Viburnum ‘Eskimo’ standards in Old School Garden, 20th May 2013
Lukeswood- Chair Mary Feeney and Vice Chair John Ibbetson
The Green Flag Award® scheme is the benchmark national standard for parks and green spaces in the UK. Currently run by the ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ organisation, it was first launched in 1996 to recognise and reward the best green spaces in the country. The first awards were given in 1997 and, 16 years later, it continues to provide the benchmark against which UK parks and green spaces are measured. It is also seen as a way of encouraging others to achieve high environmental standards, setting a standard of excellence in recreational green areas. Entries for the Green Flag Award® are open to parks or green spaces located in the UK, though the scheme is also being piloted in The Netherlands and Germany.
1. A welcoming place – when approaching or entering the park/green space, the overall impression for any member of the community – regardless of the purpose of their visit – should be positive and inviting.
2. Healthy, safe and secure – the park/green space must be a healthy, safe and secure place for all members of the community to use. Any issues that have come to light must be addressed in the management plan and implemented on the ground. New issues that arise must be addressed promptly and appropriately.
3. Clean and well maintained – for aesthetic as well as health and safety reasons, issues of cleanliness and maintenance must be adequately addressed.
4. Sustainability – methods used in maintaining the park/green space and its facilities should be environmentally sound, relying on best practices available according to current knowledge. Management should be aware of the range of techniques available to them, and demonstrate that informed choices have been made and are regularly reviewed.
5. Conservation and heritage – particular attention should be paid to conservation and appropriate management.
6. Community involvement – the park/green space management should actively pursue the involvement of members of the community who represent as many park/green space user groups as possible.
7. Marketing – a marketing strategy should be in place, which is being implemented and regularly reviewed; there should be good provision of information to users (e.g. about management strategies, activities, features, ways to get involved), and the space should be promoted as a community resource.
8. Management – there needs to be a management plan or strategy which is clear, being actively implemented and reviewed and the park should be financially sound.
There is a main scheme and also schemes for Community run and Heritage Green spaces, which have slightly different sets of assessment criteria. The main scheme usually involves two judges making the assessment, whilst at community spaces a lone judge does this. In the main scheme a ‘desk assessment’ of the Management Plan for the site is carried out and this is followed up with a ‘field assessment’ which gives the chance to check out questions arising from the desk assessment and to examine other issues on the ground. Applicants have to pass both the desk and field assessments and achieve a minimum score to be awarded a ‘Green Flag’. Judges don’t only give scores to the space but also look at the strengths it has against the different criteria and include recommendations designed to help the site improve, where appropriate. This full feedback is, I think, one of the best features of the scheme.
Yesterday I travelled to Suffolk to judge a community – run green space in the village of Elmswell, called ‘Lukeswood’. I was met by the Chair and Vice Chair of ‘Elmswild’ (the group that runs the wood) and given a tour of their site. Here, a group of volunteers aim to improve existing habitats and create new ones, so as to establish a mosaic of woodland, open grassy rides, hedgerows, pond and a wildflower area. The project is focused on involving and benefiting the local community as well as raising awareness of the rarest habitats and species on the site and educating about how these can be protected. Formerly an area of agricultural ‘set aside’ this space of about 9 acres is at the centre of the village next to allotments and cemeteries. Tree planting began in 2010. Early in 2011, with the help of children from Elmswell Primary School, the 1683rd tree was planted – fulfilling a pledge to plant one tree for every house in the village! Over the years the Group plan to plant many more. Lukeswood was named after the Reverend Luke, Rector of Elmswell in the 1860s – described as a ‘Victorian whizzkid’ who introduced many changes, including building the village school. The group like to think that, were he still here today, he would approve of their plans and would enjoy seeing this new addition to the village develop over the coming years. And thanks to continuing fund raising efforts Elmswild have finally succeeded in securing the remaining few acres of land where they plan to establish an orchard (featuring Suffolk varieties of apple).
Whilst I was in the area I popped over to Bury St. Edmunds, where another long-established Green flag site – the Abbey Gardens in the centre of town- is in it’s spring glory (though I wasn’t there to judge it for the Green Flag). It has a long established tradition of seasonal planting in many formal beds. At this time of year – especially as the spring flowers are blooming rather late – it is a fantastic sight. First laid out as a Botanic Garden in 1831, in addition to the formal layout of the central area, there is are open grass areas surrounding the Abbey ruins and an aviary, bowling green, bird feeding area, water, herb and sensory gardens, and a children’s play area.
