Creating new wildlife habitats

 16th October 2024: Lizzy from The Orchard Project led our team of volunteers on a habitat creation journey in and around Mayow Park orchard on a fine, warm October day.

Tools at the ready in wheelbarrows

Photo AS

We were joined by young people from Free We Grow, who came ready to work. Under Lizzy's guidance the young people planted bulbs in the soil around the trees so that, come spring, we will have a lovely floral show.

Photo Mariana FWG

The children worked well as a team and some good conversations were had about what they were doing.

photo Mariana FGW

photo Mariana FWG

photo Mariana FWG

Meanwhile Friends of Mayow volunteers searched for wooden logs the thickness of an arm or slightly thicker. These logs were sawn to manageable lengths ready to create our stag beetle loggery.

Photo AS

Lizzy found the perfect location:  

Photo AS

Stag beetles are among a number of UK endangered invertebrates. Even though there are not huge numbers,  they seem to have settled in South East London where there find old, rotting logs to lay their eggs. Stag beetle larvae can spend up to seven years munching through logs half-buried in the ground. Then they pupate and emerge from their cosy woody homes into daylight.  And we find these royal insects flying around on warm evenings from late May into July as they search for mates, lay eggs and the cycle starts again.

With the logs ready, the two Mikes prepared the ground:

Photo AS

Their artistic creation:   

Photo AS

All finished: 

Photo AS

BULB PLANTING IN THE TRIANGLE December 2012

Two bulb planting sessions in Mayow Park on 8th December and 16th December with regular park users joining in. On 8th December a mother and her two children helped to plant 140 fritillaria around the holly tree and sitting logs near the path on the southern side of the Triangle.

The  holly trees  (left & right of  picture in middle distance)

A brother and sister planted fritillaria

A dad and his sons planted irises

16th December was a dry and sunny winter's day with plenty of visitors in the park. Two volunteers planted more fritillaries and some snowdrops by the holly tree and sitting logs on the north-eastern side of the Triangle. A father with his two sons were passing by and they joined in to plant irises on the slope by the Bowls club, on the western side of the Triangle to the right of the manhole cover and behind the silver birch trees. We have more bulbs to plant as soon as possible.