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Beautify Balham

Beautify Balham

Striving for a greener, cleaner and more beautiful Balham.

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Beautify Balham

The Triangle Garden at Chestnut Grove

October 7, 2022 by beautifybalham

Armed with forks and trowels and wearing Beautify Balham hi-vis vests, together we are going to continue the wonderful work started by local residents Richard, Charlie and Brendan. This garden is on land that no one seems to own, but has been adopted for many years and admired by passers by.

Sadly Richard died, and Charlie and Brendan have hung up their gardening gloves, but they generously asked Beautify Balham to continue their good work.

Justine and Jean from Beautify Balham decided it would be a good idea for children to be involved so asked the local schools. Mark Peters, Deputy Head from Hornsby House School responded.

Each Thursday from 3.45-4.30pm until daylight diminishes, we are going to tidy up and replant this mature garden that just needs a little TLC and some more plants to fill the gaps.

If anyone has bulbs or plants to give to this worthy cause, or could support with a donation to make towards the upkeep, please contact us at hello@beautifybalham.org or donate via PayPal using the form here.

Watch this space & enjoy the cleaning up and greening up of another corner of Balham!

– Jean Millar and The Beautify Balham Team

Filed Under: Beautify Balham, Gardening, Nature Tagged With: Planting

Balham in Bloom 2022

June 26, 2022 by beautifybalham

Beautify Balham held the presentation of prizes for our Balham in Bloom 2022 runners up and winners on Saturday 25th June 2022 on Bedford Hill Place.

Best Business Frontage

We attracted lots of interest from the passers-by who were drawn by our eye-catching gazebo and high-vis vests! Children were interested by our planters, and seemed to get excited about gardening. We even gave them seeds to take the fun back home!

This event was arranged to celebrate the hard work from our Balham in Bloom 2022 entrants – who demonstrated passion and creativity in their award winning gardening spaces!

Best Front Garden Winner
Best Front Garden Runner Up

We again enlisted the help of professional gardeners Cheryle Morison, Wayne Amiel, and Gareth James to help judge who showed the best amateur gardening efforts in the local area.

Best Window Box Winner
Best Communal Garden Winner
Best Window Box Runner Up
Best Communal Garden Runner Up

At 14:30 we started announcing our awards for the Balham in Bloom 2022 competition. Our successful runners up and winners received Balham in Bloom 2022 certificates, and prizes generously donated by local businesses.

The winners all seemed delighted, and it was great seeing gardening enthusiasts and those fond of Balham connect after an amazing day!

Thank you to all logo designers, competition entrants, business partners, ceremony attendees, volunteers and committee members for making Balham in Bloom 2022 such a success!

We hope to see even more support and interest in next year’s Balham in Bloom competition!

If you are interested in participating in a future Balham in Bloom, you can register today!
If you want to help Beautify Balham on one of our litter picks or other events, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at hello@beautifybalham.org.

– The Beautify Balham Team

Filed Under: Balham in Bloom, Family, Gardening Tagged With: Planting

Balham in Bloom 2022 Prizes

June 23, 2022 by beautifybalham

We are incredibly excited for the culmination of this year’s Balham in Bloom competition – with our presentations of prizes on Saturday 25th June by the Deputy Mayor of Wandsworth!

We could not have organised this competition, and arranged great prizes, without the support of our friends and local businesses.

We want to offer thanks to the below firms who have donated prizes for our competition’s winners:

  • Jefferson’s Ice Cream
  • The Gurkha’s Diner
  • Love Triangle
  • Bella’s Fruit and Veg
  • Dee Light Bakery
  • Co-op
  • Sam Ubhi
  • TK Maxx
  • The Wine Tasting Shop
  • Hayman’s Gin
  • Waitrose

Come meet the winners and the Beautify Balham team at our prize ceremony on
Saturday 25th June outside Sainsbury’s entrance on Bedford Hill Place.
We will begin at 1pm with some plant potting for children and then the Deputy Mayor of Wandsworth, Sarmila Varatharaj, will present the prizes at 2pm.
We hope you’ll be able to join us. See you there!

– The Beautify Balham Team

Filed Under: Balham in Bloom Tagged With: Bloom, Planting

Pollution Busting Plants for Front Gardens

June 16, 2022 by beautifybalham

No matter how small your front garden is, with careful planning you can make it a beautiful and pollution-busting space.

A front garden full of plants is a home, and provides food, for wildlife. Plants do have a hard time with pollution since the leaves need to ‘breathe’ – which means that anything that limits that exchange, such as airborne gasses or if the pores are blocked by dust and grime, will limit their potential.

Balham Front Garden with Grasses and Olive Trees

To create structure: think about a hedge and a tree – both good defences for pollution. However small your garden is, good choices for trees are Amelanchier Lamarckii with their white blossom in spring, followed by black berries and good colour in autumn.

