Iona Close hedge planting

Posted on February 15, 2013 by Jess kyle

As part of the successful Local Assembly bid and to satisfy some local residents we planted a number of hawthorn whips along the boundary of the site.  Enjoying the slightly warmer weather 19 people turned out to help which meant that we were able to get a lot of work done.

Planting whips is a happy business!

Planting whips is a happy business!

Aside from planting almost 300 whips we also were able to do some more clearing, top up the woodchip footpath and put manure on the trees.   There are still more whips that need to be planted and hopefully we can persuade a few of the Nature’s Gym volunteers to come out again to finish the job.  The site looks very different from when the volunteers first went there last year and these improvements have only been made possible with the help of volunteers, Friends and the London Orchard Project.

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London Orchard Project & Ladywell Fields User Group

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Jess kyle

London Orchard Project

The London Orchard Project will be running another couple of training sessions at Iona Close Orchard in Ladywell Fields.  They ran a couple of training sessions here during the summer, but there is still quite a bit to do.  The two sessions will be on Sunday 18 November and Sunday 9 December.  For more information on these training sessions and to book your place, please email the Ladywell User Group.

The Nature’s Gym volunteers have also been hard at work here, clearing brambles and brash and putting down a new footpath.  This really is an amazing site and is well worth a visit it you have not been before.

Iona Close Orchard

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How much wood does a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood? – Part 5

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Jess kyle

Once again the Nature’s Gym volunteers found themselves laying a woodchip footpath.  They have previously done it at a Local School ,  De Frene Road allotments and Burnt Ash Pond.   A few months ago they also started a new path at Iona Close Orchard.   The last time we were at this site we managed to improve our woodchip path making skills and were able to build on these on Thursday.  We managed to lay about 30m of path last time and we could already see how much the site was going to benefit from the new path.

Getting ready to continue what we stared!

Load the barrow

Luckily a lot of the hard work in preparing the ground for the new path had been done at our last session here, so while some people continued laying out the root barrier, others could get to work on barrowing and raking more woodchip, whiles others looked for logs that we could use for the edging.

Getting ready to rake the woodchip

Looking for logs

More of the old path uncovered

While some people were working on the path, other volunteers were busy clearing up a fallen tree, removing bindweed and creeping thistle from the meadow area, clearing around the fruit trees, cutting back bramble and uncovering more of the path we found last time!  So as you can see it was a very busy Thursday! There is of course more to do….

Getting there!

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How much wood does a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood? – Part 4

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Jess kyle

The Nature’s Gym volunteers really are getting in to the art of the woodchip footpath having previously done it at a Local School ,  De Frene Road allotments and Burnt Ash Pond.  Luckily they still seem to enjoy it, in fact they are finding new ways of improving the task.  They were also able to use previously unknown and hidden talents of pleats and box pleats while laying the root represent! 

All hands on deck to clear the path

But before all that the route of the path had to be clear of..roots!  Thanks to Robert from the Friends of Ladywell Fields, most of this had been done already, but there was still a little more to do. While some mattocked others dug and cleared litter – all very important work.  Once they way had been cleared we could start laying the geotextile.

Getting to grips with box pleats

Raking and barrowing

Soon the path was ready for the woodchip,  we wanted to make sure that the material we had laid down already was completely covered.  We had plenty of people on hand to fill and push barrows, as well as rake!   While all of this was going on other volunteers were clearing the site of invasive species which would allow for more light in to the site.  At the other end of the site a few more volunteers continued to clear the path.  As they did so, they unearthed and old herringbone footpath which we think must have been the remains of the old garden.  Look out for photos of this in the next couple of months.  We will post some here once the unearthing is complete.  Robert also took on the task of building a few steps, what started of as one ended up being three!  For a first attempt I think you will all agree that they look pretty smashing.

Robert’s Steps

Almost there!

Meanwhile at the other end, the path was really taking shape, in fact those beavering volunteers got the path finished – well 30m out of 60m – but they finished everything we hoped to achieve on that day!

A good days work

 

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Iona Close Orchard confirmed

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Jess kyle

Volunteers begin clearing the site

Hi all Nature’s Gymers, just to let you know that we will be going ahead as planned at Iona Close Orchard on Thursday 17th May 2012.  At this session we will be laying a footpath through the site and building some log piles.  For those of you that were there last time, you will notice a lot of changes!  If you’ve not been out with us before, but would like to join us, please visit the Nature’s Gym page for information on how you can get involved.

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Iona Close Orchard

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Jess kyle

Iona Close Orchard is a fascinating relic of a Victorian garden. The houses to which it originally belonged date to about 1825.  Hidden away behind a few mature ash and Norway maple trees are several fine old fruit trees, apples, pears, plums and a mulberry.   Although it has become has become overgrow, it has remained largely undisturbed, and is therefore a haven for wildlife.  Old orchards are generally of high nature conservation value and there is concern that they may disappear.  There are a number of uncommon invertebrates which specialise in feeding on dead wood or sap runs on fruit trees.  Fruit and nectar also provide food for other foraging insects and birds.

There is a need to carry out basic vegetation management to enable access so that a restoration project is possible.  Some of the existing trees are crowded out by others and need to be removed to make space.  Therefore, the restoration would involve establishing an access path and then the selective removal of some trees and scrub to favour identified fruit trees.  The project will look to enhance the fruit stock by appropriate additional planting.

 

So thanks to a successful bid to the Mayor’s Fund work has started on turning this old site in to a viable orchard.  On Thursday 3 November the Ladywell Fields User Group along with volunteers from Nature’s Gymset to work clearing the site to allow access for the initial tree works.  This is the first of a number of volunteer sessions that will seek to improve the site as a nature reserve, in accordance with the Council Ecology Officer’s management plan for the site.  For example the old fruit trees need considerable maintenance (some may need professional felling), a simple fence needs to be erected, and a pathway around the site needs to be laid/built.

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