Slowly drying out

October has been the WET WET WET with over 50% more rainfall than the average.   Friendsfest event on Kennington Park despite putting in additional ground cover and other measures to safeguard against bad weather were caught in torrential and constant rainfall.  The reinstatement to address the event impact has delayed until the weather improved and the ground dried out.   The herras fence line has finally come down today.  The company brought down extra crew and did all the work by hand.  The mini fork lift travelled on the paths only to collect and load up the truck.   Lambeth Landscapes team were on the park at the same time putting up a temporary fence around a smaller area where the ground reinstatement work is now being done.  To begin with the temporary fence will enclose around 60% of the South Field.  Over the coming week the ground works will be done and as this progress the fence line will be moved to enclose smaller areas and give greater access to wider area of the south field.   40 Tonne of soil has been distributed over areas and a further 20 tonne will be placed in te coming days.  Once the soil is levelled out it will will then have grass seed sown.  Seed is able to germinate in colder temperatures.  Once the next period of rain passes and all the leaves have fallen germination sheeting might also be placed over some areas to further nuture the seed and encourage germination.   All the costs for the reinstatement work are covered by the event organisers.  Lambeth Landscapes and...

Update

Nearly a month on from our last post and we’re pleased to say that things have moved on a lot.  Seed that was sown between 18th and 23rd of February has germinated and you can see the fine lines of grass over the Winterville site. The photo below was taken on the 12th March 2019. As of today (22nd March) there has been a lot further growth, however the image we took today is blurry.   The grass will begin to cover more ground, as the roots underneath spread under the soil and new grass grows.   The rain at the beginning of March seems not to have impacted negatively on the grass germination and with warmer sunnier days coming in the next couple of weeks we anticipate grass will only flourish further.   There is one area over towards Long Pond that is still to be sown with grass seed.  This is an area where it is though there is underground spring or broken pipe as it is consistently in areas boggy when it rains.  This is often an indication of the high water table under the surface.  However you can see issues on the ground condition both sides of the fence in this area.   It is anticipated early next week the seed will be sown and we’ll see germination of the seed and grass growth in the coming 2 to 3 weeks.    The fence line is likely to be brought down at the start of April with only smaller areas fenced off where we still require further time to nurture the grass growth.   The...

Clapham Common – Winterville reinstatement – Phase 2 – Part 2

Clapham common – Winterville reinstatement – Phase 2 – Part 2   It has been just over 3 weeks since the last news post and a lot has taken place on the Winterville site.   Slow release fertiliser has been used across all of the site Sections of top soil have been spread out Seed has been sown Sunshine has shone and will continue to shine   On Monday 18th February  through to Saturday 23rd of February  grass seed was sown.  The contractors used a disc seeder which slits the top surface of the ground, places seed in and then rolls the soil over the top of the seed is very close lines as well as releasing a portion of seed over the surface to fall in-between the lines.  They undertake this action in 2 or 3 directions to ensure a density of coverage.   insert photo here – attached   The seed will take around 2 or 3 weeks to germinate and break through the surface.  Once it germinates the root systems also spread out and begin to sprout shoots – thus filling in the gaps between the rows the seeds were laid in.   Seed needs temperatures of around 5 degrees to germinate and as you can see here the long range forecast is looking perfect for grass to grow.  The slow release fertiliser in the ground is also going to really help boost growth.   Winterville and EventLambeth will be doing regular visits to monitor the ground, the grass and the fence line.   What is really going to help is making sure the fence isn’t...

Clapham Common – Winterville Reinstatement – Phase 2

  It has been just over 3 weeks since Winterville left Clapham Common and the large fence was replace with the current fence.   In this time the event organisers have undertaken a fine litter pick, harrowed the ground to break up surface dirt  which leveled out minor ruts and lift the grass.  Then they vertidrained to help de-compact the ground.  Last week the EvnetLambeth  and Winterville agreed the second phase of work.   Pre and Post event ground surveys were compared and the scope of work was agreed.     Towards the end of this week or beginning of next (weather permitting) the contractors undertaking the reinstatement work for the organisers will bring on top soil to level out isolated areas.   The Agronomist also recommended use of slow release fertiliser to help the grass on the ground to recover which will also be undertake this or next week (weather permitting)  The final phase of the reinstatement will then be the re-seeding.    The organisers shared the following information with regard to this phase with us today as part of their reinstatement interim report:   From first week in February onwards, regular inspections by the agronomist will aim to identify the earliest suitable opportunity for double and triple pass seeding.  This is driven primarily by the ground achieving a suitable temperature for germination of the grass seed.  While it is possible to seed in advance of this temperature being reached, it is likely that the result in a higher proportion of the seed being lost to rot or scavenging. Potentially reducing the overall effectiveness.   So it is a wait and see game on the seeding....

Winterville leaves the Common

Winterville had a very successful 5 and bit weeks run on Clapham Common.  With more family focused activities on offer this year the event has proved very popular with all age groups. The doors closed to the public on Sunday 23rd December and with the exception of Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day the site crew have been working to load out the event infrastructure. The Lambeth Events team have monitored the event build, operational and now load out periods.  Throughout all stages of the event we had observed excellent working practices that have ensured a safe and well run event site, for both public and staff. As I mentioned in the blog post pre Winterville opening, there were additional measures in place this year of which the 3 key areas were: a) Increased ground protection b) Robust vehicle management on site c) All built structures are elevated and have temporary flooring – ensuring a gap between floor and grass for air circulation We have seen a vast improvement on the condition of the ground post event that what was not seen this time last year. HOWEVER There is impact to the ground, as there is with any event coming off the common. You will see when the fence line comes down over the next few days something like this – Lush Green Grass, Yellow Grass and Brown areas where there is surface mud on top of grass.  The  picture below we took at our site visit today and clearly shows different types and areas of impact from the event. NEXT STEPS Talbot Landscapes are the company who will be managing the reinstatement of the...