already has. It has flowered continuously since purchase and like many hardy geraniums has had quite a flush of blooms this autumn. If anyone knows please email Susan(at)lees.org.uk |
BIRD WEEK
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Jay, copyright Pat Tuson ARPS |
Following on from Bird Week, we thought that it would interest people to have a look at the survey map of birds in Islington which Islington Gardeners carried out in the spring of 2004, and this can be downloaded from the Library page. (For those who do not know, pressing the magnifying glasses at the bottom of the page will make the map bigger or smaller.) This is does not pretend to be be either comprehensive or systematic, but is record of the general types of bird which some 50 IG members saw locally over the previous year. |
Starling, contemplating a yew berry, copyright Pat Tuson ARPS |
Sparrow decline: The latest research. The following is an extract from the Spring 2006 issue of the RSPB's Conservation Planner magazine: "Kate Vincent, of De Montfort University, has completed her PhD investigating the causes of house sparrow decline in urban areas. By monitoring chick diet and condition she found that many chicks starved while still in the nest and a lack of small insects, including beetles, craneflies, aphids and spiders was a problem in suburban areas lacking deciduous trees, shrubs and long grass.
Kate says: "House sparrows need key habitats in which to find insect food for their young during the summer breeding months and they particularly target deciduous shrubs, grass lawns and tilled soil. The trend for low maintenance and smaller gardens with more concrete, gravel, paving and evergreen shrubs, as well as the increased development of brownfield sites in city areas, could limit the availability of invertebrates".
Will Peach, Senior Research Biologist at the RSPB, says: "This study has clearly demonstrated that a lack of insects in suburbia during the summer prevents house sparrows from rearing their young. Although we are not sure about the exact causes of the population decline, any measures that boost insect numbers such as growing deciduous shrubs and trees, leaving patches of unmown long grass and minimising usage of insecticides should help".
The RSPB web site www.rspb.org.uk has a wealth of information to help gardeners encourage biodiversity and hopefully sparrows.
GARDENAFRICA: sowing the seeds of change
Update: Thanks to the generosity of Capital Gardens and everyone who bought something on the weekend of 14-15 October, nearly £3,000 was raised for Garden Africa. Their team got to talk to lots of local gardeners who were very interested to learn about their training gardens in Southern Africa which are teaching people low input - high yield techniques to put into practice in their own gardens, and about sustainability - water harvesting, mulching, composting, companion planting, seed collection - so that crop yields can be maximised without the need for synthetic inputs.
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GardenAfrica is a UK based charity, indeed a north Islington one, working in Southern Africa setting up training gardens in schools and hospitals teaching people affected by poverty and HIV/AIDS to grow nutritious food and medicinal plants to improve health and generate income. They have teamed up with Capital Gardens in Alexandra Palace to offer a plant buying special on the weekend of the 14th - 15th October when 20% of every purchase will be donated to gardening projects in Africa. To see what GardenAfrica are doing please view their website at www.gardenafrica.org.uk and you can read their latest annual report on our Library page, where amongst other things you will see that they had a display at Chelsea this year. Full details of their special weekend at Ally Pally Garden Centre (which includes a talk on drought-tolerant plants and an African drumming workshop) can be seen on the events page. Please come along and take the opportunity to get ahead with your autumn bulb-buying and support this very worthwhile cause. |
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RESULTS FOR 2006 ISLINGTON IN BLOOM AND LONDON IN BLOOM COMPETITIONS
The list of prizewinners for this year's competition can be viewed in the Islington in Bloom page (next to Forgotten Corners on the blue header line at the top of this page), do have a look. We congratulate all prizewinners and entrants for the contribution which they make to the quality of life in the Borough. The Council won a Silver Gilt Award in the prestigious London in Bloom Competion, and the RHS Biodiversity Discretionary Award which is very encouraging.
A TEMPORARY (SADLY) MEDITERRANEAN GARDEN was the showpiece in the N1 Shopping Centre on Saturday 2 September as part of Islington Council's Imagine Islington event which this year focussed on climate change. In the Biodiversity zone was an eyecatching garden of the future, the brainchild of Islington Gardener Beryl Hislop of the North One Garden Centre and designer Julie Zeldin. The style was Mediterranean, a reflection of hotter weather to come (hopefully not, we must all install low energy lightbulbs etc etc), and the planting featured canna lilies, olives, spectacular bougainvillas, plumbagos, a sculptural agave, as well as buddleias and tobacco plants to attract insects, and chilli peppers which may become easy to grow here. To help biodiversity the toolshed had a "green roof", actually a sedum roof, where all manner of birds and insects can live and feed and which will offset an equivalent patch of concrete by absorbing CO2 and slowing rainwater runoff, and this can be obtained in handy rolls from www.qlawns.co.uk. There were bird and insect boxes, feeders, hibernaculums, a log pile habitat, a water butt, and specially drought resistant grass. Elegant stone mulches were used to aid water retention.aid water retention.
Further details (and the plants) can be obtained from the North One Garden Centre, 25 Englefield Road, tel 020 7923 3553 or via email n1gc@btconnect.com .
Beryl Hislop has also alerted us to the vulnerable state of GREAT DIXTER garden. Before his death in January of this year gardening guru Christopher Lloyd set up a Charitable Trust, but this only owns 40% of the house and garden. In order to ensure future public access to this inspirational site, the Trust needs to raise a staggering £3 million within the next two years, or the house and gardens will be lost to public access and the nation. By becoming a Friend of Great Dixter people can help save Christo's creation and further details can be found on www.greatdixter.co.uk or via email: friends@greatdixter.co.uk
FOOTNOTES
Islington Gardener Pat Tuson takes photographs of (mainly) urban wildlife and on her website www.buddlejaanddaisies.co.uk you can take a relaxed look at wildflowers, a number of which she has photographed within our Borough, and other wildlife.
The London Wildlife Trust has published on its website (www.wildlondon.org.uk) some full notes on Gardening for Wildlife, with lists of plants which attract which butterflies., etc.
RHS booklet: Garden Matters - Front Gardens - Are we parking on our gardens? click here for more information and discussion