WEEDING the tree pits

Continuing from previous post

After checking on pests and diseases, we went off to give our attention to the trees.  We removed guards around the tree pits and pulled out competing ‘weed’ plants.

Photo A. Sheridan: Tree pit full of grass 'weeds'

What is a weed you may ask? Our definition is a plant that is growing where you don’t want it to. In this case, mainly long grass but also creeping buttercups and dandelions with their long roots, all competing with the trees for water and nutrients.

We wanted to keep the bulbs that had given a lovely show of flowers just a few weeks earlier. We also wanted to keep the comfrey we had planted for its value to the orchard.

Photo A Sheridan: Comfrey in flower

Why comfrey?  In flower, it attracts bees and other pollinators from late May. A number of other invertebrates live on and among its leaves. Comfrey is regarded as a ‘dynamic accumulator’ plant with its deep roots that bring nutrients from the subsoil and up into the leaves. In our orchard we use the ‘chop and drop’ method of chopping down the leaves to use as mulch around the trees and to return nutrients to the soil.

Photo A Sheridan: bee on comfrey flower

The volunteers worked hard and the trees were happy. The following photos show some of the volunteers who gave up their time.

Photo R Hero

Photo R Hero

Photo R. Hero

The following photos show two of the cleared tree pits.

Photo R. Hero

Photo R. Hero

summer volunteering in our orchard

 18th May 2026, will it rain or won't it? 

The weather forecast seemed unpromising, cloudy and rain likely in the morning. But the orchard trees were looking forward to a bit of TLC and we didn’t want to disappoint.

Eight volunteers arrived, ready to check tree health, to look for pests and diseases.

We looked for apple ermine moth caterpillars chomping away in curled leaves covered by their webbing. The webs protect them against any would-be predators looking for a meal of their own. We didn’t find any but will keep looking.

We looked for powdery mildew and found plenty. 

The volunteers will prune these and dispose of diseased leaves carefully, away from the trees, and clean the pruning tools to avoid spreading the disease.

photo A. Sheridan: powdery mildew

One volunteer spotted what looked like a small fluffy ball – a sign of woolly aphids. These are sap-sucking insects, hiding in cracks in bark or in old pruning cuts. When anyone picks at the fluffy featheriness you will find inside small purplish aphids.

Photo A. Sheridan: woolly aphid

Some trees showed signs of pests mainly at the top of the crown, with many leaves looking ragged due to holes and brown/ black spots round the edges. 

Two possibilities for this:

• Either caterpillars like Apple Ermine moth munching the leaves 
• Or Apple Scab which is a fungal disease. 

We’ll keep an eye on this. No photos as the leaves were too high in the crown.

While looking we also found lichen. Don't worry, lichen doesn't harm the trees. It is said that lichen is an indicator of good air quality. 

Photo A. Sheridan: lichen on apple tree

MAYOW PARK FOR WILDLIFE IN 2025

Mayow Park is a site of importance for nature conservation within the borough of Lewisham. The Friends of Mayow Park take that responsibility seriously in their activities.  

ORCHARD: During 2025 the  Friends held orchard pruning workshops, volunteers removed unwanted grasses round those trees and planted bulbs which should produce a floral display this year. Fruit blossom on the trees attracted bumble bees and other pollinating insects. Ladybirds were busy eating aphids. Lady’s Smock (a small delicate flower) made its annual appearance in late March. The orchard trees produced many fruits with some left on the ground for wildlife.  We worked with Glendale in autumn to cut back scrub (mainly brambles and ivy) behind the orchard to allow grass to grow – grassland is an important habitat for invertebrates.

POND: Built with help from Froglife, The Orchard Project and local volunteers, the pond was first constructed with a liner in March 2025 but later in the summer it was re-shaped as a natural clay pond surrounded by a wildlife friendly dead hedge. Over time we hope it will attract dragonflies, frogs and other creatures. Nearby we have created a bee bank for wildflowers to attract pollinators and we would be so happy to see many different types of butterfly.

ANIMALS: We held two evening bat walks in 2025 –enjoyable for all ages. We regularly see crows and magpies, sometimes jays, hear the occasional woodpecker. Common birds include robins, blue and great tits and many parakeets. We have been lucky in recent months to watch the activities of a pair of Egyptian geese that have visited us from time to time.

