2009 has flashed by and it is now late August, but your editor has been so dazzled by the Whitehall Park Garden's flourishing elder bush which now overhangs the Pauntley Street pavement with its berries that its photograph had to be taken. Additionally, while trimming it back to above head-hight, a nest appeared (dead centre in photo), probably blackbird. Hopefully baby birds were raised in this nest a few feet above passer-by's heads this summer. This is new bird habitat above acres of paving and concrete and yards from the dreaded A1 trunk road - wonderful.
Some of our Forgotten Corners in 2008:
The Pyrland Road border, N5, has been given a new fence to discourage flytipping, scaffolding, etc. This has been made by the people who look after it, out of waste material, so deeply sustainable and economical.
Boxworth Grove, Barnard Park, N1, is establishing itself with shade loving plants:
The Whitehall Park Garden. This now has a mini-pond (not shown) made out of an old Christmas tree holder, which will be water for the wildlife.
The Rosemary Green, corner of Baring Street and Shepperton Road, N1:
The Alwyne Castle Strip, St Paul's Road, N1 - a very difficult site, very dry and shady in summer, but making progress:
Ockendon Road N1 has won Residential and Forgotten Corner prizes in the Islington in Bloom 2006 and 2007 competitions, and the residents have set up an interesting website, with photographs of the gorgeous tree gardens they have made in the Road:
www.orra.org.uk. There is also a fascinating history of the development of the road.
We have at last managed to take some good pictures of the lovely Corsica Street Railway Bridge Garden from inside the fence:
The Rosemary Triangle, Baring Street, N1, with exuberant blue comfrey, so popular with bees, and Boxworth Grove, now getting some light and newly planted:
The Whitehall Park Garden in Pauntley Street, N19, this spring:
The Alwyne Castle Strip, St Paul's Road, N1, is a particularly difficult site, being very shady and dry in summer and receiving a constant torrent of litter. However, we have managed to establish various super-tough plants (including dwarf comfrey, various euphorbias, iris foetidissima, violets, lungwort, vinca, spotted aucuba), and bulbs kindly supplied by Greenspace.
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The bulbs (narcissus pseudonarcissus, and crocuses) on the Campdale Road strip in Tufnell Park flowered well in their third year, although the batch which went in in 2006 displayed much less well than the older stock. This may be because they were smaller originally, or were planted more shallowly than the first lot, and consequently the bulbs got too dry in the important period after flowering when they are building up their reserves for next year's flowering. Daffodils are turning out to be more complicated than we had thought! The infant hedge can just be seen, and pleasingly the blackthorns flowered and their white starry blossoms are just visible. Now the pyracanthas are budding.
Two years ago local residents and Islington Gardeners planted a quantity of mixed narcissi in the Northampton Triangle, Northampton Park, N1. This year (2007) the early variety has bloomed very well and we have managed to photograph it at the right moment:
The Pyrland Road border, just of Petherton Road, N5, was looking most promising, but sadly has had scaffolding put on it at one end. This is a great disappointment
2006
We have two new Forgotten Corners in N1: outside the Barbers' shop in Barnsbury Road, and in Boxworth Grove, at the edge of Barnard Park. With both of these we have had a lot of help from the adjacent businesses who have been watering and litter picking and planting.
Above, Barnsbury Road, with morning glories, and below, Boxworth Grove, after tree pruning by Greenspace to lessen the 100% shade:
(Spring 2006) The Pyrland Road border, off Petherton Road, Highbury, has had a fine showing of crocuses which were planted two winters ago.
The Rosemary Triangle, at the junction of Baring Street and Shepperton Road, has developed some substance and is about to start flowering (the empty patch by the pavement has concrete immediately underneath)
The Campdale Road hedge, in Tufnell Park, was planted in November 2005, and is still at stick stage, (as at spring 2006) but the wild daffodils (narcissus pseudonarcissus) and crocuses which have been planted (financed by Greenspace) over the last two winters have made a brave display.
Forgotten Corner gardening is not like normal domestic gardening: usually there are no watering facilities, so plants have to be able to survive drought; litter flows in constantly (although the Greenspace staff are very assiduous with picking it up, as are the Islington Gardeners concerned); and portacabins, scaffolding, roadworks, fridges, and completely revolting items can all appear overnight - and choice plants can disappear overnight. We are kept going by the knowledge that the poor Forgotten Corner was much worse before we started, and that the results steadily get better.
