Making a start

In early 2007 our Group resolved to take in hand the existing Community Garden in Middle Bourne Lane which was becoming untidy and overgrown. Working with the neighbouring residents we wasted no time in giving it a basic tidy-up as well as developing a concept for its future. Aware of its longer term potential we took advice from several of our expert contacts and produced a Project Plan to put to the owner, Farnham Town Council, and this was agreed in July 2007.

The sign at the front gate

Features of project plan

The underlying theme of the plan was to gently shift the emphasis from community garden to community wildlife garden – somewhere quiet that residents could still go to relax away from the stresses of life and, at the same time, enjoy the sights, sounds and scents of native flora and fauna. The main features were therefore:

• Preservation of the best existing trees and shrubs
• Introduction of a wildlife pond
• Providing a network of grassy paths and rustic steps creating interest and a touch of mystery
• Working to a planting plan

Sustainability. The design took into account sustainability in terms of harvesting rainwater, using natural materials and creating a substantial compost area. Above all the idea was to balance the tendency for people to want a neat and trim garden, with the naturalness that encourages wildlife.

Planting plan. The wildlife-friendly Planting Plan was based on:

• Use of native species whenever possible, preferably grown in the UK
• Plants suited to well drained, sandy soil and, if possible drought resistant
• Attractive to humans by reason of all-year colour and scent
• Retention of plenty of long grass and secluded areas for wildlife including habitat piles of twigs, logs and stones

Doing the work

Wildlife pond and bog garden. Initially the budget was very tight but it was possible to make an early start on digging the wildlife pond which was seen as the one feature guaranteed to improve biodiversity. Great care was taken to make it as natural as possible with a gentle slope from the shallow end down to its deep point of about 3ft. The soft sand made sculpting the sides difficult but we managed and by late summer we were able to put in the liner which consisted of a sandwich of two layers of geotextile material protecting the butyl sheet. This has so far proved very successful although there is the possibility that a “wicking” effect with the geotextile sheets causes some water loss. The pond was filled in October 2007 using mains water. Thereafter the pond has been kept topped up with rainwater piped from the roof of a friendly neighbour’s house. In 2008 a bog garden was added to the pond area using offcuts from the butyl pond liner. Onto this base was put a generous layer of gravel on which was placed a leaky hose capable of connection to the mains when required. The whole was then filled in with imported soil and planted with moisture loving plants like iris.

The pond

Irises

The gravel

Other tasks. There was plenty of other work to do including building a three-bay compost area, some rustic steps and stripping off an area of turf to create a small wildflower meadow. Further work required more substantial funding than was initially available and this did not materialise until February 2008 when we were delighted to be awarded a grant of £2600 by Biffaward. Only half was payable at once – we had to await a year before receiving the balance.

Native trees and shrubs. This injection of funding enabled the framework of the planting plan to be implemented just within the 2007-2008 planting window. This consisted of 10 small native trees around the periphery of the site and a number of shrubs around the pathways. The purpose of the trees is to improve the screening of the garden and to provide food for birds and insects as well as introducing colour and interest. Care was taken to give the container grown trees a good start with plenty of compost, firm staking and plenty of water. The latter has not been a great problem in the summers of 2008 and 2009! The wide variety of shrubs do a similar job to the trees and include some winter flowering varieties. A small heather bank was added on the south facing southern slope with both summer and winter flowering varieties.

Pruning

Wildlife habitats. There were already some excellent habitats in the garden, for example brambles and nettles. These, of course, we kept, constraining them to areas that suited our plan and not allowing them to takeover the whole site. To these we added sundry piles of cuttings and stones mainly around the edges of the site. In summer 2008 we added to this inventory two major features: a stage beetle loggery replicating a dead tree and a hibernaculum. We found little to guide us on the design of this until we found out what had been done at the Newbury bypass to protect snakes. We replicated this on a small scale, using builders blocks to create underground chambers partially filled with woodchips and covered over with branches and soil. Later we used up the rest of our funding on bird nest boxes, including a large one for tawny owls. We also introduced bird feeders.

The loggery

Improved biodiversity

In just over a year from starting work we began to see the first signs of improved biodiversity in the form of pond life. This included frogs and several species of dragonflies and damselflies. By the end of summer 2008 there was an impressive list of new species recorded on the site including a good population of slow worms. The following winter was quite cold with a heavy snowfall in February but, shortly after that, we were delighted to welcome back the frogs who produced lots of spawn, and a few newts. In summer 2009 we have continued to record new species including grass snakes and, of course, some of the painted lady butterflies that made such an impact right across England. Their caterpillars were also sighted in a neighbouring garden. Perhaps the record concerned moths. We knew there were a lot around but when a trap was run all night at the beginning of July 2009 we were overwhelmed in the morning to identify 50 different species plus about 12 micromoths that could not
be identified.

Painted Lady

Slow worms

Glanville

Dragonfly

Education

In 2008 the Surrey Wildlife Trust (SWT) was beginning to reorganise its resources so that it could give more support to groups such as our own, schools and other sections of the local population. This has culminated in the formation of the Greenspace team from which we have our own dedicated link. Through this period SWT has given us much help and support in part because they recognised that this community wildlife garden was setting an excellent example of what can be achieved in urban areas to assist wildlife and allow people to engage with it. We have been greatly encouraged by their favourable comments which were followed in 2008 by a Wildlife Evening for our own members and a Wildlife Day for the general public both help in the garden.

Wildlife evening

Evolution of the plan and competitions

The original concept of the wildlife garden with its four “rooms” (Woodland Glade, Wild life Area, Amenity Area and Picnic Spot) has not changed but the detail has evolved quite naturally over time. Some minor changes were made at an early stage; for example the site of the compost area was moved to a more accessible corner of the site. Other features not originally mentioned have been added including the loggery, hibernaculum and heather bank. In 2009 a few further enhancements were added as a result of entering two competitions. The first of these was the SE in Bloom competition which Farham Town Council suggested we should enter in the Small Parks category. The second was the Biffaward Awards competition in the Small Projects class. It was initially thought that this would not entail much additional work but, in reality, we put a lot of effort in to ensure that our wildlife garden was presented in the best possible light. This involved not only keeping routine maintenance right up to date but carrying out some additional planting and adding some new features. The planting was aimed at introducing more summer flowering flowers to attract bees and butterflies including extra lavender and sedum. The main improvement was new signing. This was at three levels: an outside sign to inform passers-by of the existence of the garden, a series of interpretation panels to draw attention to the main features around the site, and tags on all the plants to give their full names and the reason for their selection. The judging for the competitions took place in early July 2009 but the results will not be known until September and October.

Pond judging

Interpretation sign