Old Pond Garden + – Page 3 – Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society

New Year Flower Count at Charlton House

Our first volunteer session of 2024 fell on a wet and windy day (a Severe Weather Warning day in fact), so we decided to abandon gardening tasks and go for a bracing walk around the estate to spot for plants in flower and work off a few mince pies.

Although a lot of our findings were to be expected (Primroses, Hellebores, Mahonia) others definitely felt wrong – Penstemon Garnet, you should NOT be out! It will be interesting to do the same exercise next year and compare. In the meantime, below are some cheering pictures of our walk:

Volunteers counting flowers — Mahonia japonica in the Glade

I think you could say that the Mahonia in the Glade was a “Star Plant” for this time of year.

Penstemon ‘Garnet’, top left, then Achillea ‘Cerise Queen’, Sarcococca confusa (you should smell this!) and Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’.

And another year goes by..

OPG Diary – April to December 2023

Unbelievably, the last “diary” post I made about the Volunteer scheme was back in March, when we had just started to dig up the palms in the Front Lawn and hyacinths were just coming in to flower. The year is not quite done, but the Volunteers have worked a total of 2,724 hours, I feel quite tired just thinking about it!

We have posted about our events, like Bunnies in the Beds, but not about the important work that goes on behind the scenes, under Jason’s direction. So in April, we pruned the Pomegranates and the overgrown parts of the Wilderness and front shrubberies were tackled. Paths were mown through the grassy areas and Jason got RBG’s agreement not to mow in certain parts of the estate – saving them time and making our life greener.

Arch cut in hedge — Paths in the Wilderness

Long grass paths — Paths in the Wilderness

The final palm roots had been removed by May (they were HUGE!) and preparation and planting started in the front beds. The Peace Garden beds were re-shaped, they will be better for functions like weddings and coincidentally there is now more “bed” available to plant into! The Wilderness paths really came into their own as the grass around them became taller. When he wasn’t mowing the paths, Pete bravely tackled the area around the Substation, which was full of very thorny shrubs like Pyracantha and Berberis, really unpleasant to work with. The rose beds at the front were tidied and some major Long Border weeding started.

Poppies to Remember, 2023

They shall not grow old.

Thank you.

The Charlton House Garden Volunteers

London in Bloom: Silver Gilt award for the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House

“The transformation by volunteers is incredible” began the report on the Old Pond Garden by the London in Bloom Judges. They awarded the garden 164 points out of 200, that’s 82% and a first in my world but Silver Gilt in this particular horticultural competition! Just 6 more points and it would have been Gold – so we are in touching distance of that magic category.

The judges assessment is split into 8 categories. Our top scores (in order) were for ‘community involvement’ (92%), ‘environmental sustainability’(88%), ‘maintenance-litter’ (well done Joe), and ‘range and quality of plants grown’. We scored lowest on ‘access for people’ and ‘maintenance – walls, paths etc’. The judges praised Jason’s “beautiful design” for the garden which has provided “radical planting changes” rather than a simple “tidy up”.

What to look out for in the Old Pond Garden: September 2023

We hope you enjoy walking around the walled gardens at Charlton House!
This month, look out for:

Night moth Salvia (Salvia nachtvlinder)

Salvia 'Nachtvlinder' in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, September 2023

With velvety plum-purple flowers, this Salvia is attractive to moths and other pollinating insects and flowers over a long period – well into late Autumn.
It has deliciously blackcurrant-scented leaves and is said to protect roses against black spot when it is planted under them.

Michaelmas daisy (Aster x frikartii ‘Monch’)

Aster x frikartii 'Monch' in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, September 2023

A bushy perennial with clusters of yellow-centred, lavender-blue daisies that flower right through the Autumn, it is very attractive to pollinators. One of the most reliable and popular Michaelmas daisies (so called because they flower at the time of the feast of Michaelmas on 29 September), it was bred by a Swiss nurseryman called Frikart and named ‘Monch’ after a Swiss mountain.

What to look out for in the Old Pond Garden: August 2023

We hope you are enjoying a walk around the walled gardens at Charlton House! This month, look out for:

Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea ‘Magnus’)

Echinacea purpurea in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, August 2023

Coneflowers are part of the daisy family, originally from North America. Plains dwellers used the fresh roots and root juice to treat toothache and snake bites. Today many people take Echinacea supplements to prevent colds and boost their immune systems. ‘Magnus’ has large pink flowers and orange-brown central cones – bumblebee heaven!

Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro)

Echinops ritro in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, August 2023

With spiky leaves and bristly metallic blue flowers, globe thistles make a great architectural choice for the back of a sunny border. The flowers are extremely attractive to bees, butterflies and other insects and it makes a good cut flower. This is a plant that we prefer to cut the seed heads off before they drop their seeds – they spread VERY easily!

What to look out for in the Old Pond Garden: June 2023

We hope you are enjoying a walk around the walled gardens at Charlton House! This month, look out for:

Catchfly (Silene armeria ‘Electra’)

Silene armeria 'Electra' in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, June 2023

Blue-grey leaves and hot pink flowers for weeks on end. An annual which self-seeds prolifically. It is called catchfly because there is a sticky area on the stems just below the flowers, which greenfly and small insects get stuck to. Feel it gently with your fingers!

Lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantina)

Lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina) in the Old Pond Garden, Charlton House, June 2023

Lamb’s-ear or woolly hedge nettle, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, native to Armenia, Iran, and Turkey. Very drought tolerant. Loved by the wool carder bee, which combs or ‘cards’ the leaves to make a hairy nest to lay her eggs.

Bunnies in the Beds 2023

Easter bunnies arrived early this year at Charlton House & Gardens. On the Sunday before Easter, ten vegetable loving bunnies hid themselves along with their favourite vegetables in the flower beds of the Gardens and were ready to be found by young visitors to this joint CABAHS & RGHT event. The morning’s chilly weather did not seem to deter the children who all enthusiastically scoured the Old Pond Garden and the Peace Garden.

Once they had found all ten and identified each bunny’s favourite vegetable they were encouraged to sow some radish seeds as part of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Big Seed Sow https://www.rhs.org.uk/get-involved/big-seed-sow . They could also learn about ‘the Secret Life of the Pea’ and choose some seeds to take home with them. Some even made their own origami seed packets. Fingers crossed we have set some of our visitors on the joyous path to becoming a life-long gardener!

Thankfully the weather was kind: dry with even a spell or two of sunshine during the afternoon. The real live bunnies brought along by Juli were an extra special attraction! By 3 o’clock, around 180 trails had been completed with donations earning a sizeable sum for Charlton House & Gardens. Our Plant Sale also proved an attractive draw and took over £200.

OPG Diary – Dec to March 23

Here is an update on what Jason and the Gardenauts have been getting up to in the gardens since my last post. Apologies it’s rather long, we’ve been doing lots!

December turned the gardens into a winter wonderland, and caused us to miss a few days volunteering, but gave some great photo opportunities. The prolonged cold period hit a few of the more tender shrubs quite hard and we lost some big favourites like the Teucrium.

January was about cutting back, the ivy in particular. The old walls cannot take the weight of the ivy so we are taking it off in stages and being careful of wildlife. Our efforts revealed the top of the doorway for the first time in some years!

We have removed the palms from the front lawn beds and the beds will be re-designed this summer. The Palms were planted as part of an annual bedding scheme years ago and never envisaged to get as tall as they have. The Tete-a Tete daffodils have all been lifted and will go in the woodland glade next year. The Summerhouse has had a good weed and tidy-up, as has the Mulberry. Snowdrops and Hellebores popped up in the OPG woodland side.

In February, we discovered our regular feline visitor is called Casper and he lives in Canberra Road but clearly considers the gardens his playground.

Our unique Garden

Just before Christmas I posed a question for everyone, asking what you think make Charlton House Gardens unique. I had a good number of replies, and I’m pleased to report that most of you DO think they are unique! But I have had a real challenge trying to consolidate them into a single idea.

Here are just a few extracts from your replies:

“The gardens are rooted in their sense of time and place, where you can imagine them as Jacobean gardens but where you can also see modern day planting. There is a passion and desire to keep these gardens relevant for future generations.”
“The House is an architectural gem, whose early inhabitants played a significant role in the revolutions of the seventeenth century; today, the gardens are an oasis of beauty and peace in the midst of the urban sprawl of London.”
“The gardens are small but contain as diverse and exciting planting as you might expect from a much larger space.”
“The gardens are public but very community focused, beloved of local gardeners creating fabulous displays and running special events.”
“Not unique, but certainly rare, in that they still have the atmosphere of the Jacobean age. Planting with a “nod” to the Jacobean era.”
“An unexpected historic oasis in a desert of modern housing”
“They play to a sense of history and yet have a contemporary design adapted to change of climate.”
“Unique because they are community-run but following professional design principles.”

So, at then end of all that, let’s go with:

Charlton House Gardens: an historic oasis of beauty and peace in the midst of the urban sprawl of London, where local volunteer gardeners work together to ensure the gardens stay beloved and relevant for future generations.

If you can say it better, please let me know!

Kathy