events, kids, playstreets, Volunteering

Play Streets scheme

Screen Shot 2016-07-08 at 16.36.35Some of us have been discussing the possibility of closing Wilton Square and some of
Baring street regularly to allow the local children to play on the streets freely as part of Islington council’s Play Streets scheme. I have had the form for this for a while, however, the council suggest that we organise a residents’ meeting to discuss the finer details of this plan before we submit the request to them. The next deadline for doing this is August 31st.

We will be arranging such a meeting towards the end of July and let you know the details shortly but meanwhile please have a look at the relevant materials:

Gardening, Plants

Coming up roses

IMG_7410This week we have been focusing on the rose bed behind the single bench, mainly getting rid of the surprising amount of rubbish that accumulates there, as well as weeding and tidying up the bushes and deadheading the stunning roses that grow in that space.

It seems that the stones demarcating the rose bed have sunk into the ground over the years and are no longer consistently visible. This has happened with all the borders around the square but you can only eat an elephant one bite at a time so starting small.

With the compost delivery imminent, I wonder if I could ask for your opinion? Broadly, I a wondering whether you would prefer that we dig for the slabs currently used and raise them up to ensure they are visible OR do we create a more naturalistic feature of the rosebud with some wooden borders, as seen at the Chelsea Flower Show this year?

Disappearing border slabs
Natural wooden border from a Chelsea Flower Show garden

Personally, I am in favour of the more naturalistic approach as it would benefit the creepy-crawlies on the square as well as providing a good use for the twigs and branches around the square. What say you?IMG_7288

In other news, the annuals we planted earlier in the year under the three trees between
New North Road and Wilton Villas are growing nicely, helped by the wet weather.

Don’t forget, the next community gardening day is this Sunday 10 am- 1pm. Hope to see you there!

Gardening

Changes afoot

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Tiny helper

If you are following our Facebook page, you may have noticed that we have suddenly
started posting with more regularity and even set up a Justgiving site to gather donations to improve the planting on the square.

If you walk through the square regularly, you may have also come across the little helper that often toddles around whilst his mummy plays with the plants.

This is all part of a renewed effort to turn the square into a lush haven for kids to play in and adults to to enjoy, taking much inspiration from our friends on Arlington Square.

The next step in the grand plan is receiving a huge amount of compost from London Waste to improve the soil under our lovely large trees so that the plants we put down also have the nutrients they need once we put them in. We have gotten in touch with the area coordinator at GoodGym to help us spread this muck once it arrives. Do check them out and join- it’s a wonderful way to get fit and do good at the same time.

We are planning to hold regular community gardening days on the morning of every first Sunday of the month, as well as holding ad hoc events and gardening days. Do have a look at our calendar for further details on these. You’ll be able to find some images of the past events held on the square over in our picture gallery.

We have also started doing a bit more research into the area’s history with a particular interest in the square itself so if you know any interesting details or stories (like old gossip on residents of days gone by) please get in touch.

Whilst we await soil improvements on the square and funds for purchasing new planting, we have already started making the local area look prettier and recently planted some colourful annuals under the three trees in front of Wilton Villas by New North Road.

Before
After