Notices

NEXT WORKING PARTY MEETING – THURSDAY 17th MAY 2018

Visitors

We are expecting to welcome the Borough Council’s Deputy Mayor Cllr. Barbara Fitzsimon

Outline Work Plan – Immediate Priority – Garden Restoration

As we stated two months ago, to prepare for the Open Day on Sunday 17th June, Garden Restoration now takes priority over excavation work except, of course, mechanical excavation work carried out by Maydencroft to an agreed plan.

MECHANICAL EXCAVATION – AN UPDATE

After several postponements, and with the arrival of better weather, the Borough Council granted us two weeks access to Maydencroft’s skilled team of mechanical digger operatives, starting last Wednesday. Mark was in the chair assisted by Richard.

Benefitting from constructive thought and planning, Maydencroft’s intervention has in just three days led to an amazing amount of new excavations and discoveries.

• On Wednesday we discovered a huge soak-away in front of the grotto, to take water away from the basin at the foot of the dropping well.
• And on Wednesday a third tier was discovered beneath the two-tiered planting bed on the East side of the dell.
• On Thursday an electrical trace attached to the lead water pipe in the dropping well revealed that underground lead piping is feeding from the direction of the House all around the dell.
• On Thursday the large central bed was cleared of rocks, and re-profiled.
• On Friday the rocks were placed around the edges of the newly profiled central bed and made to look ‘original’ through meticulous soil packing by Maydencroft’s James and Immogen.
• Also on Friday the bed by the retaining wall  was cleared and re-profiled. The good news here was that we proved that this is yet another of Anthony Parson’s special ‘tanked’ beds with a concrete base and a drainage hole. The disappointment was to discover that the red-brick wall at the front edge has, over the years, been robbed and is likely to be 3-4 courses too low.
• On Friday all the grass beds had a second spray of selective weed killers.

WORKING PARTY TASKS – THURSDAY 17TH MAY 2018

TASK 1 – Continue nettle weeding in the prepared planting beds.

TASK 2 – Continue rabbit protection of planted trees

TASK 3 – General watering as required

TASK 4 – Clearing, scrubbing and cleaning the Rock edging on the sloping North East path past the Pulhamite outcrop.

TASK 5 – General site clearance

GARDENING GROUP TASKS*

Friday May 18th 2018

TASK 1 – Plants will be selected and purchased from Rochfords by Sarah and Ann, supported by Andrew.

Saturday May 19th 2018

TASK 1 – Plants to be unloaded in two tranches from a trailer parked in the road and carried to the site

2 x strong volunteers needed

TASK 2 – Sarah will place the plants – after placement assistance will be required

TASK 3 – Planting out

4 x GARDENING VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – 3 x to plant and 1 x to water in

Monday 21st May 2018

TASK 1 – Sarah to collect a second tranche of purchased plants from Rochfords

TASK 2 – Plants to be unloaded from a trailer parked in the road and carried to the site

2 x strong volunteers needed

TASK 3 – Sarah will place the plants – after placement assistance will be required.

TASK 2 – Planting out

4 x GARDENING VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – 3 x to plant and 1 x to water in

• Times to be confirmed

GARDENING GROUP COMMUNICATIONS – PLEASE SIGN UP

Will all volunteers who would agree to attend ad hoc gardening meetings (for example, see above meetings on 19th and 21st May) please send a WhatsApp message to John Roper so that you can opt-in to the WhatsApp  FERNERY GARDENING GROUP which was recently established.

The purpose of this Group is solely to facilitate short term communications to arrange such meetings.

MEETING PLACE

We will meet at 10 am at The Fernery on Thursday 17th May 2018. The leaders will expect to be on site from 9.30 onwards to get the tools ready, so if you are an ‘early bird’ and can help, please do so.

All team members should have good quality garden gloves and wear strong boots, and bring a hot drink for elevenses. We will provide small hand tools for general use.

For newcomers, the Fernery can be found at the top end of North Ride on the Danesbury Estate, AL6 9RD. For more details please go to ‘Where We Are‘ tab at the top of the page.

The Best Laid Plans..

Plans for our next Working Party have been seriously impacted by the recent spell of very wet weather. The site is still very wet.

The scheduled Monday 7th April arrival of the Maydencroft digger had to be postponed, and it is not likely to be brought on site for at least two more weeks to allow the site to thoroughly dry out. We will not therefore be able to complete some tasks scheduled to be completed this month, and we might have to put in extra hours if we are to prepare in good time for our big plant-up  in May.

We will give you  a further update next Thursday.

