Digging the pond was one of the first things we did at the Triangle Garden in 2001. Since then we have planted the area around it with a wide variety of wild flowers, ranging from shade-loving foxgloves at the edges to purple loosestrife and meadowsweet, which like to be damp, at the edge of the water. On the bank between the pond and the river we have planted meadow flowers including viper’s bugloss, self-heal, lady’s bedstraw, lesser knapweed, teasel, nettle-leaved bellflower and meadow cranesbill.

We have kept large patches of nettles in the wild area. They are a valuable source of food for several types of caterpillar and other wildlife. The pond is full of insect life as well as being home to frogs and newts. The gate to the wild area is locked for safety, but can be opened on activity days.

Willow maze

The living willow maze was created in spring 2002, through a series of practical workshops run by Ed Burnett of the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers. Children from local schools took part.

Willow stems take root easily in springtime so after preparing the ground by removing all the weeds, all we had to do was make 18 inch deep holes and stick the stems in. Ed showed us how to bend and weave the flexible willow stems to form the walls of the maze. Each summer the new willow growth must be woven into the maze walls to make them denser and stronger. Recently we have cut the willow hard back to promote bushier growth lower down.

Spiral earth mound

We used the great heap of earth we made from digging out the pond, to create this grass-covered sculptural mound. It has a spiral bark path winding up to the top, which is popular with children.

Shady glade

This quiet shady area of the Garden is given over to growing shade-loving perennials. Many plants struggle in shade, especially when competing with established trees and hedges. The plants growing here are not only shade-loving but fairly drought tolerant too, and we hope they will offer inspiration to anyone wanting to plant up a shady corner successfully.

We have planted dogwoods and willows at the back of the bed, for their colourful winter stems, and hope to propagate all these plants for sale in coming years.

Sensory Garden

Many of the plants we have chosen for this part of the Garden have special sensory qualities. Some are scented like lavender, catmint and honeysuckle, some have aromatic leaves like curry plant, wormwood and sage. Others taste good and can be used in cooking: white-currant, marjoram, thyme and fennel. Some have colourful flowers: rockrose, verbena, and ornamental garlic (Alliums), or interesting foliage: lamb’s ears, black grass (Ophiopogon) and cranesbill (Geranium). Others make interesting sounds when the wind blows, like grasses and poppy seed heads.

Within the sensory beds you will also find a number of plants that can be used to make herbal remedies, linking back to the days when the Garden was part of Ransom’s fields, and used for growing plants and herbs for medicinal purposes. Examples include coneflower (Echinacea), thought to stimulate the immune system and relieve asthma; bugbane or cohosh (Cimicifuga) which can help prevent symptoms of the menopause; rosemary which can improve memory and concentration; and thyme which can be used to treat colds and flu and soothe aching muscles.

Central mosaic

The mosaic was based on artwork by Christian Hurd, one of the winners of our original children’s competition to design a logo for the Garden. We adapted Christian’s design to fit the circular paving panel and drew a full scale paper mock up, before starting on the mosaic itself.

Local children helped to create the finished work of art, which was carried out in four stages, in summer 2003. Tiles were broken into small pieces and pushed into wet grout to form the patterns.

The Orchard

One of the most dramatic additions to the Community Garden has been our orchard. We have planted several native species of fruit, along with a number of locally-raised traditional varieties, and we hope that in years to come, the trees will produce an abundance of fruit, many of which are not readily available in supermarkets.

We decided to plant most of the apples as cordons in order to use the space as efficiently as possible, but it has had the added benefit of demonstrating to people visiting the Garden that fruit trees can be grown in the smallest of gardens, as well as in orchards. You don’t need the post and wire apparatus we have erected - some climber wires stretched along a sunny bit of fence will do perfectly well.

Apples:          Arthur Turner, a good baking apple from Buckinghamshire.

Brownlees’ Russet, raised by William Brownlees of Hemel Hempstead.

Early Victoria or Emneth Early, an early cooker from Cambridgeshire.

                        Epicure, a fine crisp eater raised by Laxton’s of Bedford.

                        Fortune, another Laxton’s eater, sweet and firm.

Lord Lambourne, an aromatic eater from the Laxton’s stable.

Pears:             Conference, the well-known Hertfordshire dessert pear.