Last week, with my co – judge, I visited and judged the woodland area known as ‘Pretty Corner Wood’ in north Norfolk. This is a site managed in two parts, one by the District Council (which was the focus of the green flag assessment) and the other part by the Woodland Trust. The wood sits adjacent to the town of Sheringham and provides a wonderful scene of mixed woodland and some glades and other areas, visited in the main by local residents. Recently the Council has been successful in securing funding to bring about a range of improvements to the wood which included putting in a new pathway suitable for wheelchair users that leads to a splendid view of the sea and wind farms on the horizon, as well as a wooden sculpture trail. The woodland is carefully managed to ensure the right mix and density of species and the Council has also sown a wild flower area close to the open glade that makes a great picnic spot. A privately run Tea Rooms also provides a convenient refreshment stop.
Links:
Pretty Corner Wood information
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Congratulations to the RHS – Chelsea Flower Show 100 today!
Looking towards the Terrace and Orchard at Old School Garden
It’s been a very busy time in the garden and in my other gardening activities. They say that May is the busiest month in the garden, and so far I’d have to agree. In the last few weeks plants have started to catch up with the ‘slow seasons’ and there is a wonderful fresh greenness around and in the countryside beyond. I tend to wait until the end of May before putting out any tender plants and as a result, my greenhouse and cold frame are bursting with plants at various stages of growth. Hopefully I can move things on over the next couple of weeks so that I can make way for tomatoes and cucumbers (new seedlings kindly supplied by my friend Steve) in the greenhouse.
Greenhouse – full! 
Cold Frame – full!
The Kitchen Garden is starting to fill out and every bed is now full with something (though the new Asparagus I planted last autumn is a ‘no show’ – maybe it drowned in all the winter wet or perhaps it’s just not strong enough to break the surface yet – there’s certainly Asparagus on sale locally). You remember I tried sowing carrots in modular pots last year and they were more or less a failure? I’d hoped that was due to the weather. Touch wood – those I sowed earlier this year and which I’ve now planted out, seem to have established well and are growing away. I invested in some outdoor polypipe as an experiment in building a structure to cover these with mesh (as a protection against Carrot Root Fly) and the result is looking like its doing a good job. I did a very simple job of slotting the pipe into some pipe brackets I’d fixed to wooden spacers screwed to the insides of my wooden raised bed and the new roof seems to be holding its curved shape quite well, though some roof – line reinforcement (perhaps with another length of pipe) may be required to ensure the structure survives the windiest weather. The Parsnip I sowed a couple of weeks ago in this bed also seems to have germinated, so I shall thin those shortly.
I’ve also tried a new design for the support of my Mangetout, creating a sort of angled arc which has 12 healthy plants at its foot ready to clamber their way up the netted structure (they grow to about 4 feet so I didn’t need anything very tall).
The Kitchen Garden starting to fill out 
Strawberries with straw mulch and onions beyond 
My ‘Arc de mangetout’ climbing frame! 
Carrots and Parsnips under my newly installed polypipe mesh cover
You remember that I planted my potatoes (well almost all of them) on 5th April, because that was deemed to be a beneficial date on the lunar calendar? Well, I haven’t got any way of making a scientific comparison, but these are now looking healthy, are well above ground and ready for ‘earthing up’. The reserve tubers which I put into a shadier spot a few weeks later have not yet broken through.
Early potatoes up and looking good
We’ve seen the return of ground elder – an annual event despite what seems like constant weeding. So I’ve been out doing a regular hour or two of hand weeding to try to systematically work my way around the borders, and with the recent rain and the addition of rotted wood chips to the soil, this is a very enjoyable and rewarding activity. It’s just lovely working your way through the soil, carefully ‘mining’ for the roots of the elder and gently easing it out of the ground – ‘just like archaeology’, as Deborah says! Though the flower borders are looking a bit like a wireless station at present (because of all the canes and string I’ve put out to support some of the bigger perennials), the new growth is gradually covering these and the garden is taking on a fuller look. I must keep on with the weeding!
With the lateness of spring the Tulips are still with us and they are making some very pleasant combinations with other plants in the garden. I’ve shown a few examples here.
Combo 1: Pink Tulips and Cerinthe 
Combo 2: ‘Queen of Night’ tulips and Euphorbia palustris 
Combo 3: ‘Ballerina’ tulips and Camassia 
Combo 4: PInk Tulips and Persicaria
Have you noticed any snail and slug activity yet? I’ve been very surprised that there seems to be very little obvious damage to Old School Garden as yet (compared to last year when it was disastrous). I did put down some pellets a few weeks ago, especially on the containers with Hostas in them and I’m very pleased that the new leaf growth appears to have virtually no signs of damage at all – maybe these pellets did the job of killing off the young snails and slugs, though even so I haven’t seen many corpses around, so I’m thinking that maybe the very harsh winter weather did a good job in killing off those slugs and snails that would have normally over wintered. The Courtyard looks good as a result, with the vine coming into to leaf and garlanding the walls and some new colour coming soon from some Sweet Williams I put into the containers alongside the Hostas.
