An acer goes in – one of fifteen new trees being planted in Southbrook Road
Contractors have started planting trees in Southbrook Road that were paid for by the residents and match-funded by the Lee Manor Society.
Over the last two days they have planted fifteen trees along the road, including one which took a bit of work because of a stubborn block of concrete in the ground. .
Southbrook Road’s trees have been especially hard hit in recent years and many had died or were dying.
Happy tree planters Glenn and Miguel
It costs £395 for each new tree, which also covers the cost of digging up the pavement to accommodate it and the planting. The contractors will also water the trees during dry weather. All the trees will be labelled to show their species and the date of planting.
Residents in Southbrook Road paid £195 each – half the cost – with the balance funded by the Society. It is now investigating the idea of widening the scheme to other roads in the area.
Artist’s impression of how the restored bed might look
We need your help with an important survey about Manor House Gardens. The Lee Manor Society and the Friends of Manor House Gardens want to know your views about our plans for the Big Bed at the north end of the Gardens (the one near Manor House library, just beyond the cafe).
As we have reported previously we won an NCIL grant to restore the bed, but we believe that with more grant-aid we can transform it into a first-class attraction in the Gardens. There would be raised beds, a bug hotel and signage to make it an educational and enjoyable experience for visitors of all ages.
Please spend a moment completing the survey – it shouldn’t take more than a minute of your time. The results will be invaluable in our campaign to make the Gardens an even better place to visit. Click here to complete it.
Next time you go to Manor House Gardens, take a look at a remarkable artwork celebrating migration which has just been installed in the lake. It’s so large it needed a crane to drop it into place.
“To Move is to Bloom” (2025) is a large-scale, dragonfly-inspired sculpture emerging from the lake, symbolising migration as a natural cycle of resilience and renewal. Each piece is attached to a flexible pole so they move in the wind.
The work is by a Serbian born artist Vladimir Lalić who told us “I wanted to show migration as something deeply natural and transformative. Movement, both physical and emotional, is what makes life possible.”
His multi-pronged sculpture was laser-cut from stainless steel sheets, then bent, welded, and hand-painted in enamel varnish. Each element is unique: some more insect-like, others more floral or abstract. It sits on top of a heavy metal frame which rests on the lake bed.
A crane drops the sculpture into position in the lake
The sculpture is funded by an Arts Council grant which was secured by Tima Jam, a recent Lee resident who describes herself as an “Iranian-British curator, art consultant, and cultural strategist dedicated to amplifying emerging and underrepresented voices in contemporary art.”
Tima has young children and having spent many happy hours in Manor House Gardens thought it would be a good location for the project.
“As a nomadic and hybrid fair, we believe great art should not be limited to a single place; every two years, we will move to a new location with a fresh programme shaped by the local art scene.”
Art Voyage is behind two other projects in the Gardens:
Photo: Paul Lowndes
“Crafting Connections” (2025) by Alice Burnhope — created in collaboration with members of the Lewisham community in workshops at Manor House Library. It was unveiled at the Royal Society of Arts and the organisers are now seeking a permanent home for it.
