By Sarah Chant
We are proud to report that on 17 October we were presented with a Silver Award for Community Gardening from The London Gardens Society at The Guildhall in London! It was a lovely event show-casing and rewarding the work being carried out by volunteers to enhance the beauty of parks, squares and the green spaces attached to hospitals and public services in London. In addition to aesthetics, the society also encourages gardeners to help nature.
In the park we work as ‘Friends of Coney Hall Park’, but throughout the village, we’re known as EACH (Environmental Action Coney Hall). Our silver award joins the London in Bloom awards we have achieved over the last few years.
Visit our orchard in Coney Hall Rec
We have planted a community orchard consisting of 21 mixed fruit trees, mostly old Kent varieties. We have planted native hedgerow in the orchard and around the new play area in the tennis courts.
We have also planted trees in the children’s play area to provide shade. We won grants from The Lottery Fund and the RHS which enabled us to set up a nature trail, buy bat boxes, compost bins and water carriers for the park. We are working with the London Wildlife to establish two butterfly banks which are doing well. This summer we saw the return of some special butterflies to the meadow and the orchard. We maintain the scrub areas which are so important for the survival of butterflies which lay their eggs on brambles and nettles. In addition to our wildlife areas, there are four flower beds near to the nursery which need to be maintained.
Why not join in?
Even if you don’t have the time to volunteer in the park or on the common then remember, we have large gardens in Coney Hall which we can use to help nature. Just one metre square of long grass and an area of scrub will ensure invertebrates, birds and small mammals have the protection they need. Leave seed heads to overwinter as they not only provide shelter for insets but also food for the birds. Pile leaves on to your soil – they will suppress weeds and keep your soil warm but also provide further homes for our threatened insect species.
If you would like to join us in our bid to increase and maintain biodiversity in Coney Hall please don’t hesitate to contact me (sarahlouisechant@icloud.com). If we all do our bit we really can make a difference.
And finally, it was great to see the community come together for our Open Gardens event this summer. We were thrilled to raise £450 for charity in memory of our dear friend Wendy. We’ll be holding the event again next summer, so why not take part? It’s a lovely way to meet your neighbours and other people from the village. Get in touch if you’d like to know more.