orchard on polling day (3rd May 2018)

Work sessions in the Mayow Park orchard have not happened for a while, not since February when we held our winter pruning day. There have been too many days of heavy rain since then; no motivation for Friends of Mayow Park volunteers to get out and do  essential work in the orchard. But polling day promised to be sunny and perhaps even warm so we hastily arranged a work session.
At 10.30 am the first volunteers arrived. We intended to remove weeds round all 18 or our orchard trees, check tree health,  put down some mulch, check the guards and low metal fences round the trees. we were not sure we could do all that in  two hours.
Much of our small pile of mulch had been removed a few days earlier but one determined volunteer was able to sweep what remained into the wheelbarrow and all the trees got some mulch.

COMFREY FOR FRUIT TREES: Some of our trees have comfrey plants growing round them in their tree pits. These plants were intentionally planted a couple of years ago. The thinking is that comfrey, which has deep roots, will bring up nutrients into its leaves. We then cut down the leaves and chop them into the mulch so that the nutrients can feed the tree roots. Some comfrey can be very invasive, but the variety we have, Bocking 14, is non-invasive. If visitors see these large, fluffy-leaved plants they should not be concerned.

valuable volunteers in the orchard

VOLUNTEERS: In addition to our regular volunteers, a dad and his two sons joined us. Their help was much appreciated. Another volunteer came along later and also made a huge difference to the amount we achieved. A total of eight volunteers. We had not publicised this session so we were delighted to have these extra pairs of hands.
At the end of two hours, we had completed all the tasks.

Adding mulch to the tree pit

A happy tree

The orchard is looking lovely with some of the trees in blossom as seen in this photo below:

Cox's Orange Pippin (in foreground) in bloom

The orchard is once again full of Lady's Smock flowers (also known as Cuckoo Flower). These are delicate-looking flowers and rather uncommon in the borough of Lewisham. They prefer damp grassland and our orchard, being on very heavy clay, certainly fits that description. So, by arrangement with Lewisham Greenscene and the park contractors Glendale, the mowing of this area will be delayed until the plants have finished flowering and set seed.

Lady's Smock or Cuckoo Flower in the Mayow Park orchard

Summer pruning orchard workday June2017

We had a very productive Orchard Summer Pruning and tree care session on 24th June with a total of 12 adults and 5 children. Good weather obviously plays an important part in determining how many people are able to take part, so that was a good start. We put up our gazebo to signpost our presence and placed our sign board nearby so that passers-by would recognise who we were and what we were doing.

As usual on these occasions we went through the risk assessment, safe handling of tools and list of tasks for today.

First up was to check trees for pests and diseases. We found some ant and aphid activity on two trees, most noticeable on the Cox's Orange Pippin; some leaves on some trees had evidence of leaf miner but nothing to worry about. Some leaves on the pear trees are starting to show signs of rust but this should not cause serious damage. Many of the apple trees are bearing heavy loads of fruit so we thinned out clusters to prevent disease and encourage the fruits to grow bigger.

Before pruning started in earnest we ran through the reminder of what to look for with the branches:
DEAD, DAMAGED OR DISEASED
CROSSING OR CONGESTED (i.e. overcrowded)

The plum and cherry trees can only be pruned in summer as winter pruning risks developing Silver Leaf, a fungal disease that could destroy a tree. It is probably better to summer prune in July and August but today was our workday for this task.
Before we could prune, some of the tree guards needed to be reduced in height. They have helped to protect the trees pretty well, despite two guards having been damaged during the past few months.

Jonathan inspects the Quince before cutting the height of the tree guard

Sandra with Lane's Prince Albert apple

Robert & Jon reduce the height of the guard round the cherry

Jon among the plums

While the pruning was going on, Sue with her able assistant Christopher (aged 4) were cutting down the comfrey plants, putting them into the wheelbarrow, then chopping them up into small pieces to put round the trees as mulch.

Christopher chops up comfrey leaves to use as mulch

Two other able-bodied young helpers were Thomas and Daniel, watched over by Carol while Jonathan cut down the guards around the quince.

Daniel and Thomas supervise the work

We also had two babies (under 12 months old) supervising us and other adults not in these photos.
Half-way through our work Lewisham's Mayor, Steve Bullock, came to officially open the newly refurbished tennis courts. They have been open for a few weeks already  and have been welcomed by most  of our enthusiastic tennis players.

