Hyssop Pond and Woodland Garden

31/03/2026

Been another busy Winter planting new trees and shrubs at pond and woodland garden. New Hornbeam and Hazel coppice stools have been added to the new woodland and hawthorn transplants have been planted to steep slopes beside the anti mountain bike defences which i designed and constructed.

Forsythias, Wayfaring, Spindle, Guelder rose, Winter Jasmine, Dogwoods all been planted to area with two new shrubberies been created.

12/03/2026

Anti mountain bike defences have now been constructed and planted with thorns and native wildlife bushes to the front. Something urgently needed to be done as mountain bikes threatened to badly damage our pond and woodland garden. More remains to be done but this has been an effective start. I met council today to share ideas and show them these new defences. They will now see if they can protect the wider area of woodland slopes and what can be created for the mountain bike enthusiasts.

11/03/2026

Pond and woodland garden now coming back to life with marsh marigolds and daffodils coming into flower. Birds and frogs are making plenty of noises. Many more bulbs flowering this year after many hundreds planted last year. I will continue to keep planting shrubs and bulbs to this beautiful place for a few years yet.

Satisfying to see it improving year on year.
Many ideas and plans for improvements and to limited damage to the green space.

Pond cleaning and desludging and outflow height adjustment planned for later in spring to improve water quality.

25/02/2025

New bulb displays being added , snowdrops, woodland garlic, bluebells, and various Narcissus varieties along with ferns, camassia and other plants. New trees and native flowering shrubs being added too.

20/12/2024

19/12/2024

19/12/2024

These photos were taken after we had removed all the dumped rubbish. Pond unfortunately still looked pretty grim so it was clear just removing the rubbish wouldn't fix this pond from its eutrophic state. It was decided we would have to do a full restoration and improvement project

19/12/2024

This project to restore an unloved pond and rubbish dump into a beautiful nature spot started in 2021. It done as tribute to David Bellamy a well known botanist who allegedly visited this place .
The original pond was eutrophic and full of discarded rubbish and fallen trees.
Now this all been removed and pond desilted . The pond been enlarged and deepened somewhat to help water quality. The pond spring feed so this a real boost for the ponds health.
Large numbers of Aquatic and Marginal plants have been added and clumps or thickets of shrubs added around the perimeter to help nature establish around the pond and provide cover for amphibians and provide habitat for invertebrates and birds.

Indeed the adjacent woodland was blighted too and this also being landscaped into a woodland garden with glades and shrubbery areas and swades of woodland flowering bulbs and ferns. There some lovely mature Sycamore trees and huge crack willow trees with magnificent low boughs. Many new trees have been planted to create exotic feel. Indian Bean tree, Purple Filbert Hazels , Laburnum trees to create avenue, Bird and Wild Cherry trees.

There is some seating for visitors to enjoy Nature watching and spending time ( nature bathing)
This area is becoming a favourite place for many people as its beauty becomes more and more realised.