Going for gold at London's Olympic Park Gardens

There's a treat in store for keen gardeners going to Olympic events at Stratford. Half a mile of riverbank between the aquatics centre and the stadium has been cleared of contamination, rubbish, railway sidings and Japanese knotweed and transformed into a garden celebrating the British love of plants. The design is the work of Chelsea gold medal winner Sarah Price.

“I really wanted to celebrate the introduction of plants into Great Britain in the last 500 years so it’s a timeline looking at plants that have come from Europe, then North America, the Southern hemisphere and Asia,” she says. “It’s densely planted, a bit like a meadow, and the plants are intermingled. There are also areas where it’s a simple composition with grasses against this mad tapestry. Part of our brief… was to create gardens suitable for a festival and colourful so it is about making sweeping statements. But it also has unity and relates to painted pictures. We wanted bold swathes of purple in a broad sweep.”

The gardens cover an area the size of 10 football fields, and contain more than 120,000 plants from 250 different species, nurtured to flower during the Olympics They will gradually move in colour from predominantly yellow (left), blue and silver in July to gold in August.

When I visited on June 14, (before a special BBC Radio 4 Gardeners’ Question Time programme), most of the flowers were still to emerge, but the thought that had gone into the planting was obvious. The Lea Valley is a windtunnel, so vegetation has been kept low, with box hedging providing some shelter (left). Grasses were bending in the wind, while spikes of allium, agapanthus, black iris, lillies, red hot poker, and Californian poppy added drama.

Working with Sarah on the wildflower meadows are Professor James Hitchmough and his colleague Nigel Dunnett from the University of Sheffield, and head gardener Des Smith. Professor Hitchmough makes the point that the days when local authorities had money for intensive garden maintenance are past. So the care of the meadow gardens is squeezed into a couple of weeks from the end of February, when the vegetation is cut down and flash-burnt to get rid of weeds, then reseeded with a special prairie mix. He says they trialled this in Sheffield Botanic Gardens in 2004, and today it's still more or less weed-free.

In a more sheltered area near the stadium is the Great British Garden, the work of RHS competition-winners Rachel Read and schoolgirl Hannah Clegg. Their design features Bronze, Silver and Gold areas with matching colours of wildflowers and grasses, running-track inspired spiral paths, a living tunnel of woven willow, an orchard, fruiting hedges and a frog pond with wetland plants. There’s also a 'de Coubertin oak', from an acorn collected from the tree that Baron Pierre De Coubertin planted in 1894 to thank the citizens of Much Wenlock in Shropshire for inspiring the founding of the modern Olympic Games.

In years to come, this former industrial site will become a leafy oasis. Two and a half thousand trees, including alder, cherry, ash, hazel, willow, oak, poplar, rowan, lime, field maple, sweet gum and silver birch have already been planted and a similar number will be added next year.

One thoughtful touch: the parklands will have 250 benches and more than 3,300 seats, so there should always be a handy place to sit and enjoy the surroundings.

Planting notes on the world gardens:

Europe includes:

Crocus; Daffodil; Primrose; Mont Blanc, Drumstick and Bulgarian Onion; Woodruff; Milky Bellflower; Corn Flower; ‘Mayflower’ Geranium; Marsh Spurge; Shasta Daisy; Jerusalem Cross; Loosestrife; Turkish Sage; Devils Bit Scabious; Globeflower; Yellow Oxeye.

America includes:

Evening Primrose; Wild Quinine; Wild Petunia; Butterfly Milkweed; Prairie Daisies, Asters, grasses and Coneflower; Bush’s Poppy Mallow; Tickseed; Rattlesnake Master; Prairie Smoke; Indian Physic; Tall Blazing Star; Jacob’s Ladder; Compass Plant; Soapweed Yucca; Verbena.

Asia includes:

Black Iris; Japanese Anemone; Korean Feather Reed Grass; Tiger, Foxtail, Red and Tall Boy Plantain Lily; Japanese Flamingo and Silverfeather Grass; Moorhexe and Transparent Moor Grass; Giant Fleeceflower; Oriental Burnet; Firetail Bistort.

The Southern Hemisphere includes:

African, Bugle and Pineapple Lily; South African Thistle; Orange New Zealand Sedge; Kangaroo Grass; Angel’s Fishing Rods; Weeping Love Grass; Cape Hyacinth; Ruby Butterfly Gladiolus; Everlasting Golden Strawflower; Red Hot Poker; Drakensburg Tritonia.
More at: http://www.london2012.com/spectators/venues/olympic-park/

London's most unusual garden square

This weekend more than 200 London squares and gardens, mostly private, open their gates so visitors can discover some of the capital’s beautiful hidden spaces. To me, the most remarkable is the Garden Barge Square at Tower Bridge Moorings, Downings Rd, Southwark, where gardens have been created on converted barges.

The planting is in huge metal trays on rooftops and decks and ranges from an apple tree to evergreen and silver-leafed plants such as lavender and stipa, which thrive despite the windy air of the Thames.

 

I took these photos when I visited last year, and was amazed by the care and imagination that has gone into the creation of these gardens. There was even an apple tree, though because of the shallow depth of the soil, it could never grow very tall.

Even the walkways between the barges have been lined with plants. (The inspiration came from self-seeded wildflowers which sprang up on the barges back in the 1980s.)

Today, this floating square is a haven for insects and birds, and shows how a garden can be created almost anywhere.

London Garden Squares weekend, June 9 + 10, 2012: http://www.opensquares.org/en/index.html

More about London squares: http://www.londongardenstrust.org/history/squares.htm

Lightweight compost for urban living

At a gardening event the other day, a top-floor flat dweller was lamenting the fact that although she'd like a little roof garden, lugging heavy bags of compost home and then up all those stairs was beyond her.

