FoSJP Gardening Team
Gardening in the Park
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in partnership with  |
Updated: 14th July 2012
| The aim of the Gardening Team is to help Southampton City Council to maintain and further develop the planting in St.James' Park, particularly with a view to using interesting and colourful plants that will attract wildlife and provide community involvement in the Park. |
We meet in the Park on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month, from 1.00pm to 3.00pm (weather permitting), with additional opportunities to be arranged as the need arises for people to get involved. You don't need to be a gardening expert to join us: just to be enthusiastic, keen to learn, and able to commit to a few hours in the Park every now and then.
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Please see our Calendar page for dates and times of forthcoming Gardening Team sessions. |
Information on additional sessions might also be posted on the FoSJP Facebook page or on the noticeboards in and around St.James' Park.
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For more information about the FoSJP Gardening Team, please email us on gardeningteam@fosjp.org.uk. |
What have we done so far?
Updated: 21st May 2013
This is just a sample of the many sessions we've had working together in St.James' Park since January 2012.
Wednesday 24th April 2013
Today we hosted a group of Year 2 children (6‑7 year olds) from Wordsworth Infant School. We gave them an informal walk and talk around the Park, and they helped us to scatter wild flower seeds, to plant seeds, and to collect litter.
Trudie Smith, a Wordsworth Infant School teacher, said:
"I just wanted to say a BIG thank you for letting the children of Wordsworth School join you in the FoSJP Gardening Club last Wednesday. Your warm welcome and the lovely activities you had arranged, and so generously provided for them, meant that they learnt a lot about plants and gardening and they had a brilliant time too!"
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| photographs courtesy of Trudie Smith | ||
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Wednesday 27th February 2013
Today we engaged in more tidying up work - clearing brambles along the Winchester Road bank and clearing weeds and grass from the planted beds along the Central Path.
The elder tree that we planted in Autumn is now covered in new shoots - it obviously likes its new home!
Wednesday 12th September 2012
The sunflowers, kindly donated by B&Q, that we planted earlier this year by the zipwire wall are coming along nicely!
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| photographs by Esther Clift | |
Wednesday 28th March 2012
Making a start on planting the bed by the zipwire.
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| photographs by Michaela Lawler‑Levene | |
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A Camellia (not one of ours!)
Wednesday 14th March 2012
Today we worked in the corner of the Park near the junction of Church St and Wordsworth Rd. We tidied, raked, and pruned the Camellias in the bed there, and pruned a holly tree.
Wildflower Planting - Wednesday 22nd February 2012
Having prepared the ground in late January, at the 22nd February session we continued the work to replace the "Local Floral Nature Reserve" along the bank below Winchester Road.
With help from Stuart Davies of Southampton City Council, we rotavated a strip of land ready for planting, mixed wildflower seed with sand, and scattered, raked, and "heeled" it in.
| photographs by Michaela Lawler‑Levene | |
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Wednesday 8th February 2012
The Gardening Team met again on Wednesday 8th February, to dig up a young oak tree from the north bank below Winchester Road, where it had insufficient room to grow properly, and re‑plant it on the east bank below St.James' Road, under guidance from Stuart Davies of Southampton City Council.
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| photographs by Michaela Lawler‑Levene and Stuart Davies | |
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Friday 27th January 2012
Following the Big Dig earlier in the week, we had a second session on Friday 27th January, with 5 volunteers including new faces. We raked leaves from the north bank under Winchester Road, and dug up brambles in preparation for reinstating the "Local Floral Nature Reserve" there. The sun shone and we finished the work just as the rain started.
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You can find out more about the original Local Floral Nature Reserve by visiting our Wildflower Guide page, which also has links to reports on our two planting events in May and October 2008. |
The Big Dig - Wednesday 25th January 2012
We had a great turn out for the Big Dig on Wednesday 25th January, our first practical session, with 8 volunteers digging over the bed below the heritage frieze to the west of the Young Play Area, to improve the soil ready for planting it up. Many hands made light work, and we finished digging over and levelling this area in less than 2 hours.
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| photographs by Michaela Lawler‑Levene | |
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Our First Meeting in the Park - Thursday 12th January 2012
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The Gardening Team met for the first time on Thursday 12th January, with seven enthusiastic volunteers coming along to meet with Stuart Davies, Southampton City Council's Area Coordinator for Open Spaces. |
FoSJP Gardening Team's first meeting |
Southampton Central Parks Visit - Thursday 25th August
Andrews (East) Park, Southampton |
To help get us started, Southampton City Council kindly agreed to host a visit to its Central Parks on Thursday 25th August, so that a group of us could get inspiration and information on what plants we might like to add to our park.
The visit focused on tips on designing and maintaining herbaceous borders. Ian Miller from SCC's Parks Team showed us the best of the borders in Southampton's Andrews (East) Park, introducing us to new and unusual varieties, grown for varying reasons including their colour, structure, compatibility to other plants, and benefit to nature. Tips included thinking about the height of plants and their favoured positions and conditions, how to improve the soil condition and organic matter content, and planting for colours and seasons.
Each member of our group came away with the names of plants they'd personally like to see in St.James' Park; we're planning to liaise further with SCC's local Parks Team to work out a planting regime with design and maintenance objectives.
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