Friends of Pinner Village Gardens
Summer 2020 Newsletter
by Antonia Savvides
Welcome to the first edition of our new look Friends of Pinner Village Gardens newsletter! We aim to send this quarterly/seasonally to keep all our members up to speed on activities and events that have taken place or are scheduled to take place in our park.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, we have seen a big increase in the numbers of visitors to the park, and it has been wonderful to see so many families and people enjoying the open spaces, while socially distancing appropriately. This in turn has seen an increase in our membership, so I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all our new members to our Friends group. We would also like to ask for ‘hands on’ volunteers to come and join us in working on the many projects taking place in the park. If you have any spare time, please do contact us.
We have many exciting projects planned and we hope that these newsletters will be a better way of communicating and ensuring that, wherever possible, members can get involved.
Wildlife Garden Project
A flavour of what we hope is coming to North Green
by Jackie Lindop
This Summer, because of COVID-19, it was not possible to mow a horseshoe path to guide people around the edge of the mini-meadow. So quite a lot of the central area was flattened by footfall. Fortunately, people were careful to avoid the obvious round seedbeds. Hence, you may have noticed, the glorious eruptions of burgeoning wildflowers earlier in the Summer.
Many of those flowers have ‘gone to seed’. Now is the critical time for the seeds to form and ripen. When ready, the seeds will disperse into bare patches of ground. So hopefully the present plants will multiply and thus become established in the mini-meadow.
In August/September, the wildflower plants will be cut down / mown. Then, to encourage as much spread and germination of seeds as possible, all the plant matter will be raked and turned over and left for a while to dry.
During Lockdown, gardening in the park was not allowed. So the brambles alongside the green metal fence engulfed the young tree saplings. Those brambles have now been cut back and it’s been a nice surprise to find many of the saplings have survived underneath.
The waist-level humps of brambles further into the garden flowered fantastically well. That area is now a mix of creeping thistle flowers and blackberries.
Maybe the best surprise was back in May when my eye was caught by three Broad-bodied chaser dragonflies, their wings glittering as they danced around the brambles.
Look Out for the Faces!
by Brian Chapman
Local craftsman and member, Barry, has created hand-carved wooden faces and installed them on trees around the park. A massive thank you to Barry for his continued work in Pinner Village Gardens.
Next time you’re walking through the park, see how many you can spot.
We would love to have proper names for these faces, so if park users and especially their children have any ideas, please let us know by email at info@pinnervillagegardens.org.uk.
Committee Grown Wildflowers due to be Planted
by Simon Braidman
The first consignment of wildflowers grown from seed by Committee Members are due to be delivered to Pinner Village Gardens.
Thirty-two plants of species such as Fennel, Sneezewort, Broad-leaved Everlasting Pea, Corncockle, Wild Clary, Greater Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Mouse-eared Hawkweed and Foxglove.
There will be a lot more to come over the coming months.
Signage in PVG
by Brian Chapman
With thanks to Committee Member Glyn Watkins and another member of FoPVG, a fingerpost sign was recently installed near the water fountain, at the corner of the Playground.
This is the first time we have introduced new permanent signage and part of an ongoing project looking at the best use of signage throughout the park. There will soon be an information panel installed near the pond, explaining the wildlife and fauna in and around that area.
Several months ago, Members kindly completed a feedback survey about signage within the park, and this has given us directions on what to consider. There were a lot of positive comments about the installation of maps at the main entrances, so this will be our next objective. As part of this work, we are already working with local craftsman Barry, who is constructing wooden signs made from reclaimed wood from the park to name locations, which will then feature on maps.
Rayner’s Gate Improvements
Thanks to the hard work of two Committee Members, the Rayners Gate area has seen recent improvement. It had previously been overgrown with bamboo, which has now been removed and new planting added.
Our volunteer co-coordinator Jonathan Freedman organised the removal of the bamboo, with our newly co-opted Horticultural Advisor Natalia Kuznetsova advising on replacement plants and working alongside Jonathan with the planting.
Friends of Pinner Village Gardens