Gardening for birds

At our last gardening club (on Saturday 19), our local gardening expert Helen Wilson was teaching everyone about the species that birds love - and how to plant them. It was a great success, so thanks to everyone who came along! Sadly, the camera battery died, so we don't have any pics of the day, but here's a run down of what we planted so you can keep an eye out for it next time you're there...

English Ivy (Hedera Glacier) - birds love nesting in it, and because it flowers in autumn, it's a great food source for honey bees and Red Admiral butterflies too.

Native Honeysuckle (Lonicera Periclymenum) - honeysuckle attracts lots of insects that birds like to eat. It's especially good for Bluetits as well, because they can nest in the dense bits.

Winter-Flowering Honeysuckle (Lonicera Fragantissima) - perfect for birds to make their nests in, and good for attracting insects (in case the birds need an autumn snack).

Our next gardening club session on Saturday 26 May will be for the butterflies! And we'll be planting native bluebells too to help save them from extinction. So join us on the meadow on Saturday from 12pm-2pm - free drinks and snacks will be provided. See you then!

Summer's coming...

And it's going to be amazing!

Star-of-Bethlehem (Ornithogalum) peeping through this year's crop of wildflowers.

Blues and whites - perfect for our local bees.

A spring bee stocking up on nectar from a White Deadnettle (Lamium album)

Camissia flowers from last years' bulb planting.

Gardening club session: Saturday 19 May, 12pm-2pm

Our next gardening club session is happening on Saturday 19 May from 12pm-2pm. The last session was all about growing plants that bees and butterflies would love. But the one on Saturday will be for the birds.

Local gardening expert Helen Wilson will be teaching us all about growing climbing plants that birds love to nest in. And she'll be on hand to answer any other gardening questions you might have too.

The gardening club is completely free. And there'll be free drinks and snacks too - so come on down!

May flowers

They say April showers bring May flowers. But torrential rain in May brings these little beauties! The meadow's just gearing up for summer so keep checking back because these spring flowers will be in bloom soon.

A future field of blooms!

Dandelions aren't every gardener's cup of tea, but the bees love them - and so to us wildflower gardeners.

Cow Parsley, thriving among the long grass.

A native bluebell! There aren't loads of these growing (sadly), but if you look carefully, you'll see a few among the grass.

Bulbs and wildflowers getting ready to bloom.

A great start to the gardening club

The weekend weather was perfect for gardening - and meant our gardening club got off to a fantastic start. The long-awaited sunshine meant picnics were perhaps a bit more tempting than planting. But our new gardening club leader Helen had everything under control - and thanks to her expert supervision, the meadow has a whole new area of wildflower plants!

A small (but dedicated) team getting started on the very first gardening club session!

Tiny 'plug plants', waiting to make the meadow their home.

Helen's green-fingers in action.

Adding some mulch (courtesy of Hackney Council) to protect our young plants.

Free snacks in the sunshine!

Here's what we planted - you should be able to see some of them in bloom in a few months.

Clockwise from top right: Sorrell (Rumex Acetosa), Wild Carrot (Daucus Carota),  Red Valerian (Centranthus Ruber), Hoary Plantain (Plantago Media), Clustered Bellflower (Campanula Glomerata), CENTRE Thrift (Armeria Maritima), Vipers Bugloss (Echium Vulgare), Yarrow (Achillea Millefolium), Wild Clary (Salvia Verbenaca). 

Down the garden path...

Even if Londoners haven't been enjoying all the rain we've been having recently, the meadow's been loving it! With the grass getting long and super-green, the parks team from Hackney Council swung by with a mower to cut some paths through it. We think they look AMAZING, but what do you think? Do you like them? And are there any other paths you'd like mown on the meadow? Just leave a comment or email mableymeadow@gmail.com

Our new gardening club is go!

This year, Mabley Meadow will have its very own gardening club, led by local green-fingered legend Helen Wilson.

Helen will be running a series of free gardening sessions on the meadow for all ages and abilities, and we'll be having extra-special, creative events run by wildlife-friendly artist Penny Sabudin too. Here's what's coming up on the gardening club calendar:

Saturday 12 May

12pm – 2pm

Learn how to plant wildflowers and make the meadow haven for bees and butterflies over summer.

Saturday 19 May

12pm – 2pm

Birds love nesting in ivy, so come plant some (and some other climbing plants too) and give our flying friends a new home.

Saturday 26 May

12pm – 2pm

Help save the rare native bluebell and plant Hackney’s first bluebell wood! Plus learn about the plants that birds, bees and butterflies love.

 

Saturday 9 June

12pm – 2pm

Join artist Penny Sadubin and weave a giant willow structure on the meadow. All ages welcome, and all materials will be provided.
 

Free drinks and snacks will be provided!