Gardening/Gardens

Hi,
My name is Maggie.

At the Chobham Manor Residents Association Annual General Meeting held in April 2024 I was voted onto the CMRA committee to act as liaison between the residents and the gardening staff from L&Q.

The Estate was designed around a central spine of flower beds and grassed areas. There are also podiums at Tull house, Nolan Mansions and Hyett Court; an enclosed garden at Audax Heights / Triathlon Court and the play spaces which feature grassed and flower beds. There are planted beds and borders in the Goswell Court Car Park. There are also over 300 trees which includes the fruit trees in the Orchard.

Currently the gardening staff are supervised by David Williams and Jo Elliot. Jo will remain the gardener at Broome street but also spend time at Chobham Manor. The gardening caretakers are Joe and Zee. The vacancy for a third gardening caretaker has been filled. Richard, a handyman who travels around the various L&Q sites, will also be on the Estate to assist with jobs such as staking of trees and care of street furniture.

David is determined that the gardening caretakers will only work on the grounds and not be tasked to cover the L&Q office or for block caretakers, as has happened in the past.

The staking of trees and the placing of watering bags at trees needing this intervention has nearly been completed. Spraying for weeds will take place when the weather allows- dry and no wind. The grass border along Temple Mills Lane has been cleared of weeds and reseeded. New plants like Lavender and Red Robins have been planted in beds around the Estate and more new plants are coming. Additional plants have been added to the Wildflower Garden as the original seeding was aimed at early spring and a low proportion of the plants were perennials. The stakes with rope for a barrier around the Wildflower Garden are complete..

Replanting of the Thyme Steps has begun. A different variety to the original planting plan has been planted but they should still provide a carpet between the paving steps. Unfortunately the majority of plants have been eaten by slugs. When more plants are put in we hope to use eggshells to prevent the snails eating them.

The soil around trees in the tree beds has been dug over and the process of adding fertiliser and mulching has begun. General weeding of beds is occurring throughout the Estate. There are plans in place to do a thorough overhaul of the  enclosed garden at Audax Heights/ Triathlon Court which will include dividing and repositioning of some plants.

The Sunflowers which were planted by families attending the Easter Egg Hunt have started to appear above ground. They were planted in the inside and outside borders of the sand pit play area, the bed outside Bridget’s Cafe, the bed in front of the N family entrance and 2 other beds. Different types of sunflowers were planted, varying in height from 45cm to 180cm.

Members of the community continue to support the work of the gardeners. There have been no meetings of the CMRA Gardening Club since last year but if anyone is interested in helping maintain the grounds please contact me.

Please also pass on your observations and concerns to me so I can pass them onto the gardeners. With such a large number of residents a vast range of requests is made to the gardeners which can sometimes be contradictory. It would be more efficient if I could discuss your issues with them. Then the work undertaken would be timely and horticulturally sound. I will of course relay back to residents the schedules and reasoning supporting the work.

At the last Residents Association Committee meeting a budget of £1000.0 was allotted to expenditure on the grounds. The following hardy perennial plants have been purchased

●  6 Salix Integra Flamingo. All 6 shrubs have been planted in a raised bed on Nolan Mansions Podium.

●  90 Echinacea plants. The majorityof these have been planted on Derny Avenue.

●  45 Eryngium ‘ Victory Blue’. The majority have been planted on Honour Lea Avenue.

●  45 Rudbeckia. These have been planted on the junction of Derny and Villiers
Gardens.

●  48 Geranium ‘Breeders Mix’. These will be planted on Nolan Mansions podium and Hyett Court podium

£569.05 of the £1000.0 has been spent.

24 Geranium Rozanne purchased earlier in the year have been planted in the bed outside Bridget’s Cafe and the bed at the junction of Villiers Gardens and Peloton Avenue.

Plants donated by residents have been planted in the bed opposite Ruckholt house and on the podiums of Nolan mansions and Hyett court.

The heavy growth of weeds in the beds on Nolan Mansion's podium has been cleared. The majority of the beds are bare of plants but there are plans to develop the spaces. The raised beds and one area will be planted with ornamental plants. Two areas will be given over to vegetables and the last to growing new plants like bi-annuals. Help from residents of Nolan Mansions and the whole estate will be needed to achieve this. *The donated strawberry plants are already fruiting.

I would like to announce two challenges.

• ●  For children 11 years and under, create a miniature garden which can be carried
  for display at the Tropical Party on Saturday July 6th. Complete freedom as to content, including for example; Lego or favourite dinosaur plus some live plants.

• ●  Best Garden on the Estate. An individual garden viewable from the street (judges will not be entering dwellings). Judging will take place the week prior to the Tropical Party. Commendations will be awarded on the day of the Party. Please notify maggie@freegard.co if you wish your garden to be judged.