TREES: With many old and veteran trees, over time their limbs die and they can present potential hazards to the public.  During the past year (2025) tree surgeons cut down dead trees and removed heavy limbs from other trees with safety a priority. Trunks were left lying on the grass for park visitors to use as additional seating and as habitats for insects and fungi. Do visit and look at the different fungi that grow on dead wood. Can you name any?

Before surgery

After surgery Nov 2025

IN OTHER NEWS: Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) have a new Chair. At the recent Annual General Meeting,  (January 2026) the Friends elected Robert Hero as Chair. We are delighted. Robert has a keen interest in the park and  knows many park users. He cares about the wildlife, the upkeep of the park and the way that humans treat the park. He is an animal lover and walks his dogs in the park almost daily.  He and the FOMP committee will plan for activities to make the park the best it can be, working closely with Glendale, the company that manages the park for Lewisham.  Robert intends to reach out to more park users and encourage them to join us so that FOMP will become a strong and influential park user group.

And to finish off, here is a fungus beauty on an oak log on 20th Jan 2026

warty jelly fungus (Exidia glandulosa)

Picnic in the orchard - our latest poster

 This fantastic poster was designed for us by designers at Rebel Kitchen  (RK). Meet some RK staff at the picnic.

The first orchard trees were planted in 2012. The parks department at Lewisham Council gave us permission for the site. The Orchard Project (TOP) came to help all the volunteers with demos and advice on how to plant the trees properly and after care. TOP colleagues will be joining us for the picnic so you can chat to them about fruit trees and their rewilding project.  

You can also meet some of our Friends of Mayow Park volunteers who look after the orchard.

Summer picnic Sunday 14th July

 

Join us for a relaxed afternoon among the fruit trees.

Find out the names of fruit varieties we grow and seek out those you won't find in the supermarkets.

Orchard fruit tree pruning workshops early 2024

We held FOUR fruit tree pruning workshops in the Mayow Park orchard starting end of January and with our last session on 10th Feb 2024. Why four? A number of people asked to take part and we chose dates to accommodate them. This gave us small working groups so we got to share our skills and  knowledge. Some people had no previous pruning experience and others had a lot. Some people were surprised to learn that it is best to prune stone fruit (cherries, plums etc) in summer as winter pruning can make them more susceptible to silver leaf fungal infections. All sessions were led by Alona.

We started by looking at tools, how we use them safely and tool care; anvil and bypass secateurs, telescopic fruit tree pruners, loppers, saws.  We shared info on hygiene when pruning and why mulching our trees is a good idea. 

We looked closely at some of the trees to check for 3 Ds (dead, damaged, diseased), and 2 Cs (crossing and crowded), talking about which branches to prune and why. Then we got to work, in pairs and under supervision. 

We were lucky with the weather on all four sessions;  despite rain being a daily occurrence we had two dry hours each time. Thank you everyone who came along and joined in.

Susan and Janet

Yogi and Sue

Alex with secateurs

Mike and Sue with a vigorous perry pear

Claudia and Millie with the Core Blimey

Alona with a long-handled pruner

Frank doing formative pruning on the Red Windsor

Jean at work on Conference pear

AS Feb 2024

The GoodGymmers came to mulch 29 August 2023

You don't expect volunteers to run to an orchard and spend 45 minutes on weeding and mulching on an evening during the working week.... and then run off again.  But that is just what eleven members of Bromley GoodGym did when they visited Mayow Park orchard for an evening session. 

They showed such amazing team work and the trees enjoyed the attention.

In no time some members were removing tree guards and pulling up weeds, while others went off to fill two wheel barrows full of  wood chips to mulch round the base of trees.

In 45 minutes they took care of SIX trees. That's fast work.

Why bother to mulch round the fruit trees with wood chips?  Here are some good reasons:

• The wood chips encourage mycorrhizal fungi to grow- beneficial fungi that live in the wood chips and work with the tree roots. They take sugars from the tree and give nutrients back from the soil . . . how cool is that?
• Wood chip mulch holds moisture in the soil round tree roots so there is less need to water, particularly good in summer
• The wood chips slow down water into the soil particularly after heavy rains, so the tree roots are not sitting in wet
• They protect plant roots from extreme cold in winter
• They protect plant roots from too much heat in summer
• As they rot down they help improve the soil

All photos are from BromleyGoodGym. Thank you for your help.

Orchard winter pruning workshop

Organised and facilitated by members of our own Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) group, we ran two workshops  in Mayow Park's community orchard (near the tennis courts) on 24th and 28th February 2023.  

