Grass Clippings
Around our grounds
Clear sunny days since Easter have resulted in grass in non-irrigated local parks and open spaces starting to show signs of stress. We have had no significant rainfall in the southeast since 6th January, resulting in a dry spring in comparison to recent years.
The Environmental Department have stated river flows have decreased with 35% of sites classed as normal for the time of year while 51% are classed as below normal and 14% of sites, predominately in south-west England, are now classed as notably low for the time of year. This could be a dry summer unless we have rain starting to move in from the west pretty soon.
We are currently irrigating major parts of the course and courts, to keep the playing surfaces well hydrated and healthy. Any form of stress can induce grass fungal diseases to appear, so it is equally important to keep the plant strong and healthy. In the last two weeks the tree landscape has changed dramatically, with the majority of species breaking into leaf. Having a green canopy above your head makes a huge difference to the course appearance and sense of being for each of the holes.
Chris Hughes and his team are currently beavering away at preparing tennis courts ready for play and with fine, sunny days prevailing, this has assisted the chaps in firming up the courts ready for the opening of the season.
Although it has been a dry spring, the cold winds of the past few weeks have had consequences and have held back growth around the estate to turf and plants alike. Sam Cumber, our Head Gardener, is dismayed to find the cold snap before Easter has damaged the Wisteria flower heads and this has greatly reduced the display that usually brightens up the walled garden, with a blaze of purple this time of the year. It will recover and the new leaves have started to emerge, so we hope for better flowering next year.
Chasing corgis
Visitors to the Eden Biomes will get the first chance to find one of five Women’s Institute (WI) corgis being hidden across the site on 1st May. The competition will honour Her Majesty the Queen’s 70-year Jubilee, inspired by her love of the corgi dog breed. Supported by the Eden Project’s Big Jubilee Lunch, the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI) initiative has invited their members and the general public to knit and hide corgi creations in communities around the UK, starting at the Eden Project in Cornwall on 1st May and running until 5th June.
Each corgi will feature a special tag which will allow members of the public to map where they have found their corgi on the WI’s website and will also detail how to check what each finder has won. In addition to the five Winnie corgi kitted pups being hidden at the Eden Project, crafted corgis are being hidden around the country between 1st May and 5th June and will include one uniquely special corgi entitling the finder to a seat at the flagship Big Jubilee Lunch in London on 5th June. The WI are inviting anyone who wants to get crafting the chance to make and hide their own corgi using the pattern to Winnie.
New Natural History GCSE
The Department for Education is set to launch a GCSE in Natural History as part of its sustainability and climate change strategy, which will be launched on 21st April. Students already learn about many environmental issues when studying geography and science, but the government said this new course would ‘go further’ in teaching about environmental and sustainability issues. Climate change will also be a focus of the course and it is hoped the course will help pupils to develop skills for future careers in conservation. Gardening and landscaping bodies have backed the course. The Environmental Audit Committee published two reports as part of its Biodiversity and Ecosystems inquiry: Biodiversity in the UK: bloom or bust? (June 2021) and The UK’s footprint on global biodiversity (September 2021). Dissatisfied with the original response to the recommendation concerning a Natural History GCSE, and further evidence gathered during the subsequent Green Jobs inquiry, the Committee wrote to Schools Minister Robin Walker MP in January 2022.