Site Clean up since our last meeting

You will undoubtedly notice that the site is considerably cleaner since the last Working Party due to:

• 26th March – a small group cleared leaves from the paths and burned off loads of twigs,
• 1st April Sue and Andrew cleared leaves and rubbish from the dropping well,
• Tuesday 8th April Harry cleared all the rocks and the stagnant standing water out of the basin, and with Andrew’s help cleaned the site in advance of last Wednesday’s visit by Kate Harwood and students of the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust.

The HGT visit was very successful. Kate Harwood showed her thanks by presenting the FOD with a fern Polypodium vulgare which she planted to a full fanfare of shouts and encouragement from all those present.

Tasks for Thursday 19th April 2018 

Weeding and Nettle Control

If we have time to organise this with the Borough Council, we might undertake some nettle spraying in non planting-bed areas.

We should continue to hand weed nettles from the planting beds

Daffodil Rescue

We will dig out as many of the daffodils as possible on the Tufa Bed which are now past their best, and store them for later re-planting.

Whips and Shrub management

Clear around all the whips and shrubs planted in February, to allow them to grow unimpeded by weeds.

Puddingstone Removal

Removal of dumped tufa rock is scheduled as a task for the Maydencroft Digger, but because many of the dumped stones are unusable it will help if we can separate the more valuable pieces that we want to keep, including the puddingstones and some pulhamite fragments. The purpose is to maximise the use of the digger by presenting an uncomplicated pile of redundant stone ready to be removed from the site completely in one go.

The puddingstones are to be removed to a safe place to await further investigation.

Rabbit Scrapes

Fill some of the rabbit scrapes where they have dug holes in the banks so that more grass seed can be sown.

Other Tasks

These can be determined on the day, and will be dependent on available resources and ground conditions.

Visitors

On Friday 20th April, we are expecting two or three members of the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust who visited us last week, and have asked to return to study our Puddingstone samples more closely.

Dates of Future Meetings

Saturday 5th May 2018 – Fernery Garden Group

Thursday 17th May – Fernery Working Party

Saturday 2nd June – Fernery Garden Group

SUNDAY 17TH JUNE – WELWYN FESTIVAL OPEN DAY – 2pm to 5pm

Thursday 21st June – Fernery Working Party

Danesbury’s Park Field – Scrub Bashing and Path Clearance

July/August/September – we will continue gardening activities, but we will plan some overdue scrub-bashing work on the Park Field.

Meeting Place – Thursday 19th April 2018

We will meet at The Fernery at 10 am. The leaders will expect to be on site from 9.30 onwards to get the tools ready, so if you are an ‘early bird’ and can help, please do so.

All team members should have good quality garden gloves and wear strong boots, and bring a hot drink for elevenses. We will provide small hand tools for general use.

For newcomers, the Fernery can be found at the top end of North Ride on the Danesbury Estate, AL6 9RD. For more details please go to ‘Where We Are‘ tab at the top of the page.

March 15th 2018 Work Party

Visitors – Area Representative of the British Pterodological Association.

Weather permitting Mr Peter Blake will be visiting from Norwich. We hope that he will be able to give us the benefit of his knowledge of the types of ferns we might aim to plant, and their best positions. He will also then be in a position to talk about our plans and ambitions to other members of the BPS .

Garden Development – some necessary re-scheduling

Publication of this Notice has been delayed due to unavoidable last minute adjustments to our Work Schedules, which will affect this coming Thursday 15th March 2018, and the following two months too.

There are a few reasons for this:

• Rabbits have been nibbling/destroying some of the plants/trees we have recently planted.
• We have to prevent that happening before we start planting tender plants.
• Sarah, our Garden Designer, will be absent until 21st April and we will not therefore be able to place the ‘Big April Order’ for the remainder of the plants on the Planting List, until she returns.
• Sarah needs to be present to direct planting operations.

A delay in the next round of planting from April to May 2018 offers perceived benefits. 

• Sweet new grass will have started growing and (we are told on good authority) rabbits prefer grass to nursery grown plants.
• A delay of planting by one month (to May 2018) will enable the Maydencroft mechanical digger to undertake scheduled 2 x week tasks (from 9th – 20th April) without the earlier concerns we had of  interference with the parallel work of the volunteers on the planting programme.
• The mechanical digger is scheduled to reduce (i.e. lower) some planting beds; undertake further spoil removal from the rockwork; extend earlier excavation of paths and earthworks.
• The mechanical digger will also lift the tufa rocks from the central planting bed in the dell, to be stored for future use, and also remove rocks dropped by vandals in the dropping well basin.
• By synchronising Work Party activities with the work of the mechanical digger, volunteers will have more time to prepare new beds for planting before Sarah’s return, and before the purchase of the next tranche of plants.

