Spring Has Well and Truly Sprung

If you should go down to the flowerbed today, you are in for a big surprise...there be seasonal stirrings in that there muddy patch.

The flowerbed is looking beautiful in its first flush of spring bulbs: snowbells, crocuses and early narcissi. There are also promising signs of the rest those 450 bulbs planted all that time ago in November last year despite the numbing rain.

At this weekend’s Spring Meet, perennials and biennials such as lupins, foxgloves, delphiniums, Japanese anemone, hellebore, pinks, poppies and summer flowering bulbs were planted. A big thank you to Nellie’s mum for weeding and nurturing the flowerbed, many passersby have noticed her work and have said how beautiful the flowerbed is looking.

Bring on the Vernal Equinox... given season creep, what will be flowering in the flowerbed on March the 21st?

P.S. We are still trying to resolve the fly-tipping problem that is occurring in the vicinity of the flowerbed.

Please dial 101 to report any fly-tipped rubbish you see, and be sure to get a reference number. The more people who report each and every incidence of fly-tipping, the more evidence there is that residents are concerned about this issue and expect the council to crack down on the fly-tippers operating in our area.
Tony Banach, Area Manager for Higham Hill Ward, Better Neighbourhoods Initiative is aware of the situation.

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A Dose Of Liquid Precipitation

Before our annual bulb planting meet became a complete washout we managed to plant some 450 bulbs including the 100 Daffodil bulbs we were granted from LBWF and Groundwork East London.

Be sure to look out for Alliums, Anemones, Grape Hyacinth, Sporaxis and Freesias in the year to come. Many thanks to all who donated bulbs and to those who joined in the bulb planting meet despite the rain.









If you would like to be informed by email of our next flowerbed meet please contact:

• pauline.flowerbed@gmail.com


• frances.flowerbed@gmail.com

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£50 donated to the Bramley Close Flowerbed Project

The Higham Hill Central Neighbourhood Watch Group has donated £50 to the Bramley Close Flowerbed project towards purchasing new seasonal plants.

The Neighbourhood Watch Group meets every two months, 7:00 - 9:00pm at the Unity Hall, Bramley Close. For more information and date of the next meeting please contact pauline.flowerbed@gmail.com

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Then and Now

17 October 2007

It has been some 8 months since we adopted the Bramley Close Flowerbed and the seasons have seen a diverse profusion of flowers and foliage, as documented by the following photographs, flourish and thrive. On the occasional weeding foray, to keep the bindweed from tying itself in knots, we have already seen a number of bumblebees and various caterpillars in this little patch of green.


1 April 2008

20 May 2008

20 May 2008

20 May 2008

23 June 2008

23 June 2008

23 June 2008

A big thank you to those who continue to donate plants from their gardens and those who volunteer their time to give the flowerbed an occasional water and weed.

If you would like to be informed by email of our next weeding session please contact:

• pauline.flowerbed@gmail.com


• frances.flowerbed@gmail.com

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Earthworms Released Into The Flowerbed

Have you noticed the difference?

This morning the flowerbed area was thoroughly swept and cleared of litter. The earth surrounding the roots of the Plane trees near the flowerbed was weeded and planted with Forget-Me-Nots, summer Iris and Gladioli bulbs and sown with white Alyssum 'Snow Cloth' and pink, lavender, carmine and white Candytuft 'Fairy Mixed'.

Poppies and other annual flower seeds were sprinkled over the flowerbed and a bucket of garden earthworms was released into the flowerbed as their activity will improve the condition of the soil.

A big thank you to the residents who donated money to buy seeds.

We decided to purchase annual flower seeds so that there would be a colourful display of flowers this summer. If anybody is sowing perennials for their gardens please could you nurture a few extra plants for the flowerbed to ensure an abundance of flowers next year.

There is a packet of Stocks to be sown and if anyone would like to volunteer to germinate some in pots indoors please email

• pauline.flowerbed@gmail.com


• frances.flowerbed@gmail.com

and we will provide you with pots, compost and seed.

