Pond Visitors, an Upcoming Wreath Workshop & a New Mud Kitchen!

📅EVENTS AT THE GARDEN

🐮Wednesday, 12th November - from 10:30 am Cattle Fencing Day - come and help us install the electric fencing for the belties on the Rosamund Field - all welcome

🥂Saturday, 22nd November - 2:00 pm Pewley Meadows Get Together to celebrate the new viewfinder - Eastern meadow next to Burgess Way, for FoPM members and RCG members + family

🍂Saturday, 22nd November - 1.:00 pm-2:00 pm Family Nature Connection session with Jane, a perfect event for families to slow down, explore, and enjoy meaningful time together outdoors » 4 FAMILY SPACES

🎄Sunday, 7th December, 10:30 am-12:30 pm -Wreath Making Workshop with Clare and Helen - get into the holiday spirit and create your own beautiful wreath to decorate your home. This in-person workshop will be held at the garden. 4 spaces remain » TICKETS

🌟Saturday, 20th December, 11:00 am-2:00 pm - Festive Drop In Get Together - mince pies and hot drinks. Members, volunteers & their families

🌍EVENTS AT ZERO GUILDFORD » CLICK

🎥SPOTTED IN THE GARDEN 

by Paul Jolley

We set up a motion-activated camera looking along the bank of the pond at Rosamund Gardens. Anything warm blooded will trigger it to record a 20 second video, roughly between dusk and dawn. When it's dark, the camera will switch to infrared, which are the black and white videos. Sources of water are often visited by a wide range of animals, which is why we set it up by the pond. Clearly, this is the case at Rosamund, as we've recorded many videos, over 200 in October.

Spot the wildlife! How many animals can you see in the video below? (click on the description in the video for our thoughts).

And is this a polecat, ferret or mink - what do you think?

🌿GARDEN UPDATE

by Clare Millington

I think we can safely say that the summer is over and the Autumnal rains are replenishing the soil and ponds in the garden, after the thirsty, but enjoyable months of sunshine.

This year, we haven’t had to water the fruit-cage or the orchard, and even the new Forest Garden has needed minimal watering. This proves that no-dig practices and deep mulching really work to lock moisture into the soil, maintaining vital fungal pathways. Keeping soil covered with plants through the year is also a great way to stop the top layer drying out, even if this is with “weeds” the plants will hold huge amounts of water in their root systems.

We’re still crossing our fingers that the rabbit damage in the orchard hasn’t done lasting harm. We have lost one or two of the younger trees and the kiwi vine didn’t last, but the others have had huge crops, so we’ll wait and see…

Autumn and winter are lovely times to have a good sort out. Cutting back brambles and nettles; turning composts and layering new ones; covering bare beds with mulch or cardboard to keep them damp and suppress weeds; and drying and saving seeds to plant next spring or share/swap with other gardeners.

This year we’ve saved seeds from spinach, tree spinach, woad, chives, calendula, echinacea, hollyhocks, cosmos, evening primrose and borage. 

Erin, has been busy drying the dye flowers to store for her natural dye workshops. Next year we plan to extend the bed and include some more varieties including flax, which as well as providing fibre for linen, also produces beautiful blue flowers for pollinators.

The Jolley family came and installed our first proper mud kitchen in the willow play area. As more young families join the garden, we hope this will provide a lovely space for the kids to get mucky and have a good “cook” - a plea for some old pots and pans please.

☀️GROUPS AT THE GARDEN

AQA

This month we’ve had another visit from AQA, who came on a perfect sunny day to clear the brambles from around the old pond. This area has been very neglected, but forms an important boggy habitat to complement the new pond.

The group had fun clearing and mulching the area, ready for us to plant some new marginal plants, which will add to the biodiversity at the garden.

DofE

Our DofE students have been working on their various projects - the dye bed; the outside seating area; and seed saving and signage.

Although some of them have finished their awards, it’s very heart-warming to see them either choosing to stay and do their next level at Rosamund, or just keep coming with their parents as volunteers. We are expecting at least 2 more students to start this winter, and they really provide a lovely addition to our little community.

Schools

The 6 Formers for RGS and GHS are back for the winter providing a productive work party to help with winter jobs. Last time Helen taught the group to tree pop in the meadow, and they really got stuck in after she’d explained the importance of maintaining these chalk downland habitats for rare and endangered species. This is a good winter job, as is collecting manure from our next-door neighbour’s horses and mulching around the garden.

The Hub

We’ve had a hiatus in activity for a while, because we ran out of clay for the build, but we now have a fresh supply from Clandon Wood Natural Burial Ground, which should mean we can make the Hub wind-proof for the winter. We will be able to invite groups to come and help us complete the walls, and install our ambitious new bamboo rainwater harvesting system around the roof.

The final installation will be the solar-powered lighting, which will be a fantastic addition, especially for the darker months.

More pics and posts over on our Instagram and Facebook pages.

👩🏻‍🌾NOVEMBER JOBS AT THE GARDEN

• Weed and mulch front beds

• Cut down bean plants and compost

• Cut down dead stalks and flower heads

• Dig out grass from flower bed and start to mulch around plants

• Cut down comfrey bed and put on compost heap

🌱PLANT OF THE MONTH - WILD CLEMATIS

by Helen Harris

Latin name: Clematis vitalba
Height: Low-growing, scrambling plant
Conservation status: Common
Origin: Native to southern UK
Habitat: Hedgerows and low scrub, preferring chalky soil

Appearance:

Old Man’s Beard, part of the buttercup family, has compound leaves with three to five toothed leaflets. The white flowers, about 2 cm wide, appear to have petals but are actually sepals with large stamens. Its silky, feathery seed clusters, or achenes, give the plant its distinctive flowing look and name.

Ecology:

A woody deciduous climber that can reach 30 m. Flowers are hermaphroditic and mainly insect-pollinated by bees and hoverflies. It blooms from July to September, with seed heads lasting through winter. Traveller’s Joy is a food source for moths such as the pretty chalk carpet, small waved umber, and small emerald, and provides food and nesting material for birds like goldfinches. Dense foliage also shelters small mammals and invertebrates.

Environmental impact:

Seeds spread easily by wind. Fast-growing and sometimes invasive, it can outcompete other plants in woodlands, meadows, and chalk grasslands, where it may be removed during habitat management.

Common names, traditional medicine and folklore:

Also known as Traveller’s Joy and Virgin’s Bower, the plant was said to protect travellers and bring luck, though bringing it indoors was considered unlucky. The name “Old Man’s Beard” may refer to God or the Green Man of folklore. Traditionally, it was used for its anti-inflammatory properties to treat skin irritations and stress.

Sources:
Woodland Trust
Woodlands.co.uk

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For joining info please email [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you in the garden soon!