News

Calling all graphic designers in Lee! The Lee Manor Society is long overdue for an updated booklet, telling its story and explaining what it does for the area. To mark the Society’s Golden Jubilee we are keen to produce a new one.

As you will see from the example above, they are a bit dated. We will supply the text and the pictures but we need a professional (hopefully a volunteer) to lay it out. Ideally we are looking for a fold-out section showing the timeline of our story since 1976 to be incorporated in its pages.

If you have the skills and could help please either email leemanorsociety@gmail.com or leave a comment below.

The Lee Manor Society has been awarded a £12,000 grant by the Mayor of London’s Green Roots Fund, to convert the Big Bed in Manor House Gardens into an accessible, climate-resilient and biodiversity-rich feature, transforming it into an educational hub for the community.

The grant is one of 33 awarded in the latest round of funding that will improve blue and green infrastructure across London.

The Big Bed project is a collaboration between the Society, the Friends of Manor House Gardens, Lewisham Council and Glendale. Lucy Anne Bishop, a regular volunteer with Lee Green WI who do tireless work in the Gardens, and is an expert in nature and sustainability, will be the advisor on the educational aspects of the project.

The Big Bed is on the north side of the Gardens, near the Manor House Library. Work has already begun – the weeds and undergrowth have been cleared and a central path created. The next step is to create a planting design to incorporate drought resistant plants and water conservation.

The Green Roots grant will supplement an NCIL grant of £2,450 awarded last year by Lewisham Council . In addition the Friends of Manor House Gardens and the Lee Manor Society will be contributing their own funds to this ambitious project. Together this money will go a long way to rescuing the Big Bed from its overgrown and unsightly state.

Two amazing gardens in Lee will be open this Sunday as part of the National Gardens Scheme.

Silvia Marciante-Green, a well-known and successful local garden designer, will be opening her remarkable garden at the Basement Flat at 110 Burnt Ash Hill (SE12 0HT). She has created it over the last 10 years . It is enclosed by mature trees and features Mediterranean raised beds, a rain garden, and a cool woodland area where roses mix with hydrangeas and acers. A large collection of over sixty roses, along with specimen plants and perennials, creates a biodiverse garden teeming with life. Silvia will also be selling plants.

Developed over 25 yrs – and open for the National Garden Scheme for over 20 years – the garden at 41 Southbrook Rd (E12 8LJ) features a formal layout with wide, mixed herbaceous borders full of colour, surrounded by mature trees that frame sunny lawns, an immaculate central box parterre, and an Indian pergola. Ancient pear trees are festooned in May and June with large clouds of white Kiftsgate and Rambling Rector roses. Discover fish and damselflies in two lily ponds.

Home made teas will be available at both gardens. They will be open from 1.00 pm to 5.30 pm, and you can buy tickets on the door or in advance via the National Gardens Scheme website. map. The website has full details of the scheme.

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By Dan Griffin

There are plenty of things growing nicely in the Lee Manor Community Garden as we approach the end of May. Garlic, runner beans, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, lettuce, courgettes, potatoes, strawberries, gooseberries and rhubarb are all making an appearance. 

Saturday 9th May saw us open as part of the annual Lee Manor Society Plant Mart and it was a great success. We had various seedlings grown by LMCG volunteers and kindly donated by various other people, and we sold out in under 45 mins! Money raised will go towards maintaining the community garden, and the other LMS aims: tree-planting, graffiti removal, helping to resolve Conservation Area planning issues and more. 

The LMCG is open to all and we always welcome new recruits – no experience of gardening necessary! Whatever we harvest we share between us. 

The summer dates are below – please just turn up and introduce yourself and we can add you to the WhatsApp group if you are interested.

All Sundays, 2.30 – 4.30

May 24th

June 14th

June 28th

July 12th

July 26th

Aug 9th

Aug 23rd

Sept 6th

Find out more on the Community Garden page.