Find out the latest news about our wildlife hedge planting along the railway line.
Following up on previous effort, and for the second year running, local people pitched up on a cold February morning to plant phase 3 of a wildlife hedge along the railway line that bisects the park.
The Friends of Gladstone Park won a grant from the Tesco Plastic Bags scheme which enabled us to carry out this work.
We planted part of the north side this time, having
completed the south side and planted 123m in just one morning. As it was a weekend event we used Sunday to
maintain the southern hedge.
You can also contact the charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111or www.crimestoppers-uk.org
Sleeping Rough and Homelessness
If you are concerned about someone sleeping rough in the park, send an alert to StreetLink by visiting www.streetlink.org.uk, via the mobile app, available for Apple and Android devices, or by calling 0300 500 0914.
The details provided by a member of the public are sent to the local authority or outreach team concerned, so they can help connect the person to local services and support.
The week commencing Monday 14th February is Nestbox Week! Use the guide below to build your own (download it from here), and read along to find out why nestboxes are not only important for birds but also very good for us too.
British birds are short of nesting holes, and there are plenty of reasons why.
Our gardens, parks and woodland are neater and tidier than they used to be, depriving birds of natural holes to find a home. And to make matters worse there are fewer handy nooks and crannies in modern buildings. The populations of many bird species are down as a result of this housing shortage.
The good news is that everyone can do their bit to help… and your own garden’s a great place to start.
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) reckons that if all the gardens in Britain were rolled up into one giant plot, it would be a huge area bigger than Suffolk.
Just imagine how our wild birds would benefit if each one of those gardens contained a nestbox or two, plus plants and insects to provide food. Alongside common visitors – like Blue Tits, Great Tits, House Sparrows, Robins and Starlings – putting up a box will also boost your chance of attracting rarer species into the bargain.
Don’t forget that nestboxes are good for us too. Spending time in the garden, building your own box and watching birds make themselves at home are all great stress-busters.
The Bangladesh High Commission, supported by members of the local community have provided 100 new trees being planted in the south west corner of the park. They are to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Bangabandhu “The Friend of Bengal”, the founding President of Bangladesh, as well as 50 years of the independence of Bangladesh.
The trees have been chosen to elongate the seasons providing spring interest with magnolia, cherry, crabapple and amelanchier blossom, golden summer flowers from the tulip and golden rain trees, brilliantly coloured autumn leaves from liquidambars, parrotias and nyssas along with winter bark interest from the birches and cherries.
And the British natives, bird cherry and wild service trees add even more blossom and fruit. The bees and birds will not go hungry. Walkers in the park will no doubt be enjoying the blossom already blooming with much more to come.
Members of the Gladstone Gardening Group’s woodland workers are coming to the end of the working season reducing all activity whilst the birds begin their nesting season. They have had a very hard working season erecting and repairing dead hedging, completing the central pathway and planting a host of wildflowers.
Now, it is time to let it grow back stronger and even more lovely than before! New signs have been put up to inform park users of the need to let the flowers seeded there get established and will be taken down by May.
We must all ensure to keep off this area for now to protect the wild flower planting and improve the ground cover essential for the regeneration of the woodland. The wait will be worth your wile and soon, we will all enjoy some wonderful flowers!
The volunteer group Friends of Gladstone Park (FoGP), with the full support of Brent Council, launched a new local anti-litter campaign today.
An eye catching red sticker with an image of a fox enjoying a feast of picnic rubbish has been placed on every bin in the park to discourage people from leaving bags of litter NEXT to the bins when they are full.
The Friends of Gladstone Park anti-litter campaign stickers.
“We hope that these stickers will
enhance awareness and encourage people to take their rubbish home or to an
empty bin. It’s a small step towards keeping our beautiful park free of
litter.” said Francine Lawrence, Deputy Chair, FoGP. “If you can carry your
picnic to the park – you are capable of taking the rubbish away!”
The sticker campaign is in addition
to the regular Gladstone Park Litter Picks organised by FoGP.
Sunny weather and easing of lockdown
have encouraged more of us to visit local parks and enjoy a snack or a (socially
distanced) picnic.
However, it seems that many people are able to carry their full pizza boxes, polystyrene food containers, plastic bags, paper towels, wet wipes, bottles and crisp packets to the park but unable to take the empty packaging away.
FoGP want to highlight the misconception that dumping bags of picnic rubbish next to a tree or a bin, when the bin is full, is helpful. Bags of food packaging, however neatly stacked, encourage foxes and vermin to chew through the bags and spread the rubbish over a wider area.
