June News from the Garden
First off, THANK YOU, Watering Squad for bringing the April showers and May monsoons to the garden via the SJG hosepipes June is here now and so we welcome proper rain aka gardeners rain aka sustained rainfall that actually makes it through the plane tree canopy and into the soil! It's especially good news for the fruit and veggies in the Edible Forest (tomatoes, chard, chives, strawberries, redcurrant, wineberry, passionfruit, grape and fig) and the new pollinator plants we've established this spring. They loved the sun but boy did they need the rain!
THANK YOU Chris. Sunday and Jess for continuing to help the First Islington Cubs work towards their environmentalist, naturalist and artist badges in SJG this summer - 2 more sessions to go and the feedback so far has been fantastic. It's a real treat to have so many enthusiastic helpers in the garden! The very professional dead hedge by the Britton St gate was a particular feat of collective engineering - you should have seen the cubs with their measuring tapes - they were very proud of their team effort and we're taking really good care of the hedge for them.
THANK YOU volunteer litter pickers - our quiet helpers who pick up everything from beer bottles, butts and burger wrappers in the morning and evening, keeping the garden looking super clean and demonstrating how cared for the garden is each day.
THANK YOU Susanna for running the inaugural SJG bioblitz in May! It was a revelation to discover so many creatures in the garden including baby spiders - more in the biodiversity update...
THANK YOU to the very kind DONORS who clicked through on the payment link below and gave £30 in the last month to support plants and materials for the garden. We used the funds to plant a drift of London Pride (shade and drought tolerant) in the top bed - look out for frothy pink flowers coming soon! And THANK YOU to Central Districted Alliance, who very kindly funded the pollinator plants for the pop-up planting session hosted by SJG during Clerkenwell Design Week. We simply couldn't have so much impact without everyone's continuing support.
THANK YOU to ALL THE VOLUNTEERS who helped create the new stumpery in the garden over the last few weeks! The twisted stumps and logs are a really fitting addition for a woodland area and also reflect the Victorian history of St John's Garden, as stumperies were quite the Victorian gardening trend! The Stumpery also brings deadwood into the garden, which is critical for improving soil health and creating new habitats for a range of beneficial beetles, fungus and overwintering insects.
THANK YOU to the record number of poetry performers who brilliantly read poems (including some originals!) at this season's Poetry in the Park: Spring Edition. Next up: Autumn Edition, but there's lots going on before then...
Poetry in the Park - Summer Edition
COMING UP IN JUNE...
***Community gardening is this Saturday 10am-12pm*** With all the new plants for 2026 now in the ground, we'll be pruning shrubs, weeding beds, deadheading flowers, weaving a willow fence and sweeping paths. Everyone is welcome and no experience needed - just sturdy shoes and possibly suncream if the forecast is correct. There;s no need to stay for the whole session - it's a really good opportunity to meet neighbours and help the garden look its best ahead of the London in Bloom judges visit later this month!
On Friday 26th June, 6pm, Fran is leading us on a walking tour of Bloody Smithfield. So much has happened here over the last 900 years and so much is happening here right now, there'll be a smorgasbord of bloody insights into the past, present and future of this historic market. No historical morsel too bloody, no recent memory too raw. There are just a couple of places left so reply now if you want to secure your spot!
As you'd expect this time of year, the Clerkenwell Pollinator Path is well and truly buzzing! There's Cake and Cuttings at the Cloister Garden on 22 June, a Mini Ponds Workshop at The Charterhouse on 6 July, and the Big Butterfly Count in SJG on Friday 17th July. First up is an evening stroll around the pollinator path with Jess on Thursday 18 June, meeting in SJG at 6pm. More details in the flyer below or on Instagram @clerkenwellpollinatorpath
If you're keen to join the installation team (aka me and Steve), our latest mission will be to install a brand new pollinator garden - complete with bee hotel, bee bank and puddling station - in the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration on Thursday 25th June. Let us know if you'd like to help by replying to this email and we'll share more details. The Clerkenwell Pollinator Path also has a stand at the Family Day on Saturday 27th June: the event is sold out with 300 families registered so please let me know if you'd like to help out on the CPP stand - we'll be designing hoverfly hotels, making puddling stations and sowing nasturtium seeds from 11am-3pm
Anyone for Qi Gong? After the popularity of last year's sessions, we're planning to host another season of Qi Gong in the Garden this summer. Before we speak to the instructor we want to make sure this is something people would like to come along to. We're thinking of running the sessions on Wednesday mornings 8am-8.45am throughout July. Please can you reply to this mail if you'd like to join or suggest a different time/day if Wednesday morning doesn't work! The vibe will be calm and meditative, ideal for absolute beginners and designed to restore the nervous system.