Five people attended session one and six attended session two - eleven people in total.

Both sessions began with a short intro on  tools for pruning and how to look after them. Next came 'getting to know your tree' by looking for damaged, dead and diseased branches on the trees. We talked about  the process of grafting scions, different rootstocks and reasons for mulching.

After the brief theory intro we visited some trees to look carefully at what should be pruned and why.

Then on to the practical pruning, in pairs.   

One of the  FOMP members worked on weeding round the trees and collecting  mulch to lay around each tree.

The two hour sessions did not give us enough time for all the trees but those we worked on seemed very contented after.

Our regular orchard volunteers will continue pruning and mulching over the next two weeks.

Equipment at the ready

choosing which branch to cut

Loppers  being moved to cutting position

A clean cut with sharp loppers

A few trees are not in the best of health. One apple tree has had fungal canker for a few years but seems to be healing some of the wounds this disease caused.

Canker on Crawley Beauty

Unfortunately the Conference pear tree has never thrived. It turns out it has been planted where the ground gets rather water-logged after heavy rain. Now its main trunk is being eaten alive by wood borers.

Any ideas about the creatures causing this damage?

Soon all the fruit trees will have a blanket of wonderful mulch to keep them cosy in winter, cooler in the heat of summer and encourage mycorrhizal fungi that work in symbiosis with the roots of the trees, swapping nutrients and sugars.

cosy comfort of woody mulch

AWESOME ORCHARDS DAY

 16^th October 2021 – our  ‘Awesome Orchards’ event.

Heavy rain fell as we pitched up in the first hour! We had agreed to cancel the event should there be rain . . . but we didn’t listen to our own advice.

We convinced ourselves to carry on and that drier weather would follow. Luckily it did.  And we had an enjoyable event. 

Sadly all our orchard apples had been stripped from their trees in July and August, months before they were ripe and tasty, and none remained for us to use.

As in previous years, we received apples donated from gardens including Red Delicious and others with made up names such as Tilmaston Tipple, Burghill Bounties and Moss Mayhem (a pear variety!). FOMP also purchased named varieties from the local greengrocer to be sure of enough varieties for tasting:  Spartan, Russet, Cox, Braeburn, Granny Smith and Gala. 

Apples lined up for tasting

Some donated apple varieties

Bought in named varieties

Our apple tasting activity proved popular. Who would have thought apples could come in different shapes, sizes and tastes? The most popular apple by taste turned out to be the unknown variety given the name Burghill Bounties.

Tasting apples

Another popular activity was the children’s treasure hunt. Children visited orchard trees to find letter clues that would spell a word. When they worked out the word, each child won a small prize.

Pippa’s apple cake and pear loaf were very popular refreshments.

Thanks to Nathalia for researching and making rather attractive orchard fruit tree labels to tie to the tree guards.

Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers and visitors who joined us in celebration of orchards. Around 50 people attended.  

Upcoming work session in June 2018

 Friends of Mayow Park (FOMP) and Glendale (who manage the park on behalf of Lewisham Council) are getting ready for a joint working session on 12th June 2018 as a celebration event. Friends of Mayow Park first met in April 1993 (as Mayow Park Users' Group) and, for our 25 year anniversary, we would like to mark that occasion by working together with Glendale to brighten up one part of the park.

FOMP volunteers plan to clean up the Victorian granite water fountain in recognition that the park itself celebrates an anniversary - 140 years since it was officially opened to the public.

The fountain circa 1900 provided drinking water to park users

The fountain today as an ornamental reminder of bygone days

The volunteers will also tidy up the Triangle herb and fruit beds in front of the cafe. It there are enough volunteers we may do some additional work in the orchard.

Together with Glendale we will create a new rockery near the modern drinking fountain, an idea suggested by a park user a few years ago.

Somewhere in the undergrowth is a rockery waiting to be uncovered

Opposite the rockery and next to a bench is a wonderful maple 'den' created after a diseased maple tree had to be felled some years ago. The stump is still there but around it have grown suckers to create a dense hideaway. We intend to cut back some of this growth.

Dense growth surrounds the dead tree stump . . . 

. . . but in among the wood there is a great hiding place

And that is not all we plan to do.

We welcome more volunteers, for a short while or the whole session. If you can, bring a trowel or a spade. If you don't have tools we have a few.