I reminded her of the lightweight composts now available. I've been trying Miracle-Gro's expand'n'gro. Dry, it weighs almost nothing, but add water when you get it home and it swells up to three times its size (and gets heavy). It’s said to contain enough nutrients for six months, and to require less watering, which would be a bonus for an exposed windowsill or terrace.

The sample I had came in a plastic bag (left). I added an equal amount of water, and it quickly swelled to fill the 12cm pot included. I’ve used it for a small aloe which has just been joined by an offspring, and am waiting to see how they fare.

Some feedback on another product I’ve been trying, Vitax’s NeverGreen, designed to protect outdoor surfaces against mould and mildew. The concrete of our small courtyard regularly turns green and has to be scrubbed and bleached every few months – a task I loathe. I applied some NeverGreen at the beginning of March, and despite all the rain, the surface is still clear. I’ll report back on this again in the autumn.
Both products can be found in the UK at garden centres, DIY outlets and on the internet.
http://expand-n-gro.co.uk/how-it-works
http://www.maxnevergreen.com/what-is-nevergreen

Endangered white lions arrive in the UK

The Wildlife Heritage Foundation in Kent has some new inhabitants – two rare white lionesses. They’ve come from South Africa, where only a handful remain in the wild, and the hope is that they will mate with Themba, a white lion already there (left). 

The two sisters, Sophia (above) and Joy (below), arrived on a damp May morning after an overnight flight.

Watched by two television crews and a number of journalists, the kennel-type boxes in which they’d been travelling were carefully carried through to the new enclosure built for them. With Themba, they will remain in quarantine for several months, starting off in adjoining runs while getting accustomed to each other.

The foundation has already had major sucesses in caring for and breeding engangered big cats such as Sumatran tigers (left) and Amur leopards, and it’s hoped there’ll be some white lion cubs in the not-too-distant future.

The foundation is on a farm close to Smardon, near Ashford. It was founded in 2002 by the Sampson family, who also own Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire. Other WHF occupants include African lions, jaguars, cheetahs, pumas and snow leopards. Because of the breeding and conservation programme, it’s not generally open to the public but there are fundraising open days in the summer, and it’s possible to book Big Cat Experience days (where you get to hand feed some of the animals) or sign up to be a ranger for the day. More details at www.wht.org.uk or ph 01233 771915.

In the meantime, here’s wishing Themba, Sophia and Joy a happy time together.

Will this green wall improve air quality in London?

I love the look of this green wall, installed last November to trap pollution at one on London’s busiest intersections  - the corner of Edgeware and Marylebone roads. It covers 200 square metres, is made up of 15 different evergreen and perennial plants (chosen to absorb pollution from exhaust fumes) and despite the gritty environment, seems to be thriving.

It's planted in an abstract pattern – unlike the green wall inspired by a Van Gogh painting which last year appeared outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. The effectiveness is being monitored by scientists from Imperial College. It’s part of an initiative to promote cleaner air in the capital. Around 500 new trees and shrubs have appeared, including 200 lime trees along the A40 and 50 planted towers on Lower Thames St. With the Olympics coming up, London’s poor air quality is a hot topic, and this green initiative is seen as an attractive way of helping improve the situation.  

Sneak peek at Gloriana, the Diamond Jubilee royal barge

Here’s the Gloriana, the £1m boat that will lead the Diamond Jubilee Pageant along the Thames on Sunday, June 3. I spotted her moored by Richmond Bridge, where workmen were adding the final touches to the woodwork and gilding. On Wednesday, April 25 she will be taken downriver to Greenwich for a formal naming ceremony by the Queen.

The Gloriana was inspired by the barges seen on the Thames in the 18thc, and painted by Canaletto (left). She’ll be powered by 18 rowers, all in colourful costumes. But the Queen won’t be on the Gloriana. Because of security concerns, she’ll be following on a motor cruiser, the Spirit of Chartwell, which is being dressed in gold, purple and crimson for the occasion, with a gilded carving near the prow, and two thrones on a raised dais. There will also be flowers from the Queen's gardens and across the Commonwealth.
A thousand boats, ranging from kayaks, historic vessels and pleasureboats to steam boats, tugs, and the surviving Dunkirk ‘little ships’ will take part in the pagent. The flotilla will stretch back over seven miles, starting at Wandsworth and ending past Tower Bridge, and taking 90 minutes to pass any given point. A sight to remember.

Prince Charles's Ideal Home

He may have spent much of his life in palaces and castles, but the Prince of Wales is passionate about sustainable living and the need for cleaner, greener houses. Many of his ideas were the starting point for the Prince’s Arts and Crafts House at this year's Ideal Home Show in London which he visited (left, with Prince's Foundation Ambassador George Clarke) after the exhibition's official opening. Although the house is inspired by the 19th c movement which concentrated on quality, handmade design and furnishings, it's in tune with current environmental thinking and 70% more energy efficient than building regulations require. Its thick walls and natural materials such as clay, wood, lime and wool will keep it warm in winter and cool in summer, and the architects say its one wood-burning stove should be enough to heat the whole 2-storey house.

The Prince believes in fostering British craft, and this is evident in the décor, which includes stained glass windows, lino-cut wallpaper, hand-made tiles and traditional joinery.

 Out in the garden, visitors could see British-sourced materials, crafts and plants, with a strong emphasis on the edible. Planting also includes the Amelanchier, or ‘June Berry’ which flowers early and has edible berries in June, and Erythronium ‘dog’s-tooth violet’, another early flowering plant that thrives in the shade of small trees.

The house (left) will eventually end up on a residential site, where one lucky family will be able to live in a royal dream home. But there could be more - the Prince's Foundation is hoping to interest a commercial builder in the design.

http://www.princes-foundation.org/