John Roper

The team worked very hard to prepare the site for the Welwyn Festival Open Garden Evening on Thursday 20th June 2019.

Extra scheduled working parties had been operating on Thursdays for many weeks, together with many other ad hoc meetings to complete the planting, particularly of Jenny’s Wild Flowers on the Northern Bank.

Organised by Andrew, the Sherrardspark Wood Wardens donated two fine oak logs which were installed as benches with Alan and Harry’s help.

They have been fixed facing each other on the Northern Bank and Southern Banks, and they provide magnificent views across the dell. They are already very popular and in regular use.

The following photos were take at the Scheduled Working Party on the morning of Thursday 20th June when 23 volunteers turned out to help with final preparations.

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Site Preparation (1)

You are reminded that this year we are Open on the evening of 20th June 2019 from 6 pm to 8.30 pm. We will in fact have a Working Party on the morning of the Open Evening itself, at which time we will be busy tidying up the site for presentation to visitors.

But in order to press ahead, we have scheduled extra Work Parties on each of the Thursday mornings between now and 20th June 2019.

On Thursday 20th June 2019 we will have some Reception tentage to erect during the day and a couple of tables for refreshments. With limited time available to us, and to relieve the pressure on the volunteers, we will not this year have an Information tent and display table, and we will provide fewer visitor chairs and tables.

Refreshments

We will have a more limited selection of refreshments for sale, including soft drinks, and Prosecco, and dishes of nibbles, but no cake.

Hilary Ward will value offers of help with the refreshments.

Site Management

We ask for a full turn out of volunteers to help with the many tasks to get the site ready, and to guide visitors safely around the site on the evening.

We will also need ‘all hands to the pumps’ to help clear up afterwards.

Tasks

We had a very good turnout of 13 volunteers all of whom worked in the Fernery. on a dry and bright day. Fewer record photos than usual were taken because we were so busy!

Weeding and planting

Jenny brought more wild flower plugs to plant in the Northern Chalk Slopes and in the Southern perimeter, with Sue and Sara’s help.

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The team continued the work of weeding the fern beds, which are beginning to show nicely, Colin had more ferns to plant in the Parsons Bed. More mulch is needed to help suppress weeds and maintain dampness.

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Nettles Clearing

Andrew cleared some more nettles on the North East Bank in preparation for later fern planting. But the denseness of the root systems is causing a problem, and it is possible that we might have to resort to weed killers once we have reduced the tops to encourage fresh growth.

Watering

Nina worked non-stop filling watering cans and watering all the recently planted specimen trees.

John hosed most of the planting beds.

Geo-Phys studies

Cathy Walker was on site and started detecting fragments of lead and iron in the areas above the grotto.

Excavations

Arrangements have been made with the WHBC for Maydencroft to be on site next month – probably in the week of the 3rd June 2019.

We are meeting with the Borough Council on site on Monday 20th May to finalise times and dates, and agree the task list.

It is anticipated that we will ask Maydencroft to restrict their work to the South side of the Dell as follows:

• uncover and level what are believed to be 2x planting beds on the Southern Slopes
• uncover the Drainage Sump in front of the Grotto once again, and secure it for ease of future access
• fit a safety grill to the face of the cistern, and clean out the cistern itself
• test the tap near the basin
• prepare a channel to allow us to bury a hose extension to the Full Stop

Communications – WhatsApp Fernery Gardening Group

Linking messages to the website was tested last month and worked well. We will continue with links so that we can contain the number of emails.

But we still need to encourage more active volunteers to register with the WhatsApp Fernery Gardening Group. Active volunteers who have mobile phones and would like to join this group should send a mobile message to John and he will add you to the Group.

2019 Danesbury Leaflet

A new draft is in preparation and will go to the printers in the week commencing 20th May 2019. We will print 500 copies and have them ready for the Open Evening, when all visitors will be given a copy..

Ad Hoc Gardening Groups – Safety Issues

A second reminder is not out of place – please all note carefully.

We should be mindful of an informal, and practical, rule agreed with WHBC that if work in the Fernery is restricted just to gardening, then it is not necessary for a First Aid qualified member to be present, provided that a minimum of two members are present at all times, for safety and security reasons.

We should also always be aware of the need for assessing the risks before work commences.