Plums:            Czar, a blue-black cooking plum from Hertfordshire.

                        River’s Early, small and blue-black, again from Herts.

Gages:          Cambridge Gage, yellowish green and delicious.

Other fruit in the orchard:           Bullace (a wild hedgerow plum), Damson, Medlar, Mulberry, and Quince.

Butterfly bank

Here we have planted flowers that attract butterflies and other insects. You will see lavender, sweet william, honesty, ice plant (Sedum spectabile), Patagonian verbena (Verbena bonariensis), aubretia and bugle (Ajuga reptans). Penstemon, goldenrod and rain daisy attract bees and hoverflies.

Many of the wild plants growing in the Garden are useful to butterflies as food for their caterpillars. Orange Tip caterpillars feed on Lady’s Smock (found in the wetland meadow in the Rec.) and Hedge Garlic (found throughout). In spring we often see Brimstone butterflies, whose caterpillars feed on Buckthorn, and our abundant stinging nettles provide food and home to the caterpillars of numerous butterflies including the Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Red Admiral. We also regularly see a small blue butterfly, the Holly Blue, which feeds on both holly and ivy at different times of the year.

Growing beds

These sleeper beds have different functions: the one nearest the entrance is full of soft fruit with a ground cover of wild strawberries. The middle bed is for colour and insect life, with cosmos, cornflowers and other annuals. The third bed is split in two: one half is a herb garden and the other has rhubarb and dye plants growing in it. The dye plants are woad which produces a bright blue colour, and weld which is used to make a yellow dye. More on natural dyeing here.

We grow most of our vegetables at the allotment, especially those that might be more vulnerable to vandalism such as climbing beans and peas.

Forest Garden

We are developing a mini food forest alongside the River Hiz, by planting food-producing trees, shrubs and perennials in a layered system, lowest at the front, taller species at the back - similar to a woodland edge. This allows the plants to use the available sunlight and space in a very efficient way, and makes harvesting easy too. For more information on forest gardening have a look at http://www.agroforestry.co.uk/forgndg.html

Stepping stones

These timber stepping stones winding through the undergrowth, were made from trees that blew over in the storms of winter 2006. We have planted ferns and spring bulbs between them, including blue anemones and winter aconites. Although not provided as play equipment, they do provide a physical coordination challenge for all age groups! The surface of the stepping stones are scrubbed regularly to ensure they remain as safe as possible. However please do be aware that any timber may become slippery after rain.

Bug Hotel

This is a four storey mansion for invertebrates, bees, ladybirds and other minibeasts, made form several pallets fixed together and filled with organic debris from around the garden, plus bits of old stone and broken terracotta pots.

Outside the Garden

Wetland meadow

This tongue of long grass in the middle of the Rec. has been left un-mown deliberately to allow self-seeded damp-loving wild flowers such as lady’s smock to proliferate. In spring 2005 we planted the area, to increase its biodiversity, with more native wild flowers including ox-eye daisy, greater stitchwort, devil’s bit scabious, and lady’s bedstraw. In the very boggy parts we planted self-heal, ragged robin and meadowsweet.

Look out for snake’s head fritillary in the spring, self-seeded scarlet pimpernel, speedwell and three different types of buttercup. As well as looking attractive in the summer, the wild flowers and long grass provide a home and food for many different types of insect, which in turn are fed on by the local bird and bat population.

River bank and riverside footpath

This area may look wild and unkempt but it is a valuable wildlife resource. The nettles provide food for many different types of insect and the seed heads of the thistles and teasels ripen to become a bountiful food supply for finches and other small birds.

Because the riverbank is well covered with vegetation, it is a perfect hideaway for many small mammals such as voles and shrews, and quite possibly water voles. Water vole populations across the country have been declining due to predation by mink, released from fur farms by animal rights protesters several years ago. However, there have been increasing sightings of water voles in Purwell meadows and we hope that they might be spreading down this way, although this has not yet been confirmed.

The riverside footpath was re-established by a local resident who missed being able to walk from the Rec., along the River Hiz to Ickleford, since the Community Garden was established in this corner of the Rec. We hope that one day there will be a riverside footpath all the way from the source of the Hiz just west of Charlton village, to the lavender fields of Cadwell Farm, Ickleford, and beyond.