Rosamund Community Garden News June 2026

a garden for the community in Guildford

Welcome to this month’s community garden news update!

📅EVENTS AT THE GARDEN

🍃Wednesday, 10th June, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm - Wild Food Walk at Rosamund - TICKETS

🌿Saturday, 13th June, 10:00 am to 12:00 pm - Introduction to Gardening Workshop with Lynne and Helen. Session 4 » TICKETS

🦋Saturday, 27th June, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm - Family Nature Connection session with Jane, a perfect event for families to slow down, explore, and enjoy meaningful time together outdoors » 3 SPACES REMAIN

🧱Sunday, 28th June, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm - Natural Rendering Workshop at the Hub - (all welcome)

🌍EVENTS AT ZERO GUILDFORD » CLICK

🐌GARDEN UPDATE

Well what a crazy May that was, with incredible temperatures that made us bring all our seedlings out of the furnace of poly 2 and under our shady sycamore for safe keeping. They’ve thrived in the shade and we have larger, stronger plants to put into poly 1 and the rest of the garden. Having a sheltered place to put young plants to harden off is essential for resilient gardening, and a tree is the best nursemaid.

Kate’s amazing compost has provided a fantastic mulch for the beds and we’ve planted most of the indoor tomatoes and cucumbers now. The last of the salads will be picked this week before it gets too hot for them.

Malcolm has knocked up a new raised bed to trial grow some outdoor cucumbers. We just need to make a frame for them to scramble on, and it’ll depend on the weather if they thrive or not.

Elsewhere the heat hasn’t caused any casualties, we’re set for a good crop of plums, cherries and apples, and thanks to regular watering, our new pear trees and the kiwi vines are doing well.

The wonderful rain has filled all our tanks and butts, and we’re going to focus on making the gutters on poly 2 work better to keep the pond filled.

We’ve realised from watching the wildlife camera, just how essential the pond is for all species, and Margaret is busy sourcing marginal plants to cover the  edges, and for the bog garden.

The Hub

Helen and I had a very emotional moment when we placed the final mud onto the walls, after a successful session with the Galiford Try group. This has been a 6 year project and it hasn’t been an easy ride, but with the help of some amazing volunteer groups, funders and talented carpenters, we’ve finally got a building that is beautiful and insulated for groups and volunteers to use.

We also had fab days with groups from Hotel Plan and Employee Volunteering who set to and painted the doors on the Hub, which looks very smart! They also completely bird-proofed the fruitcage and sorted out the rosemary hedge, which looks transformed and much happier.

It's incredible how much a large group can achieve in a small time, and we feel very proud to be able to offer these corporate volunteer days for local businesses to help our project.

Rosemary hedge before

Rosemary hedge after

Kids Can Volunteer Too

making no dig beds and picking salads

Natural Clay Rendering Workshop - Join Us?

On 28th June, from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, we are running a free workshop to start learning to use natural clay render, led by Aniruth (who learnt his skill building with cob in India) and local potter Anamica, who will be helping us make some decorations for the walls. Come and join in, get mucky and have some fun.

Zero Carbon Guildford

Clare and Helen have been having a series of meetings with the wonderful people at ZCG to plan how we go forward into this new, exciting phase for the garden.

Fund raising for paid roles enabling more open sessions and a wider reach on social media, will mean more volunteers, support and learning opportunities.

Watch this space for developments!

A Note from Helen 

I'm really pleased that the yellow rattle we seeded in strips into the orchard is doing really well and this year it's clear to see how it is spreading beyond the areas originally seeded.

I think our method of a late scythe cut and leaving the cut material for a couple of weeks before raking and collecting is working well. Thanks to Mike for scything for us.

👩🏻‍🌾JUNE JOBS AT THE GARDEN

  • Plant remaining tomatoes

  • Water poly-tunnel 1 when needed 

  • Mulch potatoes

  • Cover trellis/fire-bowl area with woodchips (when we get a delivery)

  • Water any new plants when needed

  • Weed out creeping buttercup from flowerbed

🌼PLANT OF THE MONTH

by Helen Harris

Bird's-foot Trefoil

Latin Name

Lotus corniculatus

Common Names

This bright little wildflower goes by a variety of folk names across Britain. Bird's-foot trefoil is the most widely used, referring to the claw-like arrangement of its seed pods. You may also hear it called eggs and bacon (for its red-tinged yellow buds), butter and eggs, lady's slipper, crow toes, granny's toenails, or Tom Thumb. In some regions, it's known as devil's fingers or cat's clover. There are over 130 recorded common names in total for this plant. 

Habitat

Bird's-foot trefoil thrives across the UK in grasslands, meadows, roadside verges, and coastal cliffs. It's remarkably adaptable, tolerating both dry, chalky soils and damper conditions. It flowers from May through to September in lawns, pastures, sand dunes, and even garden borders. It is a nitrogen-fixing legume, it actually improves soil quality wherever it grows. 

Uses

This plant punches well above its weight ecologically. It's a vital food source for pollinators, particularly the common blue butterfly, whose caterpillars depend on it almost exclusively. Bees adore the nectar-rich flowers, and the seeds feed birds through autumn and winter.

Historically, bird's-foot trefoil was used in herbal medicine as a mild sedative and to treat heart palpitations—though these uses aren't recommended today. In agriculture, it remains valuable as a nutritious fodder crop and for soil improvement in sustainable farming systems.

Folklore

The plant's many sinister-sounding names—devil's fingers, devil's claw—hint at an uneasy relationship with superstition. In some traditions, carrying the flowers was thought to ward off evil spirits, while in others, bringing them indoors invited bad luck. The trefoil's three-lobed leaves also connected it symbolically to the Trinity in Christian folklore, lending it protective qualities in certain regions.

🎟️JOINING INFO

We look forward to seeing you in the garden soon.

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