Gardening at Whitestone
Heath Hands Conservation Volunteers have been hard at work making improvements to Whitestone Garden this spring. This hidden treasure, located near Whitestone Pond on Heath Street, is a mixture of wild woodland and formal flower beds. The garden’s tranquil atmosphere and location makes it an ideal stop off point for walks between the Heath and Hampstead village. Visitors can take a rest on the carved Heath Hands bench and admire the flowers. May is an ideal month to see the abundance of spring bulbs and wildflowers, including wild daffodils, Snake’s-heads Fritillaries, bluebells and primroses, with other flowers adding colour through spring and summer.
You can also catch a glimpse various wildlife species here, including birds, squirrels, bees and butterflies. You can see we’re also helping wildlife in the garden by installing bird and bat boxes over the past few years. These are made, put up and monitored as part of our adopt a wildlife home scheme which you can find out more about here.
Also in the garden are two memorial trees, two Japanese Maples that celebrate our 20th birthday, and the 30th anniversary of the City of London Corporation’s management of the Heath. A plaque on the old Chimney for the underground commemorates the opening of the garden and our founder Bobby de Joia.
Heath Hands volunteers help to maintain Whitestone Garden and make it more appealing and accessible. Collaboratively, volunteers have made significant improvements to the space. These include removing encroaching weeds from the flowerbeds, sweeping the paths, pruning the shrubberies and planting new native hedgerows to provide more habitat and screening from the busy road. You can see our volunteers hard at work on the 12th of April session below. You can support this work by becoming a friend or donating to Heath Hands.
