Brandlehow Garden

We are very lucky at Brandlehow to have two gardens – our well-hidden but fabulous main garden, and our highly visible early-years garden.

 

Brandlehow Garden

 

Introducing our gardens

Brandlehow garden, packed full of horticulture and habitats, is inviting for children and wildlife alike. Stretching along the boundary closest to Putney Bridge Road:

• Enter from the main school corridor, surrounded by herbs and shrubs.
• Directly ahead, beyond the garden table and chairs, are four raised beds, with strawberries, raspberries and a mix of vegetables.
• These are bounded by a wall, trained with apple, pear and cherry trees.
• On their left is a pocket-sized flower meadow with a path leading up to a bench.
• The pergola with rampant vine and honeysuckle hide a gate.
• Through the gate is the pond, with lily pads and frog colony.
• It is flanked by a wild thorn hedge, which hides the shed and composting zone.

The early years garden is a brilliant playground, on the edge of Skelgill and Fawe Park Roads. It also has three raised beds, for vegetables and strawberries, plus other flower beds, composter and shed.

Getting involved

For the children to get the most out of our gardens, we’re highly reliant on our wonderful volunteers, who help in lots of different ways:

• In gardening club, on Tuesday lunchtimes (KS1) and Thursday lunchtimes (KS2), children marvel at the new growth, flowers and creepy crawlies, and get stuck into looking after the garden. If you can volunteer to help, with or without your child, we would love to hear from you. It is less than an hour a week (most weeks, if possible); no gardening expertise is necessary, but an ability to get children organised certainly helps.
• We hold weekend family gardening sessions two or three times a year. Parents and children have fun gardening together (no experience necessary) and getting to meet other parents. Some volunteers also do fantastic work tackling the tougher jobs (brambles, ivy etc).
• Ad hoc help – we have a small number of amazing people who weed on an occasional basis, strim the meadow, or take green waste to the tip in their van. If you can offer help in any capacity we would definitely like to hear from you.

If you would like to find out more, or would like to be on our email list to be told of forthcoming sessions, please email info@brandlehow.wandsworth.sch.uk, with subject title “gardening”.