Releasing the wriggly garden worms.


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Manure Mulch

Thank you to Corinne Hibberd, Initiatives Manager, LBWF Environment & Regeneration for organising the installation of the plaque

Today a group of residents spent half an hour mulching the flowerbed with well rotted manure.

As well as giving much needed nutrition for revitalising the depleted soil, by slowly introducing organic matter we hope to improve the moisture retention properties of it too. This will help over the dry summer period.

We hope to organise a meet sometime late February to sow some annual flowers (any surplus seed saved from your gardens last season would be much appreciated, feel free to email us with any suggestions or requests). We will also concentrate on weeding around the three Plane trees in the vicinity of the flowerbed and plant some vigorous groundcover.

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Group Photos of the Inaugural Flowerbed Adoption Meet

©LBWF Cllr Bob Belam, Cabinet Member for environment, PCSO Jannet Thompson, PCSO Mohammed Karim of the Higham Hill Safer Neighbourhood Team and residents at the inaugural flowerbed adoption meet.

Corinne Hibberd, Initiatives Manager, Environment & Regeneration, Waltham Forest Council, has kindly sent us some group photographs taken on Wednesday the 17th October when residents adopted the flowerbed.

CLICK HERE for more details about LBWF's 'Adopt A Flower Bed'scheme (link opens in a new window).

CLICK HERE for more details about the Higham Hill Safer Neighbourhood Team (link opens in a new window).

You can click on each of the images to view a larger image.

©LBWF


©LBWF


©LBWF

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Spring Bulb Planting Meet

On the morning of Sunday the 4th of November a group of the more "mature(d)" residents of the close gathered at the flowerbed. After some effort (and secret relief to know that the youths, still asleep after their Fireworks Night activities, were not around to witness this) they managed to scramble up onto to the flowerbed to plant the 300 narcissi and 50 blue crocii donated by the LBWF 'Cleaner, Safer, Greener' Programme and distributed by Groundwork East London.

More plants, yellow, blue and white irises, blue hycinths and more crocii were planted to augment the bulbs donated by the council. A resident of Fairfield Rd risked life and limb to balance precariously on a ladder to remove the bicycle tyre that had been caught for months on the top of the lampost behind the flowerbed.

Many thanks to those residents who donated plants and bulbs, to those who helped plant them, to those who provided refreshments and to those who gave cash donations (we thought we'd give the few earthworms resident in the flowerbed a treat, we'll be purchasing a couple of bags of well rotted manure to mulch the flowerbed in the not too distant future).

CLICK HERE for more details about LBWF's 'Cleaner, Safer, Greener' Programme (link opens in a new window).

CLICK HERE to visit the Groundwork East London website (link opens in a new window).

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The Inaugural Bramley Close Flowerbed Adoption Meet.

On Wednesday the 17th October residents met Corinne Hibberd, Initiatives Manager, Environment & Regeneration, Waltham Forest Council and received a donation of gardening implements, lavender and rosemary.

CLICK HERE for more details about LBWF's 'Adopt A Flower Bed'scheme (link opens in a new window).

A BIG THANK YOU to the HEROIC efforts of all those who helped to dig out the dead, ugly, badly lopped tree trunks & clear the flowerbed ready for planting! We will be eventually posting a page of before-and-after, work-in-progress photos for you to see just what a dramatic change you have made to the flowerbed.

THANK YOU to all residents who attended the inaugural Bramley Close flowerbed adoption meeting and for the many donated plants. We hope to hold all future flowerbed events at times more convenient to all who are interested.

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Planting The Flowerbed

On Saturday the 20th October a group of residents planted the newly dug over flowerbed. The girls proved to the boys that they were equally capable of digging, even though it did mean that they got dirt under their nails.

THANK YOU to all those who donated plants, helped dig them in, baked cakes and provided refreshments.

We hope to see you all again when we meet to plant the bulbs donated to us by the council.

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