Southern Town Park, Abingdon - Saturday 12th October 2024

By -

 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Michele and Eleanor                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 It was the time of year to cut down and rake our wildflower patch in Southern Town Park. There were only ten of us this time and our usual meeting place, the youth football club car park in Lambrick Way was jam packed with cars as there were a number of matches going on. Fortunately, some of us had come by bike.


Bikes and tools along the fence



We made our way down to the site at the far end beyond the playing pitches. The ground was very soft, so we decided to pull up as many nettles as possible as well as rosebay willowherb while the scythers set to work scything. There was still some sheep's scabious in flower, which we decided to leave. Kevin gallantly volunteered to go litter picking, which is always a necessary task on this site.

Soon there was plenty of vegetation to rake up and pile on to the existing heaps under the trees.


Raking and dragging








Barbara scything behind the notice board




We had to take care, as the damp ground made it an attractive area for frogs.


A frog




 



More work



We had our tea break at the picnic table and benches, always an advantage at this site.


Tea break





Unfortunately, it had started to drizzle lightly, despite the forecast being "sunny intervals and showers".
We still had seeds to sow and bulbs to plant in the wooded area behind the wildflower patch.
We sowed yellow rattle seed, as this parasitises certain types of grass and you don't want too much grass in a wildflower patch. Then we dug out some areas for the Autumn sowing seeds, devil's bit scabious and evening primrose.
Meanwhile, some people went to plant early Spring flowering wildflower bulbs in the wooded area. This was a new experiment and if it is successful, we can plant some more next year. 


Ursula bulb planting




The work was finished, and as the weather was not too good, we decided not to linger, so made our way back to the car park. We will be back again in the Spring to sow more seeds and see how our bulbs are doing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pinkhill Meadow Nature Reserve, Farmoor Reservoir, 16th March 2019

By Andrew -
Image
Another week, another new site for the Abingdon Green Gym! We met at the car park at Farmoor Reservoir, a healthy turn out of 17 of us, including French father Sebastien, and his eleven-year old son, Maelo, who was joining us for a school project. The session was led by James under the instruction of Hanna Jenkins, the warden of Pinkhill Meadow Nature Reserve, so called because it is right on the banks of the River Thames, just near Pinkhill Lock. It was another blustery day. Will this crazy wind ever let up? We followed Hanna in convoy round the edge of the reservoir, which was choppy to say the least, and parked up on the other side where it was thankfully a little calmer, the high banks of the reservoir providing some shelter. Equipped with our tools, gloves and goggles, we made our way onto the spot on the nature reserve where we were to do our work. Hanna told us that the reserve had been formed in 1991, but some aspects had been neglected over the last ten years. The aim
Read more

Kennington Memorial Field, 29th October 2016

By Andrew -
We have been working at Kennington Memorial Field for a number of years now, clearing scrub from the slopes so that the valley remains an area of grassland and wild flowers. This time Rachel from Oxford Preservation Trust was in charge and led us down to the lower end of the field, where we were to cut back the trees and bushes by several metres and burn the scrub on a bonfire. We were joined by some families with children of varying ages, the youngest only three, who had answered a local appeal for volunteers. We set to work and soon we had a bonfire going. Even the children who were too young to use loppers and saws joined in, carrying branches to the bonfire pile. Despite the drizzly weather they all worked cheerfully. At tea break time we enjoyed some delicious snacks that Rachel had brought and a tin of chocolates supplied by Michele. We found two old birds' nests in the course of the morning and cutting back the scrub revealed a log pile with a rabbit hole under
Read more

Jarn Mound and Wild Garden, Boars Hill, 12th November 2016

By Andrew -
Image
Four weeks after our last session with the Oxford Preservation Trust at Boars Hill, we returned, albeit at Jarn Mound this time rather than the Elizabeth Daryush Garden; which had been our venue in October. We again met with  Rachel Sanderson of the trust, who along with our leader of the day, James, outlined the tasks for the morning.  Primarily, we were to clear the mound itself of scrub and tree saplings that had taken root there, with the intention of restoring it to its original state.  There were also some flatter areas of the garden that required clearing, for the less intrepid among us. Unfortunately, the day had begun a little on the inclement side.  Indeed as we arrived, the rain fell persisently, making many of us wonder if the session would go ahead at all!  But of course, the Green Gymmers are renowned for working whatever the weather, and the damp conditions did not deter us. A couple of problems were immediately evident due to the rain;  firstly, the steep sides o
Read more