July News From the Garden
A BIG HELLO AND GRACIAS TO CAMINO FARRINGDON, acclaimed Spanish restaurant and our SJG neighbour on Turnmill Street. Camino has become SJG's First Nature Champion and is very generously sponsoring the wildlife pond this year, helping us to maintain appropriate planting and habitats in this restorative and ecologically vital part of the garden. Additionally, the lovely team are providing SJG volunteers with free hot drinks after monthly gardening sessions, *starting tomorrow*, when we meet for July's community gardening session. They have also offered an always on 15% discount in Camino Farringdon by joining Club Camino here and entering 'St John's Garden' as the company name. It's a new system so if the QR coder is playing up, they'll still honour the discount. We're really grateful to Camino for supporting nature restoration and sharing their hospitality with us and are looking forward to stopping by tomorrow!
Volunteers enjoying the shade in the garden
TAKE A BREAK FROM THE HEAT: It really is sweltering hot in the streets of Clerkenwell this week and wandering round with a temperature gun has been an eye-opening experience, with surface temperatures of 55 degrees recorded on Britton Street and some pavements becoming too hot for dogs to walk on. In contrast, the shady paths and verdant beds of SJG recorded temperatures of just 24-28 degrees - that's 30 degrees cooler than surrounding streets - a welcome respite from the scorching sun. Massive thanks to the volunteers who are keeping the garden green and growing in such intense conditions. As well as carefully watering plants, they’re also topping up the insect hydration stations dotted across the garden - damp puddling sand for butterflies & fresh water for bees and other insects to keep hydrated and mineralised in hot weather. If you’d like to take a turn with the hose while keeping cool in the heat drop us a line at stjohnsgarden.ec1@gmail.com and we'll add you to the Garden Care GC. While you're in the garden, don't forget to make use of the water refill station to keep hydrated, feel free to refill the dogs’ water bowl if it’s getting low and if you’re having a wander, look out for cabbage white and red admiral butterflies dancing round their puddling stations.
Volunteers doing a fit count in a sunny spot
The Clerkenwell Pollinator Pathis buzzing this month:The Friends of St John's Garden are taking part in the Big Butterfly Count on Friday 17th July, counting butterflies for 15 minutes in SJG, then strolling over to the Museum Cloister Garden on St John’s Square and Hicks Hall Gardens on St John Street to record butterfly numbers in neighbouring green spaces. There'll also be an iNaturalist workshop at The Charterhouse on 29th July, led by iNaturalist influencer Joss Carr, who’ll be showing us how to get the most out of this powerful identification app, both as individual users and as a community group. You can sign up here and find out more about the event in Susanna's Wildlife Watch below. And for anyone who has been following the progress of our bee hotels, installed in green spaces across Clerkenwell, we have recorded our first nesting bees! Nine beautifully capped tubes in Spa Fields - hopefully the first of many!
LONDON IN BLOOM 2026: After last year's gold medal we're working hard to further enhance SJG with new features for 2026, including the Dry Shade Pollinator Demo Bed (yes that IS a thing!) and a stumpery made with donated logs and ferns planted into homemade leaf mould. Thanks to everyone who has helped prepare for the judge's visit this week, and a special shout out to Renata, who tirelessly planted, watered and swept ahead of judging day. We find out the results in September and regardless of the outcome it has been really satisfying working together and coming up with fun new ideas to enhance biodiversity and aesthetic appeal across the garden