Cordon and espalier trees are space saving too, and offer screening. Stepover Apples take up very little space, as do Crab Apple trees. Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticle’ – an ornamental pear – is an exceptionally good tree for small urban gardens, with its upright, narrow shape, and branches that are smothered with white blossom early in spring. The leaves turn a vibrant red and purple in the autumn before falling and, some years, the tree will produce small inedible brown fruits. It does best in moist but well-draining soil, and in full sun.

Balham Front Garden Box and Olive Tree

Small urban gardens look good with topiary. Box is the choice of many London gardens, although it can succumb to box blight and box tree caterpillar. It responds well to being trimmed, and thrives in the shade and most well-drained soils (chalk, loam or sand). It’s excellent for growing in containers, as topiary, and for training as feature plants.

Yew Ilex Crenata and Lonicera Nitida are excellent alternatives, and are not as slow growing as people think. Yew offers all round greenery with red berries in the autumn. Choisya is also a good alternative as a hedge with its white flowers and glossy green leaves. Pittisporum too makes a great hedge, especially the Variegata, as its leaves add interest.

Pittisporum topiary in Balham

Walls and fences can be clad in small urban gardens. Trachelospermum ‘Jasminoides’ is evergreen with white scented flowers in the summer and is suited to the warmer micro climates of an urban garden.

Euphorbia Characias is great for front gardens as it is evergreen and architectural, offers year-round structure, and has striking acid yellow flowers which team up well with spring tulips.

Urban gardens need hardworking perennial plants – such as hardy geraniums which flower for a long time, do well in the sun or shade, and go well with many other plants. For a contemporary look, ornamental grasses tick the box. They look good for months and don’t take up much space.

One of the hardest looks to get right is the wild flower meadow with plants flowering everywhere. Instead: opt for defined flower beds, straight lines and solid planting. Structure works well in winter too. The easiest way to do this is with a clear path and big pots on either side of the front door.

– Kirsten and the Beautify Balham Team

Filed Under: Beautify Balham, Gardening, Hedges Tagged With: Planting

Beautify Balham Nominated for a Tooting Heroes Award

May 31, 2022 by beautifybalham

We are thrilled to announce that Jean Millar and Justine McNeil of the Beautify Balham team have been nominated for a Tooting Heroes award, for their service for our local community.

Picture


Jean and Justine will be attending a reception in the Houses of Parliament in June, hosted by Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour MP for Balham, Earlsfield, Furzedown and Tooting.


We are incredibly grateful for the nomination, and the support that you have all given us. We will post updates on our socials with further news!

Filed Under: Beautify Balham Tagged With: Awards, Community, Heroes

No Dig Vegetable Beds

April 29, 2022 by beautifybalham

Not many of us relish the idea of digging a bed in our garden or plot. No matter how big or small a patch we want to create, it’s a back aching task! But there is good news… and it’s called a ‘no dig bed’! It’s good for the environment, and it’s particularly handy when you want to create a vegetable patch.

So why is not digging up the ground better for the environment? Firstly you are keeping carbon in the soil by not digging it up. Also because it has not been disturbed you will not need to water it as much, as the moisture is held better, and you are then saving on water resources.

There are a few ways of going about it and you should consider what your specific needs are, but below is an outline of how it works that should work for most situations.

Firstly, you need to create a border for your vegetable patch. Typically, people use bricks, planks of wood or old railway sleepers. Some people don’t even bother with a hard border.

Next you need to line the bottom of the patch with cardboard. This kills weeds off by starving them of light. No need to dig, just lay the cardboard on the ground. Keeping the ground undisturbed protects the carbon-based microscopic life that keep the soil healthy. Eventually the vegetable crop roots will reach down and access the nutrients.

Next pour some compost or soil on top of the cardboard. Ideally building the bed up with at least 10cm of compost on top of the cardboard.

Pull apart the soil and place your plants or seeds and that, as they say, is that!

No dig beds can be an easier way to get into gardening, and help preserve your lawns by leaving soil undisturbed. Share your no dig bed experiences with us using the hashtag #BeautifyBalham!

– Fintan and the Beautify Balham Team

Sources:
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-great-garden-revolution/on-demand/71997-004
https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/garden/a30609738/no-dig-gardening/
https://www.growveg.co.uk/guides/the-advantages-of-no-dig-gardening/
https://www.kebur.co.uk/sleepers-garden-landscaping/
https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-shovel-296232/
https://www.lovethegarden.com/uk-en/article/how-create-vegetable-garden

Filed Under: Beautify Balham, Gardening Tagged With: Beds, Fertiliser, No Dig Beds, Planting, Soil

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