Notices

Objectives

We will again be operating two work parties this Thursday.

Because Maydencroft are scheduled to be on site in the Fernery to undertake final heavy equipment work for 2019, we must limit the number of volunteers working in the Fernery this Thursday, for health and safety reasons.

We therefore encourage Gardening volunteers to work on the Local Nature Reserve with Andrew Beattie’s work party.

Long Range Weather Forecast

Sunny with light winds.

Nature Reserve Work Party – Leader Andrew Beattie

As stated many times before, scrub-bashing work on the Nature Reserve is less likely to disturb wildlife, in particular nesting birds, from September round to March/April each year,

From now until Spring 2020 we therefore encourage volunteers to join Andrew’s scrub-bashing Work Party.

Regular tasks can be expected to include path clearance of overhanging brambles, nettles and tree shoots and runners.

Work on special projects will be agreed in advance between Andrew and Chris James and are likely to include continuation of ancient track clearance down to the Codicote Road, hedge layering, and the clearance and burning of brash left laying around from earlier work parties. Some basic tree pruning might also be on the agenda.

An interesting new Project proposed by Chris James is to develop an area on the South East corner of the Fernery Field into a wildlife study area. The area (outside the cattle fence) owned by the WHBC behind the rear of houses in St John’s Close and the Clockhouse Gardens development and Old Roman Road was cleared by Maydencroft during the year

These are all good seasonal fun tasks for colder Autumn and Winter days as the work of the Fernery Gardening Group falls off.

Fernery Work Party – Leader Harry Ward

Because Maydencroft are on site, we need only a limited number of volunteers to be in the Fernery. Apart from undertaking light tasks, these volunteers will in part supervise Maydencroft’s work in the absence of hands-on WHBC management.

Maydencroft will be:

1. Mechanically digging out the zigzag bed at the North End and moving soil and turves to other parts of the site
2. Lifting, moving and installing the three very heavy hollow Oak logs from the North end to the East end.
3. Excavating the steep South Bank to uncover hidden Anthony Parsons beds.

Scheduled tasks for the few volunteers will include:

1. Fencing the northern slope where we’ve planted wild flowers and where we’ll plant herbaceous shrubs in October. (Alan and Harry)
2. Weeding the North Bank wild flower beds (Jenny +1)
3. Moving last years leaf mulch from the front enclosure to the back one, thus allowing this Autumn’s leaf fall to go into an empty enclosure (Colin + John)
4. Working with Maydencroft on the zigzag bed, testing the soils for ancient fern spores, and re-positioning the turf. (Colin + !)

More demanding seasonal work such as leaf collection, strimming, grass cutting and general tidying will wait for the October Work Party.

Meeting Place – both Work Parties

All volunteers should meet at the Fernery at 9.30 am where the leaders will allocate tasks and distribute tools as appropriate for the two working parties. Volunteers are asked to decide before arriving which of the two working parties they would like to join, as this helps the organisation.

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. All tools will be provided.

On your first visit the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (the Owners) require that you complete a personal details Form which will be retained by them for Public Liability Insurance purposes.

The 2019 AGM will be held at the 1st Welwyn Scout Hut in Lockleys Drive at 12.30 pm on Thursday 3rd October 2019.

All active Friends of Danesbury Local Nature Reserve and the Fernery will be welcome, but in regard to the formal business of the Friends of Danesbury Fernery, (FODF) then in accordance with Section 2.4. of the FODF Constitution, qualification to vote will be determined by evidence that a member is Registered with the WHBC as a Volunteer who has attended at least one official working party within the calendar year.

It is proposed to socialise and enjoy a buffet lunch at the start, which will be followed by the formal part of the meeting. Hilary Ward has kindly offered to organise the catering as she did so successfully in September 2018 at our last meeting. For catering purposes please let Harry or John know if you plan to come to the meeting, and also advise Hilary if you have special catering needs.

Over lunch we will be able to discuss all things of interest or concern about the Local Nature Reserve and future projects, followed by the formal AGM of the Friends of Danesbury Fernery (FODF). Please let Secretary Harry Ward know if you have any issues or concerns that you wish to be included on the Agenda in Any Other Business.

