Giant Picnic in the Park

This year Herne Bay in Bloom were the main organisers of this community event based in the town's Memorial Park which was facilitated by a generous award from the Heritage Lottery Fund . People United ( last year's organiser) and Canterbury City Council Festival personnel also provided practical support and advice both in the planning and on the day.

Over 20 community organisations attended contributing many different activities. The weather was generally kind interspersed with only two short sharp showers but the sunshine and lovely atmosphere definitely reflected the overall feel-good factor of the day.

Many families came  to enjoy the live entertainment and free activities as well as their own picnics and it was brilliant to see so many people genuinely enjoying themselves.

Amongst the comments received were: "It's a great opportunity for all the community to get together", "The music and Samba Band were my favourite" "We have met people who we haven't seen for ages" "We would definitely come back with our friends next year"

Compliments for Herne Bay in Bloom Summer Flower Displays

A card left at our stand at the seafront Community Shop and Gallery  this week reads as follows;- 

" We wanted to say how lovely the flowers in the town everywhere are looking this Summer and to thank you all for your hard work and commitment. Of special note the flowers at and by the Rose Inn in Mortimer Street and the High Street and the wild flower verges at Eddington and other places that are a real picture! Thank you all." 

 signed B & E Garlinge

It is very pleasing that the displays that Herne Bay in Bloom and public houses like The Rose Inn have provided in the town are so much appreciated and it makes all the time and effort put in by everyone, including our volunteers ,really worthwhile.

Urban Meadow Planting

The town's verges and green spaces are looking really colourful at the moment due to the initiative of the Herne Bay in Bloom team.

This Urban Meadow Planting Scheme was undertaken for the Herne Bay in Bloom campaign by Serco earlier in the year seeding with a mixture of annual and perennial flowers.

Particularly attractive is the sward of colour on the green at the Whitstable Road entrance to Studd Hill.

These urban meadows  as well as creating an impressionistic and attractive  effect also provide important green corridors for insects,bees and butterflies. Maintenance of them is minimal and they greatly reduce the costs for mowing which is an additional benefit in these times of economic restrictions.

 

2011 GARDENING COMPETITION WINNERS

This year's competition attracted over 120 entrants to the 14 different categories. At a celebration meeting at the Baptist Hall Herne Bay on 7th July Councillor Rosemary Doyle presented the winners with gardening vouchers sponsored by local businesses and organisations. All first prize winners received a commemoration shield from the Herne Bay in Bloom committee. Click the pictures below to see the full-sized versions.

The Hundred Steps Garden

Herne Bay in Bloom and the Friends of the Downs working together

The Friends of The Downs is a newly formed group of Herne Bay residents, chaired by local ward councillor Gillian Reuby. The Friends are the focus for the future care and management of the Downs area, to ensure that the area is well looked after and continues to support its natural flora, fauna and wildlife for the benefit of local residents and visitors alike.

One of the areas they are particularly interested in rescuing lies at the foot of the Downs, at the bottom of the paths and stairways known as the Hundred Steps. Many years ago there were formally planted beds and a couple of small public pavilions on the raised concrete plinths above the promenade. These are now all long since gone, leaving a rather bleak eyesore... and a great opportunity!

The Friends of the Downs have teamed up with Herne Bay in Bloom to develop plans for transforming this area - we are aiming for the greatest improvement with the least interference. The Hundred Steps Garden will be a showcase for the Downs’ natural flora, and the maritime plants you would expect to find on the Kent coast. With the added interest of mural and mosaic designs from local schools, the Garden will provide an interesting and educational diversion for residents and visitors enjoying a stroll along the promenade.

Some of the ideas for the Hundred Steps Garden...

Click to enlarge

Because of the sheer size of the plot, each of these is a fairly major project in its own right. This suggests a phased approach, probably spread across a few years.

The display beds would be planted up with bands or clumps of eye-catching flowering and non-flowering plants that occur naturally on the Downs, avoiding the (possibly unhelpful) introduction of new species. This arrangement would help people learn to distinguish between the variety of species we have - not all yellow flowers are dandelions!

The large planter/raised bed as shown in the picture on the left would be about 22 metres by 5 metres by 0.5-1 metres deep, and contain plants that would naturally occur on a stable shingle beach. The retaining wall would be made of driftwood spars and timbers reclaimed from the ongoing replacement and repair of local groynes and breakwaters. This “re-use, recycle” approach would be both environmentally responsible, and in keeping with the location.

The murals could be an animal and plant identification guide - possibly the longest information panel ever! They could also pick up on a theme used elsewhere in Herne Bay and show a timeline in pictures from prehistory to the present day. Another possibility is that, like the pebble mosaic, they could be based on coastal-themed designs contributed by local schools.

Local business

This year local businesses have really got behind the campaign to offer support. As well as our main sponsor Serco, Denne Construction paid for the committee to purchase a small bowser so that the Mortimer Street business community can water and maintain troughs and planters in that area.

Kent County Council and Outdoor Leisure have sponsored 66 barrier troughs and 50 bollard planters that have been put up throughout the town. Over 40 businesses are helping to water and maintain them over the summer.

Allotments

Allotment gardening is popular in the town with all of the three sites full. The council is researching and writing an allotments strategy to ensure they are supported and invested in, and to look at ways in which provision of plots can be increased.

The Eddington Lane site is an example of good practice with a very active and out going site association that has won prestigious national awards such as the Best in Britain, an award sponsored by the Kitchen Gardens Magazine and the National Allotments Gardens Trust. It has also won Digging for Victory competition run by the UK TV Gardens channel.

A wide variety of plants can be found on this site from fruit and vegetables, to heritage plants and spectacular roses. Every May the association hold a plant sale, and this year it was held on 22 May.

Members supply any surplus plants and the proceeds go towards the cost of an annual show. This is held on the last Saturday in August and has categories for vegetables, fruit, flowers, flower arranging, cookery and special children's entries. The show is open to all and members of the public are able to enter any category, with judging taking place and prizes awarded on the day. In June plots are judged in the local competition and the best six go forward to the county competition.

The association has won the Medway Trophy (for the highest aggregate score) every year since 1992 and one or other of the sites has won the Best Site category.

Learning and design

Parks and open spaces present an opportunity for people to grow too. We are now starting to work with a range of education and training organisations to deliver design and small to medium scale projects.

These organisations include Canterbury College, Appleseed Landscapes (under the umbrella of Kent Enterprise Trust) and Family Investment Homes. The colleges are major local employers and providers of future gardeners, and cater for students with a wide range of abilities including learning difficulties.

In particular they will be working on projects in Herne Bay Memorial Park and at Hampton play area landscaping an area of untidy ground, next to the recently refurbished Play Area.

Schools

Schools continue to play a major role in the 'In Bloom' campaign. Bulb planting in Herne Bay Memorial Park has turned in to an annual event, and children from local schools helped to plant 1,000's of bulbs in the park commemorating Remembrance Day. Members of the Royal British Legion also took part and supported the event, so that future generations are reminded of the sacrifice made by past generations.

Many of the local primary schools enter the 'Best School Grounds or Environment' competition. They are given valuable support for their projects by the Street Scene Section, who make available a range of goods including plants, bark chippings, water butts, and committee members offer support by giving gardening advice.

All schools are provided with a list of materials they can use free of charge, which includes labour, advice and training.

100 Years of Guiding

Earlier this year members of the local, girl guides groups planted a rose bed to commemorate the movement's centenary, and this bed is located along The Downs outside the Kings Hall. The rose chosen was Harkness Girlguiding UK Centenary Rose.