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 The fork is then withdrawn.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.

We are pleased to announce that the Friends of Mycenae Gardens Friends of Mycenae Gardens Newsletter March 2016 is now available. 200 copies have been printed and will be distributed to local residents.

7.30pm, Tuesday 8 March

At Greenwich Steiner School, Woodlands, 90 Mycenae Road, Blackheath, London, SE3 7SE

The Friends of Mycenae Gardens will hold our Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 8 March. All welcome to attend – it is a great opportunity to meet others who share an interest in the Gardens. We are pleased to announce that Joe Beale, a local naturalist, has kindly agreed to be our guest speaker.

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.

Agenda

1. Minutes of the 2015 AGM
2. Chairman’s report
3. Treasurer’s statement
4. Elections to Committee
5. Any Other Business
6. Guest Speaker – Joe Beale

UPDATE: Draft minutes from the AGM on 8th March 2016 are now available.

2-3pm, Sunday 24th January 2016

On Sunday afternoon, January 24th, Councillor Norman Adams, Mayor of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, unveiled a wildlife display board in The Dell, Mycenae Road.

The board, by local graphic designer Yu-Hsuan Lin, features birds, flowers and insects photographed by her husband Joe Beale during monthly observations in spring and summer last year. In his address, The Mayor emphasised the value of green spaces within urban areas and their increasing vulnerability and praised the Friends of Mycenae Gardens and volunteers for their work in protecting the Dell and increasing its bio-diversity.

After the ceremony the Mayor and Mayoress talked with Joe Beale and others involved in the display board and joined guests in refreshments before taking a walk through the Dell to see the work done by volunteers with support from the Mayor of London’s Capital Clean-Up Community Grant. The event was well attended and all were impressed by the beauty of the display board and the quality of its oak stand, made by Greenwich Men in Sheds, a voluntary group within AGE UK. Particular care has been taken to position the display board at a height suited for viewing by children and wheelchair users.

Photos courtesy of Martin Coceres

Bulb planting | Saturday 21 November 2015 

Many thanks to all those who volunteered on Saturday to plant a large number of native bulbs kindly given to us by the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Despite the sudden arrival of colder weather there were enough of us to split into 3 groups and we successfully planted English bluebells, snowdrops, dwarf daffodils and crocus in the following areas around the gardens:

• In the Woodland Dell (thank you Shirley and Marilyn)
• In the grass under one of a sycamore tree in Mycenae Gardens (thank you Ann)
• Within the area of dead hedging in Mycenae Gardens alongside plants that were established during Spring planting earlier in the year (thank you Wendy, Eileen, Jo, Sophie and Otis).

We hope that you will all enjoy the results in the Spring!

Visitors to Mycenae Gardens will have noticed some incredible sculptures which have been installed throughout the area. These sculptures are by the late Brian Taylor (FRBS FSPS), a celebrated figurative sculptor, and will remain in the gardens until the Autumn.

Lauded by his mentor Henry Moore, Brian Taylor worked all around the world but lived and worked in Greenwich for the last 20 years of his life. His wife has been working with Mycenae House to present this extraordinary exhibition in Mycenae Gardens.

Brian Taylor’s sculptures will be leaving the gardens in April 2016 and will be missed.