We have to be especially mindful that the overhanging trees present a potential hazard in high winds, and we should also not underestimate the hazards of dragging the hose reel extension around the slopes when watering. It is for this last reason that we are going to rig-up a permanently buried hose extension from the grotto area to the Jig-saw bed so that we do not have to physically move the extension reel around, but simply plug the end connectors into the main reel and tools.

Next Working Party Meetings

Thursday 23rd May 2019

Thursday 30th May 2019

Thursday 6th June 2019

Thursday 13th June 2019

Thursday 20th June 2019

Weather Forecast – Long Range

Sunny Intervals and a moderate breeze.

Tasks

As indicated in the Report of the last meeting of 18 April we are now focusing on the tasks associated with preparing the Fernery for the June 20th Open Garden evening.

Leaders will be on site from 9.30 am to open the shed and select tools that will be needed.

Weeding and strimming

The last few weeks of heavy rain have encouraged the weeds to leap out of the ground and this evening (15th May 2019) a small work party (Andrew, Harry and John) started the job of strimming the grassy banks at the Entrance, and the Lawn on the North Bank too.

This proved far more difficult than we anticipated because we have lost vital time keeping the weeds under control. We are likely to need to repeat this special work party until the grasses that Andrew sowed in 2017/18 are looking their best again.

As a direct result of the strimming exercise this evening, a task for Thursday will be to rake up the detritus.

Planting Bed – Weeding

This remains as a non-stop task for the Gardening Group.

Nettle Beds

If resources allow, we must continue trying to manage the nettle beds bordering the North East path and perimeter.

The WHBC have authorised us to spray weedkiller there, if we have to. But to be long term effective we should try to get the roots out of the ground as far as we can.

A final decision on nettle spraying has not yet been taken.

Watering

This remains a regular task as the need arises.

Visitors

We are expecting the metal detectorists to be on site.

Excavation Planning.

We are in the throes of agreeing dates with WHBC for Maydencroft to be on site again, and we will keep you updated on progress.

The tasks which we would like WHBC help with were outlined in last months Report.

Facebook Leader

Unfortunately Lucy Alexander has had to release herself from her close association with the FODF because, as we all know, she has chosen to undertake valuable work overseas with an International Charity. We all wish Lucy our thanks for the work and enthusiasm she always brought to the team, and offer her our best wishes.

We hope that Lucy will still be able to undertake work with us when she can, and she has been encouraged to join us at our elevenses breaks to keep herself up-to-date with our progress.

One direct outcome of Lucy’s lack of regular involvement with our work, has been that we are no longer presenting our work in the form of photos and brief explanations on our Facebook account. We therefore desperately seek a replacement so that we can maintain a high profile within the local community, and much wider too in the Fern world.

Please speak to John if you are prepared to take this role over from Lucy.

How to find the Fernery

If you have not visited us before you will be made very welcome. Please read the directions to find us.

Bring a hot drink and refreshments with you, and wear strong boots or shoes and good quality gardening gloves.

On arrival you will need to Register with us before you start work – for (WHBC) Insurance purposes.

After reporting the debate in March 2019 about the means of securing the bench kindly donated by Mike Smith, it should not go unrecorded that Alan and Harry did get the bench installed successfully on Tuesday morning 26th March 2019, as many members and visitors have since testified. It is in a lovely South facing position overlooking the Fernery Dell.

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Preparation for the Welwyn Festival Open Garden Programme

As we did last year, it has been proposed that we hold meetings on each Thursday morning between now and Thursday 20th June 2019 in order to complete tasks designed to get the Fernery spick and span in good time for the Welwyn Festival Open Garden Programme. The Fernery will be Open on the evening of Thursday 20th June 2019.

Please therefore watch the WhatsApp Fernery Gardening Group notices and declare in good time if you are available on any given Thursday morning so that, in each case, the leaders will know if there will be sufficient numbers to proceed safely because we have to ensure that we have a minimum of 2x members on site at any one time..

Watering

It is to be expected that watering will now be needed 2x week until, or unless, declared unnecessary.

We will therefore plan this as a task for the (above) Thursday Weekly Work Party tasks plus, by informal arrangement between individuals on a roster basis, we will need to arrange watering on days ( perhaps on the Saturdays) in between.

Tasks

It was decided to operate just one Working Party as the amount of work to be undertaken in the Fernery Garden would demand the full attention of the 14 volunteers present, and the bird nesting season is upon us, militating against scrub-bashing until August at the earliest.