Courtyard- Hostas, Vine, Sweet Williams (on their way to flowering) 
Hosta la vista 
Slug heaven 
Hosta container and recovered Pansies above 
Hostas, Olive, Sweet Williams and a rather battered Euhporbia
On the wider front, I’ve continued to work with the children at my local Primary School, and as you may have seen in a recent article, I’m enjoying working on various projects with a group of 7 children on Friday afternoons. Yesterday at the School’s annual Fete, we managed to sell all of the hanging baskets that the children had planted up, so making around £40 profit that can go back into gardening activities. This event was also an opportunity to promote the Master Gardener and Master Composter schemes I’m involved with. A colleague, Jane and I manned the stalls for the afternoon, making paper pots and sowing Nasturtium seeds with the youngsters, showing them the wormery and the worms doing their job as well as offering quizzes and advice and information on food growing and composting to the many adults who came over to see us. Over the next couple of weeks, the Friday gardening group will be finishing off some vertical planters they’re making out of wooden pallets and thanks to a kind donation of plants from a local nursery – woman these will make a lovely, colourful feature in the play ground. I’ll do a separate article on this project once they’re finished.
Today I’m off the Suffolk to inspect a community – run woodland which has applied to be awarded a ‘Green Flag’ as a mark of excellence. You may recall that this scheme has been operating for a good number of years and is fast becoming the national benchmark for parks and open spaces in England. I’ve been a judge for about 5 years now and every year I get to visit a couple of really interesting and usually very well presented and run open spaces. I’ve been out to judge one woodland in North Norfolk last week and today’s trip will complete my quota for this year. I’ll write an article about Green Flag and the two sites tomorrow, so keep a look out!
Apple blossom in the orchard- hopefully the bees will do their stuff and we’ll have a good harvest 
The Long Border- looking a bit like a wirless station with all the canes and string! 
I’ve put in a new edge to the grass around our Black Poplar tree- I think it will make mowing easier and create a crisper finish too 
One of the front borders which is showing a great variety of foliage and some colourful flowers at present
Thanks for sending me the pictures of your lovely garden, where I see your herbaceous borders are starting to fill out like mine. And I was particularly impressed with your creations using pallets! The new ‘pallet shed’ looks wonderful and the fact that you managed to make it for almost nothing (given the price of sheds these days) is great. My post on pallets seems to have gone down a storm and is still receiving many visitors every day including from the USA and around the world! I’ve come across a couple of other, novel uses of these and will post the pictures shortly. I managed to obtain a few additional pallets for free from the local Garden Centre and I’m currently thinking about what else I can use them for. I’m certainly going to use some as a sort of raised bed edging where I need to consolidate some soil and support the wooden frame up which I’m training a fan cherry and plum. I’ve cut some pallets in half and will sink these, like fences, into the ground as barriers to keep the soil in (maybe using landscaping fabric inside to contain the soil). I’ll let you know how I get on and post some pictures.
Other posts in this series:
Dear Walter….letter from Old School Garden, 18th April May 2013
Dear Walter….letter from Old School Garden, 11th March 2013
Dear Walter… letter from Old School Garden: 15th February 2013
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No matter how I’ve tried,I’ve newer recorded such a success with my garden efforts as did I with simple act of planting Wisteria sinensis alba about ten years ago.I am absolutely noncompetitive gardener,but must admit that it feels good when my neighbors stop by our house in simple admiration of white waterfall,I’ve noticed even some envy in eyes of my dear next-door neighbor having blue variety of wisteria which doesn’t want to flower.But there is something I enjoy even more as flattery during May, when my wisteria is just as magical smelling cloud-it is sitting on our wisteria terrace and observing many bees and bumblebees constantly flying among scented flowers.There are so many a buzz is becoming a sort of music,vanishing with wind and appearing stronger again and again.The same one bumblebees are coming back to eat sweet nectar again and again,day after day!Well, this is called flower constancy (and not,as one might assume the constant beauty of my wisteria) although from…
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I’ve fallen in love with the UK’s National Trust. Every country should have one. Their engagement with kids is phenomenal. I can feel it from here on the other side of the pond. The Trust is a ‘conservation charity, protecting historic places and green spaces, and opening them up for ever, for everyone.’
There is an inspired thoughtfulness about kids in evidence at many of their venues such as the hobbit holes at The Vyne posted earlier this spring in PlayGroundology. In Britain, they are playing a significant role reconnecting children with nature an increasingly common challenge in the digital age.
One of the Trust’s brilliant actions last year was the development and promotion of 50 Things To Do Before You’re 11 3/4. It’s just been refreshedwith a number of new entries.
How about a 50 Things To Do… right here in Canada. Let’s do…
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Beautiful spring flowering trees in Toronto! 多倫多綻放的美麗花樹!
It is lovely warm spring, you can see all kinds of flowering trees and shrubs everywhere! Also the wonder fragrances in the air!
溫暖宜人的春天,到處可見開花的木本花卉–樹與灌木開滿花且空氣中充滿花香!
Nigel Boldero aka 'Old School Gardener'
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