The FODF Agenda and copies of the Chairman’s, and the Treasurer’s Reports will be published before the date of the meeting, together with other relevant papers.

Long Range Weather Forecast

Overcast with a light breeze.

Objectives

We plan once again to operate two separate work parties this month, depending on available volunteer resources

Nature Reserve Maintenance Group

Leader: Andrew Beattie

Andrew and Chris are in the process of drawing up a schedule of work, and priorities, for the Park Field that will include traditional ‘scrub-bashing’ tasks of cutting back overgrown paths, strimming grass edges, pruning, tree management and hedge layering.

Task allocation will very often depend on the weather and the condition of the ground underfoot. However, scrub-bashing in the Park Field is expected to continue until April/May 2020 when birds begin to start nesting.

The Ancient Track (Ghylls Hill) which is in regular public use and provides the main access point to the Nature Reserve from the Codicote Road entrance, is likely to be a regular assignment.

The Fernery Gardening Group

Leader: Harry Ward/John Roper

Andrew plans to complete a session of blowing of leaves, twigs and rubbish before the main work party gets active, and there are many areas needing attention.

Wild flowers.

Jenny reports that Black Nightshade is growing in the wild flowers on the North Bank, and docks and nettles are growing near the entrance and the compost heap,

Other maintenance on the North Bank will include cutting down Weld and Oxeye Daises.

Herbaceous beds

Sarah wants the orange calendula in the Full Stop bed to be dead-headed to encourage the growth of new flowers. Likewise the ensimums (purple shrubby plant on top of the grotto) and their flower spikes cut off.

Weeding and Watering

Despite the recent inclement weather, the ferns and the trees in the perimeter need watering.

Planting

Depending on conditions, we have some new ferns to be planted.

Graffiti

We have a few new attempts at impressionism that might need attention to remove them.

Meeting Place – both Work Parties

All volunteers should meet at the Fernery at 9.30 am where the leaders will allocate tasks and distribute tools as appropriate for the two working parties. Volunteers are asked to decide before arriving which of the two working parties they would like to join, as this helps the organisation.

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. All tools will be provided.

On your first visit the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (the Owners) require that you complete a personal details Form which will be retained by them for Public Liability Insurance purposes.

Long Range Weather Forecast

Light cloud and a moderate breeze

Objectives

As mentioned in previous Notices, we now plan to resume scrub-bashing tasks in the Park Field since the bird nesting season is past.

Depending on available volunteer resources, we therefore plan to operate two separate work parties on Thursday 18th July 2019 as follows.

The Fernery Gardening Group

Leader Andrew Beattie

Weeding and watering will always be on the menu, plus more planting.

North West Bank

Since the last scheduled work party, half of the North West bank has been dressed with mulch and planted-up with Jenny’s wild flowers.

This was accomplished in readiness for the visit of the Anglia in Bloom judging last Tuesday 9th July. But in Harry’s absence we might not have sufficient resource to complete this task until a later work party.

North East Bank

The newly profiled North East Bank was seeded with grass last week and now needs to be watered to give it a start.

Perimeter Area

We need to continue the task of strimming around the whips and small saplings in the perimeter area, to stop the growth of smothering weeds.

General Tidy up for Visitors

Extra tasks will include leaf blowing and general tidying up because on Saturday afternoon 20th July a group of visitors are expected from the East Anglia Section of BPS (The British Pteridological (Fern) Society). Andrew and Colin will act as leaders for this visit and support volunteers will not be needed.

Nature Reserve Maintenance Group

Leaders: Lucy Alexander and Richard Darby

From July 2019 round to March/April 2020 we plan to form a second working party.

Depending on the number of resources available, the Nature Reserve working party will, as a priority, return to the ancient track that was cleared last March. It has become overgrown once again, and a good general clear up is called for.

A priority task list will be drawn up for future work.

Meeting Place

All volunteers should meet at the Fernery at 9.30 am where the leaders will allocate tasks and distribute appropriate tools for both working parties.

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, for Borough Council (the Owners) Public Liability Insurance purposes, you will be asked to Register with us before you start work.

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.

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.