Task 1 – Rabbit Protection

(Contractors are reducing the rabbit population for us).

We have to double-check that all the recently planted trees/shrubs are protected either by plastic tubes or by chicken wire.

Plastic tubes should be buried in the ground by approx. 1″- 2″ so that rabbits cannot push them aside.

Chicken wire should ideally be pegged in triangles with approx 4″ gap between the wire and the plant, to stop rabbits nibbling through the wire.

Task 2 – Weeding existing planting beds

This is a continuation of the work that Sarah and her gardening team have been  undertaking in recent months. If we have a bonfire nettles can be burnt.

Task 3 – Weeding newly planted trees and whips

As rabbit protection is checked/improved for each plant, (see Task 1 above) a start needs to be made to clearing grass and weeds (including ragwort) from an an area of approx. 12″ diameter around each plant, which cleared space should then be maintained on an ongoing basis.

Task 4 – Site Clearance – Bonfire

If the Weather is suitable we will have a bonfire. 

This will be the first step towards site clearance in preparation for the Open day on June 17th 2018.  There are fallen branches laying around the site, and nettles to be burned as they are dug up. Mulching Cage No. 1 also needs to be opened and sorted to remove material that should be burned.

Task 5 – Site Clearance – leaf collection and mulching cages

If the weather is suitable we will have another go at lifting more autumn leaves from the paths with the Leaf Blower and with rakes, and start to fill the new Mulching Cage No. 2

Task 6 – Excavation

Depending on resources available, we will continue to expose the brick walls at the North end of the site, in preparation for the April arrival of the Maydencroft digger.

We will also continue to trace the direction of the path at the top of the steps on the South side.

Other Future Planned Activities.

Metal Detector – Tony Rook

Our training day with Tony was postponed because of inclement weather.

Meeting Place

We will meet at 10 am at The Fernery on Thursday 15th March 2018. The leaders will expect to be on site from 9.30 am to get the tools ready, so if you are an ‘early bird’ and can help, please do so.

As mentioned above, we are expecting visitors from the British Pteridological Society.

All team members should have good quality garden gloves and wear strong boots, and bring a hot drink for elevenses. We will provide small hand tools for general use.

For newcomers, the Fernery can be found at the top end of North Ride on the Danesbury Estate, AL6 9RD. For more details please go to ‘Where We Are‘ tab at the top of the page.

STOP PRESS – Bad Weather Forecast

The long range weather forecast for Thursday is bad – very heavy rain is expected.

Common sense will come into play, as the site might get too dangerous and work will be abandoned.

Next Work Party Meeting – Thursday 15th February 2018

We next meet in the Fernery at 10 am. on Thursday 15th February 2018, when the BBC forecasts that it will a case of  ‘Sunny Intervals and Breezy’

Outline Work Plan – Immediate Priority – Garden Restoration

It is important that all volunteers understand that because some 600 trees and plants will be purchased for planting in April 2018, then this fact alone will inevitably shape our work priorities over next few months.

Although we will press on with excavation of rockwork wherever and whenever we can, that work is not time-related, and tasking priority will therefore be given to getting the 600 plants bedded in safely.

Mechanical Help

For 2 weeks commencing Monday 9th April, the Council will make a  mechanical digger, and Maydencroft resources, exclusively available to us a) to remove unwanted spoil and b) to help (if the volunteers need help) with the big April plant-up.

February 15th 2018 tasks

TASK 1 – Bare-rooted Tree Planting 

On Friday 9th February Sarah, our garden designer, with Ann MacDonald (WHBC) are meeting up at Rochfords Wholesale Nursery to purchase some bare-rooted trees. This is the time of year to buy them as they are considerably cheaper than when potted up by the nursery for later sale.

These plants will be placed in their final planting positions, in advance of the 15th February work party, ready to be heeled in. The plants might need a drink, so Andrew and Harry are working to select and install a shed-based hose reel in time.

TASK 2 – Mulching Cage

Task 2a – If we have time to prepare the materials needed, we want to open a second storage area to gather leaves, matching the first one that Andrew built. We therefore plan to cut into the brambles just to the North of the existing storage cage and build a second one. We have loppers to help clear the area.

Task 2b -The first leaf cage can start to be emptied and used – once errant sticks have been removed.

Task 2c – We are hoping for a delivery of mulch from the Borough Council in time for the big plant-up and we will have to agree where it should be stored ready for use.

TASK 3 – Leaf Blowing

If it is not too wet then we must have another go at lifting more autumn leaves from the paths and loading them into the Mulching Cage.