We were also mindful that with the hint of Easter ‘goodies’ to follow, then if we worked as a single group and didn’t stray too far when the Elevenses Whistle was blown, then there might be some reward!

At 11.am we all enjoyed the break in the sunshine.

Leaf Blowing

Out of consideration of the noise nuisance, Andrew undertook a quick clearance of fallen leaves and twigs before most of the volunteers arrived.

Weeding and planting

The team continued the work of weeding the fern beds, which are beginning to show nicely.

Wild Flower Beds

Jenny brought more wild flower plugs to plant, and Harry and Alan secured the new areas with rabbit wire, staked and plugged.

Jenny and Sue were encouraged to find that wild flowers planted last month on the North Chalk Slope were surviving well – they discovered Devil’sbit Scabious, Small Scabious, Field Scabious, Harebells & many other species growing well despite the rabbits destruction of the area.

Lifting Daffodils

On the Southern Slope the daffodils had finished flowering and, in preparation for next months start of excavation of the Slope, as many daffodils as possible were lifted by Colin and Sara for re-planting elsewhere on the site, and/or retained for storage until the Autumn.

Nettles Clearing

Andrew and Mike started clearing the nettles on the North East Bank in preparation for later fern planting. Happily they also uncovered a few healthy tree whips that we had planted in early 2018 and which were thought to have been long ‘lost’.

Watering

John spent a couple of happy hours watering all around the site.

Water Feed to the Dropping Well

All the required materials were to hand but the ground was very hard and it was decided to leave this task to the next Work Party. It remains one of the tasks to be completed by the 20th June 2019 Open Garden Day.

The Grotesque Entrance Posts

Having keenly gathered many more pine cones on our recent visit to the Bayfordbury Pinetum, Harry added to the post dressing, which is being much admired by visitors.

Visitors

Unfortunately the metal detecting team were unable to come, and arrangements are being made for them to visit on another date.

Excavations

Arrangements have been made with the WHBC for Maydencroft to be on site next month – probably in the week of the 16th May 2019 when we next meet.

It is anticipated that we will ask Maydencroft to restrict their work to the South side of the Dell as follows:

• uncover and level what are believed to be 2x planting beds on the Southern Slopes
• uncover the Drainage Sump in front of the Grotto once again, and secure it for ease of future access
• fit a safety grill to the face of the cistern, and clean out the cistern itself
• test the tap near the basin

Communications – WhatsApp Fernery Gardening Group

The WhatsApp Group is proving extremely useful for arranging ad hoc meetings, and it works well too keeping members in touch with each other.

A request has been made that links to newly posted website ‘News’ items (such as this) might be published to the WhatsApp group. Because we want to avoid sending too many emails to members, we will start to do this, and judge how successful it is.

Members who have mobile phones and would like to join this group, should send a mobile message to John and he will add you to the Group.

Ad Hoc Gardening Groups – Safety Issues

Please all note carefully.

We should be mindful of an informal, and practical, rule agreed with WHBC that if work in the Fernery is restricted just to gardening, then it is not necessary for a First Aid qualified member to be present, provided that a minimum of two members are present at all times, for safety and security reasons.

But Andrew has correctly reminded me that an assessment of risks should always be undertaken before any group commences work. We have to be especially mindful that the overhanging trees present a potential hazard in high winds, and we should also not underestimate the hazards of dragging the hose reel extension around the slopes when watering.

Next Working Party Meeting

Our next Working Party is on Thursday 16th May 2019. Please look for the Task List which we try to publish on this website in the week before.

Welwyn Festival – Open Evening

You are reminded that this year we are Open on the evening of 20th June 2019 from 6 pm to 8.30 pm

We have only 2x more Working Parties to go! We will in fact have a Working Party on the morning of the Open Evening itself, at which time we will be busy tidying up the site for presentation to visitors.

We will have some Reception tentage to erect, and display tables etc, and we ask for a full turn out of volunteers to help with the many tasks to get the site ready, to guide visitors safely around the site, and also to help us clear up afterwards.

We shall also ask you to lend us suitable garden chairs.

Sarah – “We have some new and very exciting plants to put in the Fernery”

This ‘call for action’ was broadcast on our WhatsApp Fernery Gardening Group on 26th March, and a busy team was formed at short notice.

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Following the planting of 5000 x snowdrops ‘in the green’ on the 11th March 2019, (see earlier News item) we were offered another 5000 x plants by the WHBC.

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