Jump to content

Flowers in East Dulwich


jamesmcash

Recommended Posts

Dear all


A resident recently contacted me about wild flowers. As you may be aware, in addition to the visual benefits, wild flowers have a significant environmental impact in supporting pollinators like bees and butterflies. We can make a small contribution to averting ecological disaster.


I would like to introduce more flowers - either wild or from bulbs - into the local area. I already have a few ideas for potential locations but I would be keen to hear more. I am talking about existing grassy areas - not spaces for raised beds. They do not need to be large though: a few square metres can have an impact.


What do you think? Would you like to see more flowers in East Dulwich?


And do you have any ideas for where they could go?


Best wishes

James

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Goose Green wild flower area was very disappointing this year.


It looked like it had had no attention at all since last year (which was lovely).


I would like to see wild flowers planted/sown in tree pits.


But when my grandkids did this a few years back, the plants were sprayed by the council weed killers :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some nurseries offer packs of 'naturalising' bulbs - which would be good for areas which are not frequently disturbed. This is the planting which keeps on giving. Otherwise pollinator friendly wild flowers would be a good choice (expenditure on Goose Green roundabout tends to be of the 'rebuild because another over-large lorry has rammed it' nature. Perhaps there's nothing much left for horticulture there?).


We are lucky in the south of the borough to have so much parkland available. And to have quite (and quiet) leafy streets (the planting of ornamental cherries really paid back this year).


Planting in tree pits has the drawback that these are often quite arid and can be vandalised. When it does work it's lovely.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Penguin68 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------


>

> Planting in tree pits has the drawback that these

> are often quite arid and can be vandalised. When

> it does work it's lovely.



The soil can be enriched, though.


Somebody in Ashbourne Grove (I think) has planted up several tree pits, which are lovely to see.


A lot of residents in Islington do it, and there is (or was, I presume there still is) a category in Islington in Bloom for them. To the best of my recollection, the only vandalism was by council workers spraying them despite having been sent a list of where they were :(


My younger grandchild put a poster on the tree outside my house (North Cross Road area) asking that the plants in the pit not be sprayed, but still they did it :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm hoping someone here is more expert on this than me, but my understanding is that it is sometimes ecologically preferable to allow an area to rewild itself rather than introduce new species. May not work for smaller areas, or in central London with so many introduced plant varieties around, though? Anyone know more?


Would love to see more wild areas generally!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some planting of wild flowers can be beneficial for wildlife and attractive for people - but Katanita is right - it's also amazing what can happen if you just stop mowing grass within an inch of its life and let nature do its thing.


Green Dale Fields is a good example of this (old playing fields left for 20+ years and reclaimed by nature).


There are loads of places in the area where week after week the summer the Council will cut the grass, even though the areas aren't used by people (often areas around Council estates, for example). Reducing the cutting of some of these areas once or twice a year, or leaving patches unmown, so wild plants can grow would make these areas much better ecologically - and save the Council (and, by extension us, the tax payers) money.


It would be great if James could explore this, as well as some planting of wild flowers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a good chance any flowers planted will get wrecked by loutish pub goers on the way home after a skinful.


There were some destructive looking types eating the ?24 (*now reduced to ?19.95) Sunday roasts outside the Palmerston on Sunday, i overheard them saying they were intent on going and breaking branches off the palm tree thing in the middle of Goose Green roundabout. Exercise your green fingers and brighten up the area at your own peril, ill say.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all


Thanks a lot for all the great comments. Really useful and interesting.


I am by no means an expert on these matters so I have been passing your comments onto the council's Ecological Officer to find out more.


When there is a good amount of space then leaving the area to naturally 'rewild' is really effective. But in an urban area where the green areas are smaller, this is more of a challenge. The beautiful flowers tend to be edged out by more 'thuggish' plants like thistle. These are less aesthetically pleasing, and they do not have the same ecological impact.


For an example of this, have a look at the 'wild flower' garden in Goose Green park - it is totally overrun.


So if we move forward with this I am keen to ensure that the project has money put aside for maintenance. I don't want this to happen again.


Best wishes

James

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks James, glad to hear the Ecological Officer is also involved and that you're thinking about the long-term maintenance.


On a related note, I hope Southwark will also take on board this new guidance on managing roadside verges for wildflowers

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/27/uk-roadsides-verge-wildlife-corridors-guidelines-wildflowers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, great idea!

I work for TfL and we are trialing cutting some of our verges less. Happy to share lessons which might apply to verges in East Dulwich. Wildflower verges are definitely a cheap and attractive way of supporting wildlife. Plantlife's new guide should be very helpful.

Charles

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Latest Discussions

    • Plenty for sale online from various ticket vendors but you'll need to part with £250 and upwards by the looks of it. Out of interest i kept an eye on the prices for the England and Italy Euro final. At one point they were on offer for a couple of grand each. On the day sellers were obviously getting itchy feet and prices dropped somewhat but never went any lower than £400. That was a few hours before kick off. There was plenty still available half an hour before kick off.   Having been to Wembley a couple of times for play off finals i found it to be not a great place to watch football. Sat three rows back from the pitch side advertising hoardings for one game and way way up in the gods for the other. We felt to far away from the pitch on both occasions. Up in the goods was just stupid because we felt cut off as well.  I don't think it was rebuilt with acoustics in mind either. Even with most of our 25k fans singing it never sounded loud because it's pretty much uncovered and too open.   Happy hunting!
    • It doesn't work as a commercial venture.  Bit churlish to say I told you so.  I told you so.  I'll send less greetings cards.  What pees me off is international postage where you can no longer send light letters at 10 grammes, normal ones up to 20g, now all at the much more expensive 100 g  Didn't we vote to take back control and price everything according to irrational units like ounces? That's some obscure humour btw   
    • Available from Monday April 8th 2024, 2on2Walkies take pride in doggie care and only walk 2 furry friends at a time. I make sure that they get plenty of doggie interaction and socialisation in the park as well as making friends. Back home happy and tired I always check that the water bowl has fresh water and always make sure the doggie is left comfortable before I leave. I'm fully insured and have a couple of slots available for local walks to either Peckham Rye Park or Dulwich Park.  Thank you!  
    • Why would they only send them recorded delivery? I used the signed for option yesterday.
Home
Events
Sign In

Sign In



Or sign in with one of these services

Search
×
    Search In
×
×
  • Create New...