TASK 4 – Weeding

We need to keep a close watch on nettles which are threatening to get going once again. But the nettle roots cannot be put into the mulching cages, and must be stored in our wildlife area.

TASK 5 – Ongoing – Removal of tufa rock from the Central area.

It is a certainty that before Maydencroft’s mechanical help  arrives in April 2018, we will need to start to clear the central area where the tufa rocks have previously been dumped. This central area will play a principal part of the Garden Design and the site will need to be prepared and mulched, ready for planting, before the date of the big April plant-up.

TASK 6 – Ongoing – Assessment of Areas for Spoil Removal

We have to agree a schedule with the Council, which identifies those areas that we want included for mechanical soil removal. Mechanical excavation is likely to include pathways in the dell that were only half excavated in 2017; the spoil heap at the North end by the Pulhamite outcrop that is currently hiding the secrets of the brick foundations in that area; the pathway at the top of the slope which looks to be covering more brickwork and possibly steps too; possibly excavate the slope beneath the red-brick retaining wall to see what it hides; and remove soils that remain within the gorge and to the side of the dropping well. Another area that might be considered is the Southwards extension of the top path above the grotto, and the planting bed above that, which we believe hides one of Anthony Parson’s Victorian drainage tanks.

We will also ask for the basin to be cleared of the rocks dropped in by vandals.

Other Future Planned Activities.

1st Welwyn Scouts – Projects for young people

We are in the process of agreeing badgework projects for boys and girls of the 1st Welwyn Scout Group – of whom Andy Trotter, (one of our team members), is Group Scout Leader. They will range from a rudimentary Survey/Drawing of the Fernery Site, to the construction and erection of bird boxes.

The purpose is to stimulate young peoples’ interest and involvement in the countryside, and perhaps help them value this Victorian gem on their doorstep. Scout Leaders will be present at all times to provide the necessary supervision, but the support of FOD volunteers will be greatly appreciated.

When these Projects are agreed, they will be detailed on the website.

Location of the Victorian Water Pipes    

Dr Kris Lockyear, Author, and Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at UCL, (and President of the Welwyn Archaeological Society) has special interests in field work and geophysics. He hopes to be able to make an assessment for us in April/May time.

Website Changes  – a new Garden Restoration tab.

We have created a new Garden Restoration tab just for recording all gardening and planting aspects of our work. The Garden Restoration section includes details of Sarah’s appointment as our Garden Designer, together with her 1st draft Planting List which has already been agreed with the Borough Council. We will be posting ‘Garden’ News items as we proceed.

Meeting Place

We will meet at 10 am at The Fernery on Thursday 15th February 2018. The leaders will expect to be on site from 9.30 onwards to get the tools ready, so if you are an ‘early bird’ and can help, please do so.

We are expecting to welcome one or two new team members.

All team members should have good quality garden gloves and wear strong boots, and bring a hot drink for elevenses. We will provide small hand tools for general use.

For newcomers, the Fernery can be found at the top end of North Ride on the Danesbury Estate, AL6 9RD. For more details please go to ‘Where We Are‘ tab at the top of the page.

STOP PRESS – Open Gardens Programme

Your Committee is moving closer towards recommending that we ‘open’ the Fernery once again in 2018 as part of the Welwyn Festival Open Gardens Programme. Since our brilliant introduction on June 18th 2017 we have made further startling discoveries of rockwork and brickwork, and for the first time we will be able to show visitors the shape of our new Fernery Garden. But this will only be possible if we are able once again to call upon the fabulous support we received last year from the Friends, in organising and running our Refreshments Marquee and providing other support functions.

More news will follow.

We meet again this coming Thursday 18th January 2018 and we have to expect that the Fernery will be a bit cold and a bit grey as it was when these photos were taken last week. The ground underfoot is currently very heavy.

The plan will be to continue the work left off last November, limited as it might be by the ground conditions as we find them.

Excavation

We will continue the work left off last November when we began to uncover more brickwork at the North end of the dell. As was planned, by exposing more  supporting walls and brickwork we  hope to be able to predict more accurately what the structures would have looked like, and discover more hidden paths and steps.

Garden Maintenance

Leaf Blowing

If it is not too wet then we must have another go at lifting more autumn leaves and loading them into our fairly crude composting box.  As the garden develops we will need all the leaf compost we can get.

Weeding

We also need to keep a close watch on nettles which are threatening to get going once again. We are advised that if we intend to develop a quality garden, as we do, then we have to weed, i.e. dig-out, these nettles, and persevere at the task year by year. To remove the nettles in the planting beds by chemical means will only delay the inevitable re-generation of the roots, and we cannot allow that to happen.