Chicken bones, glass, cans and rotting food are hazards to children and pets.
Bags of food packaging, however neatly stacked, encourage foxes and vermin to chew through the bags and spread the rubbish over a wider area.
“Larger, more plentiful, fox-proof
bins can help, but will not eradicate the problem. In the end it is humans who
leave rubbish in inappropriate places.” Said Tariq Dar, Brent Councillor. “We
must love where we live!”
FoGP hope that the Red Fox Sticker
Campaign will be the beginning of a Brent-wide anti-litter campaign.
Together we can help keep our beautiful park free of litter.
If your park or open space group would like some of these eye catching stickers you can buy 50 large stickers for £30 from FoGP. The vinyl sticks firmly on metal and wood. No nasty peeling up or fading. Guaranteed colour fast for 5 years. Do email us to enquire.
The Friends of Gladstone Park would like to thank all those who donated roses for the park. We achieved our aim and more and were able to buy 89 new roses, a magnificent achievement.
Some bought roses for themselves, some were given as gifts and many bought them in memory of loved ones.
Sadly the two events to thank those who donated roses have
had to be cancelled but we hope to go ahead with them as soon as it is safe to
do so.
The roses chosen are below. I was informed that the new roses will be settling in during the first year and will bloom, but that they will be at their best from 2021!
Gladstone Park has been chosen by Brent Council to receive 100 of the 6,500 Sakura cherry trees donated by the Japan-British Society though the the Sakura Cherry Tree Project to celebrate the friendship between Japan and Britain. The first trees planted were in Regent’s Park in late November 2019 at a ceremony much heralded by local BBC news.
The park’s trees will arrive in autumn 2020 and will be planted along the path from the children’s playground down towards the railway line. Planting is to be a community effort and it is hoped that people will turn up to help.
In Japan the cherry tree blossom is called Sakura. Apparently businesses vary their trading hours to give staff the time to enjoy and picnic under the blossoms. Spiritually it is a symbol of the shortness and beauty of life, a sentiment tied to the Buddhist roots of Japan.
The trees are being planted all over the UK from Guernsey to Orkney. Our trees are being grown in the UK and will be 2-3 years old when they arrive.
Gladstone Park won a Gold in the Walled Garden category in London in Bloom for the third time in a row. The Gladstone Gardening Group, along with Veolia, have worked hard to achieve this, renovating the north bed and terrace beds and also the rose beds which have been pruned, fed and mulched.
Gladstone Park also won a Gold in the Large Parks category, in part due to local community involvement.
People have turned up to help with the monthly litter picks organised throughout the spring and summer; at the planting of 440m of British native hedge plants along the railway line; at the weekly gardening group which regularly has over 12 enthusiasts working each Wednesday and at the copse where hazels were coppiced and dead hedges created to delineate pathways.
Walks and talks on birds, trees, lichens and mosses, nature and bats have been well attended.
We reached our target and more to buy 1000 English Bluebells. Pouring rain meant a change of date to plant them but the sun shone the following day and locals turned out to help. And there’s always a tea break! We received enough donations to buy 500 more bluebell bulbs next year.
The Friends of Gladstone Park have chosen roses to plant in the rose beds by the walled garden. The selection of roses was made with the help of experts from Peter Beales Roses. All are known for their long flowering period and will be planted over the winter by the Gladstone Gardening Group and Veolia. Here are the roses chosen.
Rose de Rescht
Rhapsody in Blue
Our Beth
New Dawn
Mum in a Million
Comte de Chambord
Dublin Bay
Leah Tutu
Macmillan Nurse
Margaret Merril
City of York
Cost of each rose: £16
Donations can be made until 15th January 2020.
A donation of £16 for each rose can be made using the following methods. Bank transfers and cheques to be made to Friends of Gladstone Park.
Buy a rose as a gift or in memory of a loved one
You can buy a rose as a gift or in memory of a loved one. To proceed, pay as detailed below. Then, please choose one of the following options: – As a gift, please email Gladstone Flowers with your address and a gift card will be sent for you to give to your recipient. – In Memoriam: Email Gladstone Flowers if you wish to include the name of the loved one on any information published by FOGP.
Paypal
Bank transfer to 25079268 sort code: 30-94-81
Cheque to The Treasurer, please email for details.
All those who have bought a rose will be invited to a thank you ceremony with the Mayor at the walled garden in the Spring. Invitations will be sent out by email so make sure you provide it when donating by bank transfer or cheque.
Thank you.
Any queries, please contact gladstoneflowersNW @ gmail . com.
