Funding and support from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Future Parks and Natural Cambridgeshire have supported community plant outs in Peacocks Meadow led by Friends of Woodland Garden. Volunteers have so far planted 5000 bluebell bulbs, 150 primroses and foxgloves, and 1000 snowdrops. With another plant out session planned in the new year, volunteers will be planting even more bluebells and snow-drops in the green.

This is just the start of a much wider project which aspired to create a lasting legacy woodland, which will go some way to combatting the loss of this precious habitat in the region. For example, volunteers created Toad Hall – a mound of bricks, earth and rubble which has been planted with wildflowers and two small, rain fed pools have been installed on it. Toad Hall has already been colonised by frogs who have been spotted basking in the sun on the mound. The group are extremely proud of all the work that has been carried out in the garden, but envision the restoration of a woodland habitat within a well-loved community garden, where the public can see and enjoy its development over time, as their greatest achievement. Community engagement creates community ownership. The community garden has attracted a wide range of users and diverse user groups these include: families, youth, mental health support groups, home-schoolers, and users with physical and learning disabilities.

Peacocks meadow sensory garden bench

Since the first tranche of planting Friends of Woodland Garden have been granted permission to plant hedgerow trees, instead of more bulbs, for the second tranche of our planting project. Volunteers will be planting a ‘woodland hedgerow’ with hedge species that are becoming increasingly rare in the wild: Sloes, damsons, crab apples, cob nuts, and a heritage ‘Cambridge Gage’ tree. This will provide a legacy ‘hedgerow harvest’ in years to come, as well as becoming a teaching resource for local children, introducing them to the joys of hedgerow foraging and ‘harvesting.’

Because Peacocks Meadow is managed by the community, local residents regard the garden as theirs. They feel that it belongs to the community. One of the chief benefits of this level of engagement is that users and volunteers alike have a vested interest in monitoring and maintaining the garden. They are extremely pro-active in reporting any problems or issues, and in helping to rectify them. Because the garden is well-used by the public, vandalism and antisocial behaviour does not occur and users are greatly appreciative of the time and effort that goes into maintaining the garden, because they are aware that volunteers do this. The groups great ambition is the next few years is to gain enough funding to create a viable ‘natural’ pond in the garden and hope it will become a learning resource for local schools and pre-school groups, with activities such as pond-dipping, while being a haven for aquatic fauna and flora.

 

Credit: Edited by Heather Thomas, CPFP Project Officer, with special thanks to Deborah Curtis, Friends of Woodland Garden – Peacocks Meadow for her written contribution to this article and pictures.