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Saturday 24 March, 2pm – 4 pm: Come and help with some planting and tidying

Our delayed planting day!

Following earlier postponement, Saturday 24 March will now be our first volunteer day of 2018. We invite you to come and meet with other helpers in the gardens and to join in with any of the following planned activities:

  • Coming to meet and talk with others who share a love of Mycenae Gardens.
  • Planting a new array of shrubs and flowers in the bed in front of Mycenae House, which we began preparing in the last volunteer day. We will dig and prepare the holes and then plant and water in the new arrivals based on a planting scheme recently agreed  by the Friends of Mycenae Gardens Committee members.
  • Roping off a small area of shrubs identified by teachers from the Greenwich Steiner School where footfall has been causing to damage, so allowing the area to recover.
  • Replacing protective stakes and ropes which had been removed/ pulled out from around the refurbished shrub beds
  • Helping with general tidying and maintenance in the gardens.

No knowledge of gardening is required – only a willingness to help and to meet with other volunteers.

What to do if you are coming

Please bring any of the following, depending on how you plan to help:

  • gardening gloves
  • a fork
  • a spade
  • a garden trowel
  • secateurs
  • clothes which you would be prepared to get a little muddy
  • willingness to share or organise tea and coffee.

Where and when to meet?

We will meet in the gardens just in front of Mycenae House from 2pm. The volunteer work will be happening until 4pm but you can drop in and stay for just part of this time if you prefer – even if you just come to say hello.

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Volunteers sought for work in the gardens Saturday 14 October 10.00 – 12.00

On Saturday 14 October there is a chance to come and join volunteers in the gardens. Why not come along and meet others who share an interest in the gardens and to lend a hand with any of the following planned activities:

  • Helping to prepare and plant a bed in front of Mycenae House. The current bed has become dominated with some large shrubs and we are planning to re-plant and refurbish the area.
  • Help planting bulbs for display in Spring 2018
  • Help with other maintenance around the gardens
  • Coming to meet and talk with others who share a love of the gardens.

No knowledge of gardening is required – only a willingness to help and to meet with other volunteers.

What to do if you are coming

Please bring any of the following, depending on how you plan to help:

  • gardening gloves
  • a fork
  • a spade
  • a garden trowel
  • secateurs
  • clothes which you would be prepared to get a little muddy
  • willingness to share or organise tea and coffee.

Although not required, it would be useful if you were to send us an email to let us know if you plan to attend this volunteer session, so we know roughly how many may attend.

Where and when to meet?

We will meet in the gardens just in front of Mycenae House from 10am. The volunteer work will be happen until midday but you can drop in and stay for just part of this time if you prefer – even if you just come to say hello.

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Annual General Meeting 2017

7.00pm, Wednesday 22 March

AT GREENWICH STEINER SCHOOL, WOODLANDS, 90 MYCENAE ROAD, BLACKHEATH, LONDON, SE3 7SE

The Friends of Mycenae Gardens will hold our 2017 Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 22 March. All welcome to attend – it is a great opportunity to meet others who share an interest in the Gardens.
During the meeting you can find out what has been happening in the Gardens and the Woodland Dell over the last year, as well information about future plans.
A reminder that if you would like to become a member of the Friends group you can do so in the Membership section.

Draft agenda

  1. Minutes of the 2016 AGM (to be approved at the meeting)
  2. Chairman’s report
  3. Treasurer’s statement
  4. Elections to Committee
  5. Any Other Business
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Committee members sought

Our 2017 Annual General Meeting will be held at 7.00pm on Wednesday 22 March. At that meeting 3 current members of the committee will retire and we are actively looking for new people to join the committee to replace them.

About joining the committee

The gardens currently belong to, and are managed by, Greenwich Council. There are currently 30 parks or gardens with Friends groups in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and the council works with each group to manage and develop ‘their’ park or gardens.  The Friends of Mycenae Gardens was formed to work with the council to protect and promote these gardens as a park that fosters the natural environment, wildlife, woodland and open space for the benefit of the whole community.

Those of the community who use the gardens value it for a variety of reasons, and often have different views on how the gardens should be used or improved. An important part of the group’s role is to balance gather and reconcile the views of all users of the gardens so that we can present a consensus to the council in relation to the way the gardens are managed and developed.  Committee members play an important role in ensuring that this is achieved.

Further information

Important information about the committee is available here.

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Autumn planting in Mycenae Gardens: Saturday 12 November and Saturday 26 November

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UPDATE: Thank you to all who helped on these work days

Volunteers sought

If you are able to help us we would love to see you in the gardens on 12 and 26 November when some late Autumn planting will be taking place. If you have any queries about this work please contact us.

When is this happening?

Saturday 12 November (12.30pm – 2.00pm)
and Saturday 26 November (11.00am – 1.00pm)

What is happening?

Following consultation with the Royal Borough of Greenwich we will be rejuvenating the shrub beds on the South East side of the gardens with shrubs that will add colour and interest through the year.

What will the work entail?

Volunteers are invited to help to loosen the soil, dig holes, mix compost, plant and then water in a choice selection of shrubs and bulbs.

What do I need to bring?

– A garden fork and spade if you have them
– Gardening gloves if you prefer
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Thank you to GoodGym

goodgym1We are grateful again to volunteers from GoodGym who came to Mycenae Gardens to help aerating the grounds beneath the Plane trees and spreading protective mulch. Thank you Sarah, Grace,  Ben, Anna, Alethea, Ivo and Alex. Thanks also to Mark, Ann and Eileen for joining in with the GoodGym volunteers.

GoodGym wrote a report on their volunteering which you can read here.

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An update on volunteer work in the gardens

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Volunteers from GoodGym on Saturday 19 March, working alongside others from the Friends of Mycenae Gardens who came to aerate the ground beneath the Plane Trees 

Aerating the ground under the Plane Trees

The Friends of Mycenae Gardens have been working to aerate the ground beneath the London Plane trees. The first work session took place on Saturday 19 March and we have another arranged for Saturday 2 April. This work will improve drainage and oxygen content in the soil for the benefit of the trees. The bark mulch will reduce the risk of soil compaction in the future as well as increasing water retention.

What does the work involve?

Volunteers have been pushing garden forks into the ground to the full depth of the tines and then wiggling the fork to and fro. The fork is then withdrawn. This process is being repeated every 6 inches or so to create vertical holes in the soil.

This is strenuous work, especially on the back. We are extremely grateful to members of the Friends group who have volunteered so far and to helpers from GoodGym who have been great company and who have made our progress much more rapid.

Volunteers sought!

The next work session will take place from 11am to 1pm on Saturday 2 April. If you can help please do contact us.