Weather Forecast (Long Range)

Sunny intervals and a moderate breeze and warm.

Tasks

Depending on the number of volunteers and qualified leaders who turnout, we will aim to operate two separate work parties. We will all meet at The Fernery for initial briefings and to allocate of tasks and issue tools.

Leaders will be on site from 9.30 am to open the shed and select the tools that will be needed. It would help if volunteers could arrive earlier than 10 am and make their work preferences clear (i.e. scrub bashing or gardening) so that we can all make a prompt start.

Nature Reserve Work Party

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Fernery Garden Work Party

Wild Flower Beds

Jenny is bringing some more wild flower plugs for planting. The Wild Flower beds will need further wiring, and pegging and Harry and Alan will be helping.

Watering

Without a doubt we will need to water the principal trees that were planted last month and marked by Sarah, and as many others as possible. And we will need to make arrangements to establish a watering roster which worked so effectively last year.

Feed to the Dropping Well

Harry and Alan will cut a shallow channel on the South Path that will hide a mains water hose feed to the Cistern and Dropping Well. They will set up a tap and hose connection so that we can easily and safely simulate a water drop when we have visitors.

Lifting Daffodils

Another task for consideration will be to lift the daffodils on the South Bank if it is practical. They were planted in November 2016 and we can either store them or re-plant them elsewhere on the site.

The reason is that in May 2019 it is planned that Maydencroft will bring their digger in to excavate this slope and uncover the Parsons planting beds, and steps, believed to be hidden there.

Visitors

The Detectorists Cathy and Mike are planning to visit us again on Thursday, to continue their task of scanning the area around the Fernery with their metal detecting equipment. Andrew will supervise their work.

How to Find Us

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.

Weather Forecast (Long Range)

Light cloud and a gentle breeze. Mild

Tasks

As with the earlier 2019 working parties we will aim to operate two separately managed groups. We will all meet at the Fernery for initial briefings, allocation of tasks, and distribution of appropriate tools.

Leaders will be on site by 9.30am to open the shed and prepare the tools. It would help matters if volunteers could arrive early at, say 9.30 am., and make their work preferences clear (i.e.scrub bashing or gardening) so that we can make a prompt start.

Local Nature Reserve Working Party

Andrew will lead a party to continue the work of clearing the Ancient Track on the lower slopes of the Park Field. Please meet at the Fernery to collect tools. (If you have not already seen the difference these work parties are making have a look at the Report of last months Working Party).

Fernery Garden Working Party

John will lead this group.

The principal task for the gardener will be to suppress the nettles.

This month Jenny will be planting more large plants of oxeye daisy, field scabious & wild clary on the chalk bank. But she is concerned that the rabbits are eating the wildflowers even the ones on a list they supposedly dislike!!.

The rabbits are being a nuisance and discussions are underway with the Borough Council to get the large hole in the fence on the South East corner repaired once and for all. A wooden guard is also needed under the field gate on the north side.

For this reason Jenny is planning to pot on many wildflowers for planting out in May when they have decent size roots so they’ll have a chance against the rabbits.

How to Find Us

If you have not visited the Fernery before please go to the website for directions.

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

As a major next step in encouraging young people to get involved with our voluntary restoration activities in the Fernery, in a positive way, the 1st Welwyn Scouts are helping us with tree planting on Saturday 23rd February between 1100 hrs and 1300 hrs.

The scouts will be accompanied by parents and leaders and will be directed by the Danesbury Fernery Garden Adviser Sarah Marsh who, having agreed a planting list with the Borough Council, has sourced trees from selected suppliers.

The Tree planting includes:

• 1x malus silvestrus 8′ tall
• 2x clerondendrons 6′ tall
• 4x wild roses (small)
• 2x variegated hollies
• plus some whips in the perimeter.

All necessary tools will be made available on site by the Friends of Danesbury Fernery, and all attendees are being advised of the need to wear strong boots and suitable outdoor wear, and to bring a hot drink for refreshment.

This work will greatly help and improve the conservation area and will go towards the following badges and awards

• World challenge award
• Teamwork challenge award
• Environment conservation activity badge
• Community impact staged activity badge