Welcome to our Summer 2024 Newsletter, which brings you the latest sustainable news and green ideas from our local area.

If you’re looking for a fun summer holiday activity this week, read on to find out about our FREE FAMILY WORKSHOP this Thursday at the Community Garden! Join us to learn how to print using flowers and much more.

We’ve also got all our latest news, plus lots of tips and ideas to help you live more sustainably this summer.

Happy reading!

With Our Best Wishes For Summer

The Sustainable Three Rivers Team

PS If you don’t already, please do follow us on social media to see all our latest videos and updates.

Thursday 15th August 10am-1pm drop-in.

PRINT YOUR OWN GARDEN

Join us in the Ricky Community Garden where you can learn to print using flowers. All art materials are supplied and there is no cost, just drop in to see us between 10am and 1pm.

Alongside the art activity, Rickmansworth Library will be storytelling in the garden at 10:30am, 11:30am and 12:30pm.

For the adventurous, there will also be bug hunting in the Community Garden, Orchard and Rose Garden.

All the activities are free-flow, so you can take part in any or all.

The cost is FREE - just turn up between 10am and 1pm

Rare Orchids In The Community Orchard

TRDC’s No Mow May policy has paid dividends in the Community Orchard, which surrounds the Community Garden. We’ve been delighted to see the area carpeted in beautiful wild flowers and grasses this summer.

We noticed stitchwort, mouse ear, bird's foot trefoil, meadow vetchling, dove's foot crane's bill, daisies, buttercups, plus many different types of grasses.

We were also delighted to find three different types of orchid. The rarest of these is the seldom seen bee orchid.

As you can see on the picture above, the flowers on this clever plant mimic female bees!

Sunflowers, Birds, Bugs & Food Miles

.We’re always delighted to be invited to visit schools and help youngsters learn more about sustainable living. We’ve had a busy programme this summer!

Members of the Sustainable Three Rivers Team have visited:

• The Russel School to make bird boxes.

• St John’s School with Rickmansworth Library, to sow sunflowers and bulbs and take part in the Library’s Growing Into Reading scheme.

• The Student Council Forum at Watersmeet, attended by 11 local primary schools, where we spoke about Food Miles and the benefits of choosing more locally produced products.

• Arnett Hills School, where we led sessions on pond dipping and helped the children find out about plants in their school grounds.

As a local sustainability group we are often asked questions about key environmental issues. We’ve set up a new page on our website with answers to some regularly asked questions, and pointers to help you get more information.

If you’ve got a sustainability question you’d like answered, please email us as

hello@sustainablethreerivers.org

Efforts To Help Swifts In Three Rivers Pay Off

There has been a shocking decline in swift numbers across the UK, but Three Rivers residents are fighting back with the installation of swift boxes.

Local group Save Three Rivers Swifts is encouraging us to record sightings of swift nests and if possible, install boxes to offer them homes. St Mary’s Church in Rickmansworth has already fitted 6 boxes in it’s tower.

Click the link below to find out more, including details of how you can record any swift sightings.

Celebrating The Community Garden’s First Anniversary

During June we were delighted to celebrate the first anniversary of the Community Garden. The garden was built by Sustainable Three Rivers volunteers in July 2023 and has been flourishing ever since.

Thanks to an army of local gardeners, volunteers and S3R members who visit three times a week, the raised beds now are now full of vegetables, herbs, fruit and flowers.

Our celebrations at the garden coincided with our activities for Great Big Green Week 2024, including two well-attended workshops. The first covered planting pollinator-friendly hanging baskets and the second was a gardening class for all the family, teaching participants how to create wildlife friendly gardens.

We are also excited to be working in collaboration with the grounds maintenance team at Three Rivers District Council to develop the Rose Garden and ensure that it is ready to cope with climate change. Many hours have been spent over the last six months weeding, pruning and planting.

Gardening Jobs For August

These are our top eco gardening tips for this month:

• Don’t forget about young trees in your garden or on the side of your street. Please water these every few days in hot weather. Share this job by reminding others in your street to do the same. Save time by putting a reminder on your street  what’s app group - or knock on a few doors and talk to neighbours! 

• Give wildflower areas and long grasses in your lawn a main cut this month. Leave the cut material for a day or two to allow seed to drop, then rake it up and remove it to help reduce soil fertility. Remember to compost the cuttings

• Collect seeds from hardy annuals on a dry, sunny day. Collect in a paper bag and store in a cool, dry place.

• Sow salad crops such as lettuce, radishes, salad onions and spinach for an autumn crop

• Don’t forget about your house plants. Water regularly and feed once every two weeks. You can put some outside over the summer, but be careful not to get the leaves scorched in the hot sun. 
  

• Avoid watering your lawn as it will spring back into green life once it starts raining.

• Remember to make use of the water in your water butt/s rather than watering plants using a hose

• August is a great time to take cuttings of shrubs such as ceanothus, choisya, philadelphus and hebe.

• Keep an eye out for slowworms in your compost heap. They produce young towards the end of this month. Leave them alone and they will repay you by eating lots of your slugs and snails! 

Just One Sustainable Thing…

Big change starts with small steps. Here are some ideas for you to try this summer:

• Provide water for wildlife. Leave out water in bowls for birds and small mammals. A garden pond is also a welcome watering hole for local wildlife if you are able to dig one!

• Leave some rose hips for the birds rather than dead heading them all.

• Provide a shady spot for frogs and toads to shelter away from the hot sun. Piles of logs or pruned branches are ideal.

• Don’t forget to dry your washing on the line over the summer rather than in the tumble dryer!

What’s your favourite sustainable tip? What’s the one thing you plan to do this summer? Visit our website for more ideas.

We are Sustainable Three Rivers, a Community Interest Group founded by local residents, which aims to help people in Three Rivers make lifestyle changes to protect the planet.  We also work with local groups and projects linked to sustainability and campaign to influence government and local council decisions to protect the environment.

If you’ve got any ideas for sustainable solutions, or questions about any of the points we cover, we’d love to hear from you!

You can email us at hello@sustainablethreerivers.org