Beautify Balham

Air Quality in Balham

March 1, 2023 by beautifybalham

Beautify Balham has been working alongside Desirée Abrahams from Global Action Plan and Graham Peterson from Greener Jobs Alliance to monitor the air quality in Balham and Tooting.

We were loaned an air quality AM520 monitor in November 2022 and, after calibrating it, we set off in pursuit of hot spots where we thought high particle pollution might be found.

The accepted level of PM 2.5 particulates per cubic square metre is 15mgm (averaged over 24 hours), set by the WHO (World Health Organisation). Action for Clean Air gives a very good definition of what we are measuring and why. They also have free resources for schools and businesses.

Nitrogen Oxide tubes are placed on lampposts and are available free from the council. We have one sited on Bedford Hill near the junction with Hildreth Street Market, which has been installed by Imperial College, so we can access that data.

Monitoring air quality near Hildreth Street

We started at Bedford Hill Place, where we meet for our monthly litter picks, and headed south going up Bedford Hill. We then cut through Elmfield Road, as we wanted to monitor school streets, and crossed over Balham High Road to Balham Park Road and outside Trinity St. Mary’s School. We then cut up Boundaries Road under the railway bridge towards Chestnut Grove outside the school there. We crossed Endelsham Road into Ramsden Road then crossed the High Road up Bedford Hill to complete our circuit. These are the readings from our findings.

Monitoring results:

10:15 [back of Sainsburys] – 21mgm
10:30 [Bedford Hill/Fernley Rd near Balham station] – 23/25mgm
10:30 [Elmfield Rd/Ravenstone School] – 17mgm
10:31 [Elmfield Rd/Ravenstone School] – 24mgm
10:35 [Balham HS in front of restaurant] – 36- 43mgm
10:40 Trinity St Mary’s Balham Park Rd] – 16/17mgm
10:45 Access Storage /under RR bridge, Boundaries Rd] – 15 – 19mgm
10:46 Access Storage/under RR bridge, Boundaries Rd – 36 – 16mgm
10:50 [corner Boundaries Rd and Chestnut Grove] – 20mgm
10:50 [skip/lorry passes] – 27mgm
10:55 [ Endelsham Rd midway-end of road] – 22- 25mgm
11:00 [corner Ramsden and Norgrove] – 19mgm
11:05 [Balham Library]- 21mgm
11:06 [ Waitrose] – 20/22/23/24mgm
11:08 [corner Bedford Hill and Balham High Road] – 36- 55- 61- 70mgm
11:09 [Bedford Hill Rd] in front of café] – 143-157-167-170mgm
**Levels of PM2.5 often went higher when we were passing food outlets**
** Generally, higher PM2.5 level at junctions**

It would appear that on the whole the main streets around Balham are relatively safe, just a few points above the average, but there were hot spots outside food outlets cooking food, and buses idling at traffic lights or bus stops (even though that are deemed to be eco buses now!)

We want to use this data to encourage the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Transport for London (TFL) to allow businesses in Balham High Road to have planters outside their premises, and for TfL to plant more trees to mitigate the effects of polluted air and flooding.

We are in negotiation with the Mayor’s office and TFL to move this forward so hopefully with their support, we will see more greenery in Balham and Tooting in the near future. The Mayor’s office has a scheme ‘Trees for London’ giving £3.1million for tree planting in the capital this summer and they are aiming to plant 1000 new trees in priority areas ‘Trees for Streets’.

The scheme is for residents or businesses to sponsor a tree then the Mayor will sponsor one further tree to match fund it. (They have planted 430,000 trees since 2016 and aim to increase the number of trees in London by 10% by 2050.)

Wandsworth Council has not joined either of these schemes so we will put pressure on them to do so.

This fits perfectly with Beautify Balham’s aims ‘to clean up and green up Balham’.

– Jean Millar and The Beautify Balham Team

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

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.

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!

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.

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

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:

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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!