Newly refurbished tennis courts - May 2017

 We were invited to join in to see the cutting of the ribbon  and share in the delicious strawberries and cream cake.These photos of the Mayor and the cake were taken by Carol Robinson.

And here are photos from the official photographer, including
- a group photo of the Mayor, tennis players, young children and the orchard volunteers
- the tennis courts
- the amazing cake

Three hours of orchard work by the team of volunteers passed by very quickly and the opportunity for a group photo was lost as people went home. In addition to pruning, guard height reduction and comfrey mulching, we also managed to weed round the trees and cut the grass round them.

NATURE'S GYM HELP OUT1: MINIBEAST MANSION

We were delighted to welcome back Nature's Gym on 6th April 2017. Nature's Gym volunteers have worked with Friends of Mayow Park for a number of years. Over the years they have helped in the Triangle beds and in the woodland adjacent to the hard standing (close to the orchard). In the woodland they created the log circle for story telling and where school groups can meet.
They also built the minibeast mansion back in 2012 with a stack of pallets stuffed with twigs. This structure was looking rather tired and in need of renovation. Have any visitors to Mayow Park ever noticed it?

Two of the volunteers chose to work on the minibeast mansion. We have not surveyed which invertebrates have made their home there although there is evidence that spiders have set up residence in some parts. I could not find a photo of this tired-looking structure to post here but as improvement was certainly needed.

The volunteers started by removing the  top two pallets and a higgledy muddle of twigs  poking out of the spaces in the pallets. They realigned the pallets and got to work cutting a large number of hollow bamboo canes which would form part of the new home for any invertebrates who like homes in hollow tubes.

Our work is finished for the day

When it was time to stop, it clearly looked much better but there is more work to be done to finish the whole structure and turn it into a des-res. Who knows, we may be able to get it to look like an interesting and attractive feature? See this photo below from elsewhere.

Hoping our structure can look as impressive as this in the future.

It was disappointing that just three days later I found that ALL the bamboo canes had been removed and carefully taken to the story circle. It was clear that this was not intended as an act of vandalism but some children exercising their curiosity and creativity. A willing volunteer came to the rescue and spent up to one hour collecting all the canes, to relocate them back in the mansion.

I love the idea that children can explore this small piece of woodland. Mayow Park has a number of hidden places to explore, to offer inquisitive young minds a chance allow their imagination to develop through all sorts of play activities, but they need to understand what this structure is and why it was built.

 I HAVE A SPECIAL REQUEST TO  all parents of children who are allowed to play in that space, whether supervised or allowed to play freely.  Parents, could you explain to your children that volunteers spent time building the structure for wildlife and that they can help to look after it. Would any children like to help us finish of the mansion?
If interested,  contact Friends of Mayow Park on: friendsofmayowpark@ymail.com

Orchard pruning session 18th Feb 2017

Friends of Mayow Park volunteers gathered for our annual orchard winter pruning and maintenance day. Eight adults and two children came to lend a hand. Our trees are in a public park, where grass mowing it carried out regularly during the summer, where dogs and children run around. The space  is well used. The trees have tree guards around them to offer some protection until they are bigger and stronger.

The trees are dormant now so this is the best time for formative pruning of our apple trees (malus) and pear trees (pyrus) to give them an open shape and encourage flower and fruit growth.

We set to work. First up was a check on the Cox’s Orange Pippin apple to identify fruit buds and leaf buds. We agreed which branches needed removing or having their height reduced, which crossing or crowded branches needed pruning  in order to open out the centre of the tree to allow air and light in.

Should I cut here or here? Cox's orange pippin

Look at what you are doing!

The Jupiter apple is growing noticeably stronger than the others planted at the same time. Maybe it is in a better location for sunlight, maybe it is better placed for moisture to its roots. It had grown much taller than the other trees - too tall.  Its fruit would be difficult to pick. We agreed to remove one of the main vertical limbs and reduce the height of another before tackling lower branches to give a better shape to the tree.

 Trees planted last March (2016) did not need pruning, other than a damaged branch. The height of some of their tree guards was reduced to allow branches to spread.

Two of the volunteers with tools, ladder and a cup of tea

The site is on heavy clay so the soil tends to dry out and crack during dry summer months. Mulching is important for our trees, helping hold moisture in the soil during the summer as well as making it harder for weeds to take hold. The two children had a great time climbing mountains (the pile of wood chip ready for mulching) and digging with trowels; to some extent they helped their mums remove weeds round a  tree and to put a thick layer of mulch around its circumference.

