Improving the Ruskin Park Wildlife Garden in 2019

Updated July 2019

The Friends of Ruskin Park has been awarded grant funding from the Mayor of London’s Greener City Fund to revitalise the Wildlife Garden in 2019.

The Wildlife Garden is located on the main path, next to the railway line and the tennis courts. It is an established space with a pond serving as an important habitat in the park, as well as a number of established fruit trees and bushes. We felt that with more care and some improvements it could be a better space for the whole community to experience nature.

Over the course of the year we are working with Lambeth Council and others to:

• Bring the wildlife garden back into the park. We have laid the existing hedges so everyone passing by can see in. We will soon be adding two new entrances at either end.
• Relocate the struggling fruit trees that were meant to form a maze to better locations where they can thrive. This work was undertaken by volunteers early in 2019 the trees are now in their new locations.
• Thin out the pond planting, redefine the edges and introduce a fishing peg platform for children to do pond dipping. We plan to create scrapes in waterlogged areas to hold water when needed.
• Improve the paths so it is easier and safer for visitors to explore the garden.
• Add new signage and information so it can be used by local families and school groups for outdoor learning.

Froglife were also successful in this funding round, and will be coming to the park in September 2019 to help us with this work and also to carry out a restoration of the park’s main pond. They are attending some of our regular volunteering sessions.

There will be lots of opportunities to get involved in the project throughout the year. If you haven’t already done so, please become a member or sign up to our mailing list to find out when we are volunteering in the park on this and other projects.

A lot of the work will happen at our Community Gardening mornings, from 10am on the first and third Saturday of each month.

If you have any questions, ideas or want to get more involved please contact Chris at info@friendsofruskinpark.org.uk.

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2019

2018