Saturday 28 July 2012

The Pits of Grove Lane

Surprise! Of the 2 tree pits opposite Johannson's Deli and Restaurant [an intimate Scandinavian joint with a lovely fireplace] one of them has sprung life! A Nasturtium has broken cover and so have a couple of Californian Poppies amid the weeds. This makes me want to actively plant it [not least because the bins near here are often whiffy]. I'm going to my parents' soon to make off with more plants, so headsup for a group dig in a few weeks [the soil will be tough going]. Any suitably hardy plants welcome too.

Gardening Leave

Belated pics of surprisingly successful plot! (I know its a mess but most of the added in plants have made it). These are the raised beds next to the Job Centre on Camberwell Green, bottles and other detritus mostly removed (I only had one small bag with me!). Banana skins welcome though as they rot down quickly and provide potassium for flowers. The cornflowers are fab and will hopefully self-seed. The Solidago is doing well. The fennel and the white daisies are hanging on [the soil is really rubbish]. 2 Nasturtiums are growing. I gave the Buddleia a slight trim [that got some looks], and a waiting bus driver assured me that he didnt leave his rubbish here.


The other side. I've only added in one pale pink Hardy Geranium and a bit of the lilac Michaelmas Daisy thus far.

Thursday 26 July 2012

Compost?

If any one would like to donate any compost to further my/our guerrilla activities, dont hold back! Or plants for that matter. 

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Expansion

A view of the patch - after the Chef Solaire and I cleaned it up and transplanted some of the Hollyhocks up the central line of the strip and planted more Crocosmia, Aquilegia, Euphorbia and Hardy Geraniums. You get the sense of the scale of the beast now. For the first time people driving by made positive remarks (instead of merely lewd ones).

I have planted some Sarcococca Confusa to try and a. get some winter sustenance for wildlife and b. protect this purple Cordyline (its coming back to life with all this rain... but this section is otherwise pretty barren).
The next picture shows some of the diverse plants a bit more clearly - the California poppies and Sisyrinchium and unusual Euphorbia. We took quite a few Hollyhocks up to Stories Road, but there are plenty more in need of another home.


Sunday 8 July 2012

Grr

I've just come back from my parents' amazing garden with several more plants for this patch - the tried and trusted Euphorbia and Aquilegia, but can't hack this pissing weather. If its dry tomorrow morning [Monday 9th] I'm meeting the Chef Solaire and we'll continue the glory and thin out a few of the fearsome Hollyhocks. 
I wish other people in Peckham could be rallied - everytime I'm on the 436 I see patches that could easily be filled with plants - esp the dead/empty planters outside the firestation...and underneath the Yucca forest near the bus station... Saw some more Southwark devastation yesterday - a plot of land outside newish housing near Queens Rd station was quite overgrown - but with a fair amount of pollinating wild flowers/weeds, now stripped back to nothing. Gah.

Monday 2 July 2012

Life and Death in a Garden

Brief update. The tree pit is Morrison's carpark is a washout. Too much foliage from the untrimmed Magnolia? Erratic weather? Anyway, the sole survivor is the Euphorbia. All 3 of the nasturtium seeds I planted in the bare patches that some neighbours call 'gardens' have been 'weeded' out. No, nothing has replaced them. However, 2 more have spouted. One is in the raised bed next to the job centre on Camberwell Green - in which the cornflowers, golden rod and daisies are also surviving. The other is the brilliant though vulnerable location of the tree pit immediately outside The Tiger. This is a big pit and would be ideal were it not for the regular digging up of the pavement and the habit of dumping rubbish bags against the tree. The seedling is inside the mesh around the tree. I will label it and hope.