Author: Natalie Mayhew

14th June 2020 One of my favourite greenspaces is Kew Gardens. Well, you may say, that comes as no surprise as I am well known for my love of plants! Our greenspaces are gradually being unlocked and even the National Trust and Kew are letting people return using booking systems. Even though we all have … Continue reading Notes from an Urban Greenspace #18

The National Garden Scheme gives visitors unique access to over 3,700 exceptional private gardens in England and Wales and are passionate about the physical and mental health benefits of gardens. Since the early 1900s when the National Garden Scheme first started supporting district nurses, a total of £58 million has been raised for nursing and … Continue reading National Garden Scheme

7th June 2020 We have just come to the end of National Volunteers Week and before talking about my own greenspace I would like to give my thanks on behalf of the Medway Urban Greenspaces Forum to all of you who turn out to look after our parks and greenspaces. Our Friends groups are a … Continue reading Notes on an Urban Greenspace #17

Following some of the littering issues that have come about during the lockdown period and the subsequent relaxation of travel restrictions, Keep Britain Tidy have developed a range of free resources which can be printed or shared on Social Media.  Please click on the thumbnails below to open in a new tab: Images for A4 … Continue reading Free #KeepBritainTidy Resources

With the support of Medway Council, Kent Wildlife Trust and Medway Urban Park & Green Spaces Forum the Friends of Horsted Valley have re-established their Friends group with the aim to protect and enhance the Valley while conserving the natural environment and public green spaces, both for current and future generations. They would like to … Continue reading Friends of Horsted Valley

Join a fun online beginner’s course on Saturday 6th June between 10am and 12:30pm. The course, organised by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, will cover the identification of our most common bumblebee species and introduce the ecology and lifecycle of these iconic creatures. They will also introduce a few of the rarer bumblebees that call Kent … Continue reading Beginners Guide to Bumblebee identification – Online Course: Sat 6 Jun 2020

1st June 2020 I was going to start my notes today with a heart-warming story about my birds and the fact that my bee hotel is nearly full! However, I think a cautionary tale is in order. Through lack of paying attention and basic gardening good sense I have taken a lump from the tip … Continue reading Notes from an Urban Greenspace #16

Passing the wild foxtail grass growing by the side of the old off-road car park on the Esplanade recently, I remembered my grandmother’s game of “grandfather, grandfather, jump out of bed”. She’d pick a foxtail grass, pinch the flowering grass head a few millimetres from the bottom to separate it, then pop it back putting … Continue reading Notes from an Urban Greenspace #15