Garden Volunteering In Regency Square

13/11/2023

Thank you to Tom and Duncan for helping with last Friday’s big volunteer effort. We succeeded in preparing the mid-sections of the side borders for returning to lawn. The last few ornamental plants in the mid-sections were transplanted to gaps elsewhere in the borders. All of which will make the garden look a little less neglected.

The weather forecasts for tomorrow and next Tuesday are wet and windy. Thereafter, temperatures are forecast to fall below 10 degrees. It’s best for the soil and for garden wildlife to leave things alone once temperatures have fallen that low. So last Friday’s session has turned out to be our last session this year.

We will resume gardening sessions in the spring. Exactly when will depend on the weather, so I’ll be in touch nearer the time with a 2024 schedule.

Thanks to all our regular volunteers for your help in 2023.

18/06/2023

We have been asked if any residents would be happy to join the local volunteer group for Regency Square which is for anyone who would like to work in the local public gardens.

Their main role is to help the council gardeners by weeding and tidying the garden borders. The group carried out significant clearance work in Russell Square just before the first lockdown in 2020 and occasionally weed Clarence Square. But most time is spent in Regency Square, because it’s the garden that needs most help.

The group works under the auspices of the Regency Squares Community (new name of the Regency Square Area Society), which buys the tools. However, anyone is welcome to work with them, there is no requirement to be a RSC member.

All the tasks are agreed with Cityparks (the council’s parks and gardens dept). Last year they gave permission to re-plant the two long borders that run across the southern end of the Regency Square upper garden. Cityparks supplied plants for the section that runs alongside the car park vents, RSC funded plants for the adjacent border (the one with the Christmas tree planter). They’ll be doing more planting in that vicinity this coming autumn.

Cityparks is not keen on residents working solo in the gardens, so garden volunteering involves joining in group sessions, with a team leader and first aider. Sessions are once a week, weather permitting, on alternating Sundays and Mondays throughout spring, summer and autumn. Sessions start at 10.30 and last for about two hours. Forthcoming dates are listed below.

Gill, who is the volunteer leader, will send a reminder email a couple of days before each session, confirming which section of the garden they’ll be working in and what tasks they’ll be doing. She will also need to be able to email people if a session is cancelled or rescheduled, so anyone interested in working with them needs to let her have your email address. You can do so by emailing rsasgardening@gmail.com

A couple of times a year, they have an additional mid-week session when a Cityparks Ranger brings a bigger volunteer group to help with the more challenging jobs. One of these additional sessions is planned for some time in September.

There is never any pressure to attend sessions, people come along as and when they can. But Gill advises anyone interested in joining us to invest in a pair of gardening gloves, because some of the weeds are prickly.

Forthcoming garden volunteer dates, starting at 1030, at time of writing:

June 19

June 26

July 3

July 10

July 17

July 24

July 31

August 7

August 14

August 21

Kind regards
Sussex Heights (Brighton) Limited
Updated 18 June 2023