Gardening Group - Father's Day

Sunday 21st June 2026

Jackwood House Wildlife Garden

Sunday 21st June was Father's Day, and what better way to celebrate than by bringing your dad along to help with your Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award volunteering!

With temperatures forecast to soar, we offered volunteers the option of starting at 9am instead of our usual 10am, making the most of the cooler morning before the heat of the day set in. It proved to be a wise decision.

Following the recent London in Bloom judging, our fantastic volunteers had already put in many extra hours ensuring the formal gardens in both Jack Wood and Castle Wood were looking their very best. That meant this session gave us the opportunity to return to one of our ongoing restoration projects on the terrace at Jackwood House Garden.

Volunteers seeking shade before beginning work removing the thistles from this bed of roses.

The morning's work centred on keeping the terrace beds in good shape. Volunteers carefully removed thistles growing amongst the roses, which are looking remarkably healthy this year, and cleared bramble and bindweed from around the alliums and hardy geraniums, giving these ornamental plants the space and light they need to flourish.

It was also impossible not to stop and admire the magnificent blooms of the mature Southern Magnolia, whose enormous flowers provided one of the highlights of the morning.

Southern Magnolia - aka The Bull Bay

By starting early, we were able to complete all of the planned terrace work within an hour, taking advantage of the welcome shade before the day became too hot.

At 10am, a fresh group of volunteers from GoodGym arrived, full of enthusiasm. Those who still had the energy stayed on for a second hour to join them in continuing the project to reclaim the long-forgotten paved path between the terrace and the walled garden.

Good Gym arrive fresh and ready for hard graft uncovering this path.

The transformation has been remarkable. What began as a path completely hidden beneath decades of overgrown shrubs and brambles has now revealed around 12 metres of paving. Each session uncovers a little more of the garden's original design, reminding us how much can be achieved through patience, teamwork and many willing hands.

What a transformation. We might reach the end of the path before the end of the year!

A huge thank you to everyone who came along—especially those who chose to spend part of Father's Day helping to care for this special place.