Garden Design and Development

The draft agreement reached with the Borough Council last November is currently in the process of being approved, and we hope that this will be ‘on the table’ soon. Out of that agreement, and as a matter of some urgency now, the Borough have to produce a Planting List, and broad guidelines/directions in regard to the areas of the Fernery which are to be developed in the first instance.

The Council is budgeting to purchase some 600 trees and plants in April 2018 which will determine our work patterns over next few months, in terms of developing a Garden Design , and then preparing the planting beds in readiness.

Snowdrops

If you look carefully you will see snowdrops beginning to show; out of the 1000 planted, there are about six showing at the moment. But, as with the spring daffodils which we planted in 2016, we knew at the outset that excavation and soil movements as we developed the site during 2016/17 would inevitably cause some of our early bulb planting efforts to come to grief!

Meeting Place

We will meet at 10 am at The Fernery on Thursday 18th January. The leaders will expect to be on site from 9.30 onwards to get the tools ready, so if you are an ‘early bird’ and can help, you will be welcomed.

For newcomers, the Fernery can be found at the top end of North Ride on the Danesbury Estate, AL6 9RD. For more details please go to ‘Where We Are‘ tab at the top of the page.

We look forward to seeing you all to start yet another momentous year in the recovery and restorarion of the Danesbury Victorian Fernery and Garden.

Start Time and Place

We meet at the Fernery at the top end of North Ride, Welwyn, AL6 9RD  starting at 10 a.m.

Please note that team leaders and tools will be on site from 9 a.m for those who prefer to start earlier. Work continues until lunchtime and volunteers should wear strong boots, gardening gloves and bring a hot drink for refreshment. Tools will be provided.

Tasks for Thursday 16th November 2017

Garden Maintenance 

Strimming and leaf blowing: The site looks quite tidy at the moment and it is uncertain that we will need to do any strimming this month. But leaves have dropped since the last work party in October and we must blow them up and stack them in the composting bays. We will have a wheelbarrow to help us.

If we do want to strim, then Andrew and I have to re-string the strimmers in a hurry because they are both strung up (?)

Weeding. Depending on available resources, we must continue to pull the weeds in the planting beds.

Planting Beds. It has been decided to try to locate the special beds that Anthony Parsons developed to bring on his quality ferns.

We might therefore carefully drive steel rods down first and then undertake some test digging of the planting beds near the entrance to see if we can find evidence of his brick and slate-lined base.

Excavation – depending on resources available

• Continue exploring the direction of the top steps started in August.

• Continue excavation of the rock work foundations to link the top path with others, and then try to excavate the path itself.

Fencing

If Stephen is is with the team then we will lift and re-site the panels that he uncovered in September.

Other Issues

Water mains standpipe cabinet

We need to check that all the supplied keys work properly, as there is evidence that some do not.

Since the last work party, Andrew has fitted some hooks to hang hand tools off the ground and thereby maximise the space available for hand-tool storage.

Entrance Poles

The Committee have yet to agree with the WHBC the priority and timescale for the next stage. Research is needed to try to establish what the entrance might have looked like before making major decisions.

But as a short-term expedient, it is likely that plans will be made to dress the poles with timber and it has been suggested that suitable timber might be found on a dead tree on the lower side of the Fernery Field.

Small Hand Tools Needed.

We will  need to buy some small hand tools, e.g. trowels and hand forks, as we have been over-reliant on Andrew’s private collection.

So, please have a look in your sheds and greenhouses, to see if you have spare tools that you could donate to the FOD.

Future Meeting Dates

Apart from appearing under the Calendar Tab on this website, all meetings are now published in the Welwyn Magazine, conveniently in the Dates for Your Diary column on the back page.

Our inaugural meeting of the Saturday Fernery Garden Friends on November 4th was unfortunately rained off. We will now see what the response will be to the next meeting on Saturday 2nd December. You are reminded that in order to get this project underway, it will be necessary in the first instance for volunteers to stand by to act as leaders.

Social Media – progress

Did you enjoy the Halloween theme on our Facebook page @danesbury fernery ?

Have you been following the very positive Twitters emanating from CEO Rob Bridge?

Have you seen the good Press coverage that we have been receiving?

Have seen the piece about the Friends of the Fernery in WH Life dropped through our letter boxes earlier this week?

The High Sheriff of Hertfordshire (who Andrew and I were introduced to recently – as your representatives) wants to visit us personally, and soon  – but his secretary has not given us a date yet. Perhaps he might come on the 14th December and enjoy Mulled Wine with us? As it happens, the Borough Council have urged us to nominate ourselves for the High Sheriff’s Awards for 2017/2018 (in the Volunteering category) which, sparing our blushes, we have of course agreed to do.