Works and events on the Commons

2 July 2021

Tree works on Dr Johnson Avenue

Contractor KPS will be starting some tree work down Doc Johnson Avenue, lifting the oaks out of the road and footpath and clearing some of the lamp columns. This should be happening today. They’re also going to be taking some weight out of a dead oak down there, leaving it as a monolith. It’s not going to be a drastic change as its already had a lot of reduction work in the past. They’re also going to lift the trees over the cinder track along Tooting Bec Road at some point.

Note: ‘Lifting’ is is the pruning of lower branches to raise the overall height the canopy starts at. Pruning branches that are in the way of the road or footpath. Most of the work will be done with long reach pole pruners, so very small pruning cuts will be made. On younger trees whole branches are removed. On older trees the branches are just reduced instead of removed

24 June 2021

Flooding at the Triangle (update)

The repair maintenance team will be attending site early next week to hand-dig only the site (no mechanical diggers to be used in case it hits electricity cables) and will carry out a deep investigation into the burst watermain pipes. Their work permit expires on 10.07.21, however it has been stressed that the matter is now extremely urgent.  TW gave an assurance that they will provide an update,  after this work is done, however the team will follow this up mid-week should no further contact be received.

21 June 2021

Drakes Funfair

The funfair will be returning to the are between Tooting Bec Road and the lake

Set-up – 09/08/2021

Open – 12/08/2021 

Close and de-rig – 22/08/2021

Off-site – 23/08/2021

21 June 2021

Grass cutting

Enable will be doing some grass cuts on Tooting Common over the summer and autumn and they have asked me to share the below information with you: 

Some areas of long grassland on Tooting Commons have been identified as being high in nutrients. We can tell this as there are few species, and numbers, of wildflowers and there is strong growth of coarse grasses, such as perennial rye grass. The wildflower diversity of these areas can be improved by following a well-known method which includes cutting and removing the grass off site. This lowers the level of nutrients in the soil, meaning that coarse grasses grow less vigorously, and wildflowers have more opportunity to come through.

Butterfly Conservation endorse this method, and they recommend carrying out 2-3 cut and collects of the grass for a few years to bring the nutrient levels down. Therefore, we are going to undertake 2 cut and collects of the following grasslands across the two sites. The first cut will be mid-summer and the second will be in autumn. If you have any questions, please contact us at biodiversity@enablelc.org 

18 June

Love Parks Events 29 August

Enable are hoping to put on a variety of free events during each greenspaces’ Love Parks weekend including activities such as walks, talks, exercise classes, and wellbeing activities. 

This will likely be arranged with Friends of Tooting Common.

16 June 2021

Flooding at the Triangle

The leak has not yet been repaired (despite Thames Water confirming it had). We have now been informed by Thames Water that they expect to visit and fix the leak between 17/06 and 18/06, however that date may be subject to change. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as soon as they are available. 

4 June 2021

Acid Grassland Management

Over the course of the summer, we will be undertaking ground preparation work on the acid grassland on the Lido Field. This will involve scraping soil on areas that have been enriched during the works that Thames Water carried out, to re-expose the acidic soil. The scraped soil will be added to the existing bund around the edge of the area.

This approach is a well-documented method of reinstating acid grassland, and we will be using green hay from a local site to add seed to the exposed soil. Existing seeds in the soil will also have a chance to germinate when the soil is exposed.

This work is detailed as a priority in the Management and Maintenance Plan for Tooting Common, and acid grassland is listed as a priority habitat in Wandsworth Council’s Biodiversity Strategy.

3 June 2021

Oak Processionary Moth

Bartletts tree services are returning to Tooting Common to spray any identified Oak trees with OPM (oak processionary moths) tents in them. This will be the second of 2 sprays that are carried out in the early summer on trees which have been identified as having nests in the crowns. The idea is that spraying now will soak the nests and kill the eggs before they grow into caterpillars and are more likely to irritate skin. It will also reduce the impact on the tree as there will be fewer caterpillars to defoliate the leaves and potentially affect the trees health. The spray is not harmful to any other plants. 

26 May 2021

Massaria inspection and removal – Plane Trees

As part of the ongoing Massaria inspection and removal works, our contractors have noted a couple of plane trees in very poor condition near to the lido. The trees aren’t going to be removed, but are going to be brought down to a monolith, approximately 4m high. This is to retain the trunk and stump as habitat, as well as giving the tree a chance to resprout and be managed as a low pollard.”

At a later date, (probably in a month) there will be other tree works happening in that area of the Commons which will include routine checks, but also monolithing an oak to the west of the car park. 

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