This is how I like to mulch

some of the water shoots in the wheelbarrow

Surveying the work from a height

 As always with outdoor activities, the weather can play an important part in the success of the day. We were lucky as it was relatively warm for this time of year (Around 9 or 10 degrees) with sunshine.

Workday at the Triangle on 21st July 2016

Would it be too hot and humid to work in the Triangle garden? That was the question being asked the day before,after one of a series of very hot (over 30 degrees C) and humid days.

Would we have enough volunteers to make a significant impact on the overgrown plant beds?
The rainy weather in May and June, coupled with warmth, had seen a small amount of bindweed turn into a strangling mass of long thin strings winding round our herbs. The herbs had also grown and were falling across the woodchip path throughout the plant bed, hiding the path.

Herb bed looks more like a nature reserve

Hard to know where to begin!

As for the adjacent fruit bed, that too was overgrown. The raspberries were doing very well much to the joy of passers-by who grazed the fruit but the grass had grown so that it was impossible to see the stepping logs and the patch with primroses and blueberries was only visible if you knew it was there. Pulling away the long grass exposed this patch.

Grass removed to expose the blueberries and primroses

The woodland style wood chip bed that meanders behind the hedgerow and in front of the dawn redwood tree to the water fountain was bare and needed a deep layer of fresh wood chips, while the path edge logs were rolling away and needed to be bedded in.  The tree stump 'den' opposite the raspberry bed was shouting for a bit of a trim too.

Tree stump den opposite the raspberry bushes

It turned out to be a reasonable day, hot but not scorching,  with clouds and a light breeze. By 11am the Nature's Gym volunteers, and leaders Jess and Judith, had arrived. Before long the volunteers had done their warm-up exercises, tools were given out and work started. In total, and including Mayow Park volunteers, there were 13 people. 

Working hard at our tasks

Tasks were chosen and everyone got on with the hard work of making the beds look  cared for. We all worked so hard that the time flew but luckily someone realised that we had gone beyond the normal tea time/ lunch break.  Without further ado, hot water flasks came out of the van; tea-bags, coffee, milk and biscuits too. And everyone took a well-deserved breather.

Lunch break on the grass, in the shade of a tree, in front of the cafe

After lunch we all carried on with our tasks. And, as before, we lost track of time. The path by the dawn redwood tree looked better for a good layer of fresh wood chips laid along its length.

Wood chip path by the dawn redwood tree

It was almost time to stop. Two of the volunteers would not give up until they had finished laying wood chip mulch along the path through the herb bed.

The Nature's Gym volunteers were determined to complete the job

We cleared up all the green waste and piled it up ready for the Glendale grounds maintenance team to collect to take to a garden waste recycling centre.

When all was finished, Judith and Jess were finally able to pose for the camera knowing that a huge amount of clearing and tidying had been achieved and that the work of their volunteers was really valued by the Friends of Mayow Park.

It was time to look at the garden and note the cardoon plants, with their purple flowers just emerging atop the tall stem structures. Other park users were also admiring these grand architectural plants and noting the bumble bees flitting between the flowers. 

Cardoon flowers looking beautiful

There is still more work to do as the bindweed has also colonised parts we did not manage to clear. So a call to park users for another workday is on the horizon. 

Thank you to all the Nature's Gym folk who turned up and worked so hard to help.

BIG DIG in Mayow Park 16 April 2016

In total we had twelve adult volunteers and two toddlers taking part in our 2-hour session to tidy the Pavilion Triangle beds. The previous session had been over the Christmas holidays so now we wanted to focus on planting strawberries, first early potatoes as well as weeding, mulching the paths and thinning out some of the herbs  the herb bed.
Here is a photo taken by Lumen showing one of our youngest volunteers working alongside two adults.

Our new A board can be seen in the background by the Park notice board.
And the photo below taken by Carol shows the A board displaying our event poster poster prepared by Jon.

The following photos are taken by Carol and show some of the volunteers at work. Three people joined us who had never volunteered with us before. The park was very busy this morning and a number of people spoke to volunteers about our work.

 
                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                   

What is missing at the moment is a photo showing the huge amount achieved. A brilliant session and many thanks to all those who joined us. It was fun.