Notes from the Wilmington Square gardening meeting 23rd Sept '09

Present:
A M
B H
MH C
L E
O E
C I

Dogs
The park is meant to exclude dogs. Chris noted that the signs are not visible enough to enforce this and will get new signs (welded if necessary) near both the gate and the unofficial entrance on the west side.

Park Tracker Scheme
The system has changed for monitoring the maintenance for the Square. This will mean less frequent checks. We can volunteer to monitor the Square and give feedback to the subcontractors. Chris will get the paperwork so that we can sign up. We have agreed to check the Square once a month on a rotation.

Trees
The dead cherry tree has been chopped down. The remaining stump can be used as a bug house and needs to have holes drilled in it. The remaining trunk has been placed in the NW corner to designate a space for composting (see below).
There is a further cherry tree which is struggling.
Chris said that the Council will not cut down healthy trees so it is a waste of time to ask for the conifers to be felled.

Woodland planting
The gardening group is going to take on the oval flower bed in the South Western part of the Square. There is some money for Winter gardening available in Islington. Chris will find out the deadline for applications and encouraged us to get going asap. We need to make a planting plan based on woodland plants: identifying suitable plants and costs. We intend to find 5 plants each which could be suitable ie. the plants like/tolerate: poor soil, shade, are hardy and email suggestions to everyone. A will measure the flower bed so we can calculate quantities. We also discussed planting lavender around the roses. Chris agreed that this was a good idea but costly. He suggested that we start by planting lavender in the 5 small rose beds near the central hut. This will be included in the planting plan application. We need to put up a sign to let people know what we are trying to do with this patch.

Compost
Compost is available from the composting programme for North London. If we order in bulk then it may be delivered on a week day and will need to be moved inside the Square immediately. We agreed it could be easier to dump the compost into the little glade in the North West corner through the unofficial entrance.

Mulching
Chris suggested that it was difficult to give complicated instructions to the gangs of subcontractor gardeners when they are contrary to overall policy. There is a new company and they may leave some leaves behind around the perimeter. We could also collect some leaves and mix them in with the compost in the NW corner.

Next WS Gardening Group Meeting 6pm, 23rd Sept

We will be meeting in the Square at 6pm on Wednesday 23rd September to talk about gardening plans for the Square. Everyone interested is very welcome.

Notes from the Gardening Group meeting 21/07/09

(Sorry I have been slow in posting these)
Notes from the Wilmington Square Gardening Meeting Notes - 21/07/09

Present:
A W
A M
B H
J S
O E
L E
M H C

We would like to set up a meeting with Chris I and Dave B
from Islington Greenspace in late September to discuss the following
points. All of us need clarity about our goals, and communication is
important so that any efforts we make to work on the square are negotiated
and understood by Greenspace and the subcontractors.

Before this there will be a further meeting of the gardening group in
early September in the Square to discuss ideas in situ - we will
circulate the date so anyone else is welcome to join in.


Proposals:

- General Aim.
The central idea is to make the garden healthier and more wildlife
friendly, using sustainable and natural processes where possible. A
longer term aim is to plant sustainable perennials to replace some of
the annual bedding.

- Mulch.
The area just within the fencing is hard clay soil, depleted of
nutrients because the leaves have been consistently removed. The
fallen leaves should be left in place. The soil needs rotating.

- Compost.
Can Greenspace deliver some compost to the Square from the North
London composting project? This could also be used to add nutrients to
the border areas.

- Trees.
a. The two conifers in the Southern patch should be removed. This
should be done as soon as possible because they grow fast; are thirsty
and suck nutrients from that section of the garden; create too much
shade and acidic soil which prevent other plants from growing.
b. The dead cherry tree in the Southern patch should be replaced. The
cherry tree which is missing from the Eastern patch should be
replanted. This will bring back the intended balance to these spaces.
c. The ailanthus saplings along the easter border should be uprooted
and removed. They are invasive and continue to spawn unless removed
completely. It will not be possible to plant more appropriate native
plants in this area until the saplings are removed.

- Dead wood.
The dead cherry tree logs should be kept and a further dead wood pile
could be created.

- Roses & Lavender.
The roses in the central bed could be underplanted with lavender. This
would create a fuller looking flower bed, would provide attractive
flowers for bees and counteract the aphids which like the roses.

- Hut & Water.
The gutter on the hut needs to be fixed. We would like a water butt to
collect rainwater from the Hut roof. This will provide a source of
sustainable water within the garden to feed young plants.

- Community gardening.
We would like to start actively gardening a section of the garden. We
will arrange some days when we will encourage neighbours to come and
join in. We propose to fence off along the temporary pathway on the NW
corner and to work on the section up to the concrete steps on the
Northern side. We could use a similar system to the wild flower
planting in Spa Fields where a section was fenced off with information
attached about the aims and timeframe.

- Bird Feeder.
The bird feeder has not been used by the birds yet. We would like to
expand the holes further to see if easier access could persuade the
birds to enter.