Come one, come all to our April Gardening Day!

Hi Garden Friends,

So Spring has sprung and now it's time for Garden Friends NW2 to spring into action!

All are welcome (and indeed needed) for a gardening day this Saturday 26th April. 

There will be people around from 10 am to late afternoon, so if you can come by for any part of that time, even a short bit, you are most welcome.

There will be English roses to be planted in half-barrel containers There will be trees and strawberries to be planted in the woodland area. There will be mats of wildflowers to be planted in front of the woodland area. There will be seedlings to be planted in pots and the raised beds. There will be watering of the raised beds and fruit trees to do along with some tending to these areas. Plans will need to be made for constructing the garden shed graciously donated to us by The Winch Project.Plans will need to be made for another trip to the Eco Hub near King's Cross for more free compost. Plans will need to be made for our Spring Relaunch of the Fordwych Road tree pit gardens. There will be soup and bread and tea and cakes that need to be eaten and friendly soul-warming chats to be had with each other. Yes, Garden Friends, spring gardening beckons!

So we hope to see you sometime on Saturday at St Cuthbert's Garden behind St Cuthbert's Church at the intersection of Fordwych & St Cuthberts Roads. Bring a friend, bring a neighbour, bring a stranger, bring an enemy, all are welcome!

Keep calm and carry on gardening!

Garden Friends NW2

Raising the bed

Hello Garden Friends,

We did it! Ten 8 ft x 4 ft x 18 in raised beds have been constructed in the St Cuthbert's community garden.

First we constructed the frames from used 2.5 inch thick scaffolding timbers.

Then we lined them with weed-deterrent fabric.

Then we filled them half way with natural compostable materials including cardboard and leaves collected along Fordwych Road and branches and trimmings from clearing the site along with compost from the Eco Hub and let it all settle in the wonderful rain we have been getting.

Then we topped it all off with good quality topsoil we got in bulk bags.

And then began planting them with blueberries, raspberries and asparagus.

Now there's a lovely row of raised beds along our south-facing wall, with several waiting to be planted with seasonal fruit and veg this winter and spring.

This way of doing the raised beds may seem a bit different to some gardeners and borrows from principles of permaculture gardening. We'll let you know how it turns out come Spring!

Till then, keep calm and carry on gardening!

Garden Friends NW2

Coming to a tree pit near you!

Hello Garden Friends, 

Recently we've been informed that Colleen O'Sullivan, Arboricultural Officer for Camden, has carried out an inspection of trees in this area, and a number of trees on Fordwych Road are now scheduled for removal this winter. 

One of the trees set to be taken down is outside Kids Company at 85-87 Fordwych Road. Kids Co have done a lovely planting in the tree pit, so we are sorry to see the tree go. But the Council says that there will be replanting, so hopefully Kids Co will have a new tree to welcome to the neighbourhood with more of their lovely plants and flowers. 

The photo above was taken of one large Plane tree already removed near the junction of Fordwych Road and Mill Lane last week due to decay.

Below is a list of the Fordwych Road trees affected and the reason for their planned removal. Sad to see them go, of course, but such is the cycle of gardening, and we look forward to new replacement trees next year in these tree pits along with welcoming flowers for them.

Keep calm and carry on gardening!

Street name

Tree species

Reason for removal

Fordwych Road (outside 188)

Cockspur thorn

Basal decay

Fordwych Road (outside 137)

Purple cherry

Damaged crown

Fordwych Road (outside 79)

London Plane

Basal decay

Fordwych Road (outside 85-87)

London Plane

Basal decay

Fordwych Road (outside 89)

London Plane

Basal decay

Fordwych Road (jct Minster Road)

Lime

Basal decay

Volunteers needed for 9th November

EcoPark Compost

We recycle organic waste into quality compost for use in agriculture, allotments, community growing projects and gardens across North London.

Hi Garden Friends,

It's time to get the compost! We need volunteers to either help us bag compost and load the van at the EcoPark Camden Hub location at Alara Wholefoods warehouse near Kings Cross or unload the van at the St Cuthbert's Church garden. We hope to make at least two hauls, and the compost will be used for our soon-to-be constructed raised beds as well as for the tree pits on Fordwych Road.

When: Saturday 9th November 

Where: Alara Wholefoods, 110 -112 Camley Street, N1C 4PF  - 11am or earlier if possible

              St Cuthbert's Church, Fordwych Road, NW2 3TW  - 12 0'clock

Email us and closer to the time we'll confirm and give more specific details. gardenfriendsnw2@gmail.com

Thanks in advance for your help and support.

Keep calm and carry on composting!

Corporate - Community Gardening: Anatomy of a Failure

Hi Garden Friends,

Many people in NW2 fondly remember the Adrian Hall Garden Centre on Iverson Road before it closed in 2011. It's credo was '...to inspire and enable the creation of any London garden project through the supply of garden related goods.'

What with the new Thameslink station next door and all the high-density development around it in West Hampstead, the garden centre lost it lease and the land was sold off, bought off, sold off and bought off again apparently for more high-density housing. Demolition is now underway.

Ever on the lookout for salvageable and free gardening materials, Garden Friends NW2 spotted a wealth of items on the site being dug up and put into a huge skip, including paving bricks and stones, trellises, topsoil in raised planters, and even a pergola that could be used to frame a greenhouse.

So we contacted the estate agent who had sold the property and made an enquiry.

And another enquiry. And were told that our enquiries had been passed on to the owners/developers and they would reply to us directly. We waited. No reply. So we made a follow-up enquiry. Still no response came.

So we contacted the demolition company with our enquiry.

And still no reply. We tried to point out to the sales agent, unknown developer, and demolition company that the former garden centre was a vibrant green spot in the community that is sorely missed by many. And that Garden Friends NW2 in its community gardening way is trying to green-up and clean-up the area, so wouldn't it be natural and nice for some corporate collaboration, given the history and now future of the property. 

And wouldn't they, as part of our community like to have less of this on Iverson Road:

And less of this on Fordwych Road:

And less of this on St Cuthberts Road:

And more of this on all the roads on our soon-to-be proposed Green Mile Walk:

It's been about a month of trying, and sad to say, we have to report our attempts have met with complete failure. The pergola's gone. The raised beds with topsoil are gone. The trellises are gone. Most of the paving bricks are gone. So after licking our wounds, it's back to guerrilla gardening for us.

Keep calm and carry on guerrilla gardening.

Welcoming Zipcar to our Garden Friends NW2 Neighbourhood

Hi everyone,

Part of our Green-up & Clean-up in the Fordwych Road neighbourhood of course involves transportation, and promoting as much eco-friendly ways of getting from here to there and back as possible.

So you might find it interesting and welcoming to know that Zipcar, the premier 'car sharing' scheme now has a designated car club parking spot complete with a car that 'lives' there right on the corner of Fordwych Road and Garlinge Road.

And to complete the tie-in with Garden Friends NW2, the Zipcar folks are even into gardening! Here's a link to their website where you can find out all kinds of interesting things about their gardening project as well as lots of good start-up information for fruit and veg gardens in London.

Welcome to the neighbourhood, Zipcar, and keep calm and carry on gardening!

King's Cross Harvest Festival Feast

Hi everyone,

Our good friends at Alara in King's Cross are having a Harvest Festival Feast on Friday September 20th 6-8pm. It's free and everyone is welcome, so think about attending if you are interested in gardening, sustainability and community. With any luck, Garden Friends NW2 can aspire to eventually doing even a tiny replica of this great idea here on Fordwych Road in the future.

Keep calm and carry on gardening (and eventually harvesting)!