An update from Coordinator Czech
October outing – Roots and Shoots
We were given a guided tour of the one-acre site, which was initially derelict and treeless, and has subsequently been transformed through 40 years of practical, regenerative gardening by staff, students and volunteers. No pesticides or herbicides are used. The horticultural facilities include: a plant nursery with a large greenhouse, three separate vegetable gardens with raised beds and planters, various flower borders, and a community orchard and garden.
The site includes a half-acre ‘Wild Garden’, which features diverse habitats for native invertebrates, amphibians (frogs, smooth newts), reptiles (the site is one of only a few in Lambeth that have slow worms), birds and bats. These habitats include a pond, a wildflower meadow, nectar-rich flower beds, and a variety of trees. The staff and volunteers use a range of gardening techniques to create shelter (e.g. through dead hedges, log piles), food and enrichment for wildlife and to increase biodiversity.
We were told that the site has an exceptionally warm urban microclimate. As such, it is at the front-line of climate change in Britain, and staff there are conscious of the need to adapt and experiment with new habitats and exotic plant species that are well-suited to drier and warmer climates. They are in the process of creating a dryland garden and will monitor how various drought-tolerant plants perform in it.
It was a fascinating place to visit, and the WGG will undoubtedly visit Roots and Shoots again to see how this garden and other initiatives are progressing.