The Adur & Worthing Wildflower Trail

Friends of Marine Gardens

Posted on 21 November 2024 by Sue Standing

Bus Route: 700 & 8a Open to the Public 24/7

As a formal garden, most of the areas in Marine Gardens are tended to, cut lawns and flowed beds nursed. Our goal is to provide all round colour.

We do however understand that to some, a garden should be left to nature rather than managed. Acknowledging this, we have the Wilding walk, which can be found around the North East part of the garden, where the grass is not cut and we allow nature to do its own thing.

The beds have wild flowers and with the back drop from a local artist, we have a different look and feel and we have a completely different colour scheme. It is also the site for the gardens compost heap where we produce our own compost supporting all the gardens.

We are fortunate that we also tend to a Fish pond, where currently there is so much wild life thriving.

We also work in partnership with ‘Pumpkin Childs nursery” and their art work is often visible in the gardens.

Posters and Art Work by Pumpkin Childs Nursery

Marine Gardens is disabled friendly and has its own café plus private and council toilets.

For further information please contact: fomgwor@gmail.com

Eastbrook Community Gardeners

Posted on 18 September 2023 by Sue Standing

Secret gardens and wildflowers

We are a small group who came together because we are interested in improving Southwick and Fishersgate green spaces for the well-being of people and pollinators alike. Our primary focus is sowing wildflowers and planting trees.

We work on St Aubyns in Fishersgate and now have a base near Eastbrook Manor Community Centre called The Secret Garden-Fishersgate. We support Layland Court pocket park, Manor Court garden and the Friends of Southwick Square. We are waiting on Impulse leisure centre in Southwick to plant an orchard and a wildflower meadow.

For more information please contact

Secret Garden

Fishergate

West Sussex

BN41 1PN

eastbrookcommunitygardeners@gmail.com

Breathing Spaces Community Flower Farm

Posted on 21 June 2023 by Sue Standing

Breathing Spaces Community Flower Farm is located at the Maybridge Keystone Centre in Worthing. Breathing Spaces is now a Transition Town Worthing project and this is a volunteer-led community garden that provides the opportunity to connect with nature via tending a small urban flower farm There is space for growing wild flowers for the benefit of people and pollinators and this is being expanded in a strip along the back of the playing field.

Breathing Spaces started up a dedicated patch of around 4m² and have already established wildflowers in other growing areas around fruit trees and in long grass areas. Using donated wildflower plants and collected seed, they are creating a vibrant wildflower habitat. The long grass is cut down at the end of the season and cleared away in the traditional hay cut method. Examples of species include Campion ‘ragged robin’, Red Valerian, Dock, Sorrel, Cowslips, Yarrow, Tansy, Knapweed, Cornflower and Wild carrot.

The site is open during Maybridge Keystone Centre opening hours, the hours can vary so it’s best to check first before visiting. The flower farm is not wheelchair accessible at present, (although the Woodland Garden which they also tend is). The site is accessed by walking across part of the playing field. The best time to see the wildflowers is around Early Summer.

Volunteers are welcome on Thursdays between March and December, 10:30-12:30.

For more information visit Breathing Spaces.

Rosedene and “Forest of Rosedene”, Worthing

Posted on 11 June 2021 by Michelle

Residents Richard and Merry from Downlands Avenue, Worthing, have dedicated two sites to supporting nature in their local community.

“Rosedene” is a 30m² front garden at 39 Downlands Avenue, consciously planted with Vipers Bugloss, with other wildflowers emerging from the natural seed bank present in the ground. Ground is concrete overlaid with 100mm shingle, this provides a very dry, well draining, low in nutrient substrate perfect for established wildflowers favouring drier conditions . Plants are cut down only when seeds have dropped and replenished the seed bank in the ground. Accessibility wise, the garden is open to the pavement with no steps, so viewing this site is possible anytime during daylight hours. There is a seat available for visitors who need to sit down. The Vipers Bugloss flowers from May to August. Richard and Merry have installed a pond to catch rainwater from gutters via a water butt to support the water catchment of the garden. A public noticeboard is present which is used as a vehicle for posting information about nature.

A Blackbird enjoying the front garden at Rosedene

“Forest of Rosedene” is a substantial plot of around 100m² comprising of a mini forest area richly planted with various seedlings and seeds, including Elm Trees, Apple Trees and Cow Parsley. There is a good mixture of plants flowering at different times of the year and visitors are able to see various species of bees, moths and butterflies. Richard and Mary act as stewards of this precious piece of land for the benefit of wildlife. Future plans for the site include finalising a management plan and turning the forest into a trust.

This is a closed site and so visits are strictly by arrangement only. Please contact Richard at richard.battson@cooptel.net for more information.

Elm Trees and Cow Parsley can be found in the Forest of Rosedene

West Worthing Railway Station

Posted on 11 June 2021 by Michelle

The community wildflower patch at West Worthing Station is a relatively new area of planting totalling around 1M². It has been adopted by the Friends of West Worthing Station , with support from South East Communities Rail Partnership. The friends group have recently sown a seed mixture from the Friends of The Earth, plus an assortment of cornflowers and poppies. The group are hoping for a good display of wildflowers soon and are looking forward to develop the patch in the future. The volunteer group is an approved station partner, supported by the Southeast Communities Rail Partnership. Watch this space for more updates in the future!

The community flower patch can be viewed from a public access ramp to the south east side of the main entrance.

Goring Road Community Road Verge

Posted on 10 June 2021 by Michelle

Worthing Climate Action Network (WCAN) in collaboration with XR Worthing began a ‘Wilding Worthing’ petition to mark No Mow May in Spring last year, asking Adur & Worthing Councils and West Sussex County Council to stop mowing road verges so often and instead allow the wildflowers and grasses to grow. When the petition reached 1000 signatures last June it was presented to Worthing Council where it was accepted. Negotiations began with West Sussex Highways with the first trial Community Road Verge in Worthing being established on Goring Road.

The site is comprised of several grassy verges along Goring Road between the Goring Shops and Shaftesbury Avenue, pedestrian accessibility is good due to the adjacent pavement. No seed has been sown at this site as it is hoped that the natural seedbank present in the soil will have the chance to establish with the reduced cutting regime. Already species such as Common Mallow, Birds Foot Trefoil, Ribwort Plantain and Daisies can be seen flourishing.

There will be only one cut a year to be undertaken in September. Volunteers will take away the grass cuttings in order to help keep the ground infertile, providing the best conditions for the wildflowers to thrive. Other verges are now being planned across the area.

For more information please contact WCAN Worthing Climate Action | Facebook .