Lewes Mosaic: The Lewes House Garden Project

Our three aims

·        renovate the historic Lewes House garden

·        enjoy the physical and mental health benefits of gardening

·        make Lewes a more biodiverse welcoming place for wildlife

 To find out more contact Anne-Marie Bur.

Who this project is for

We welcome beginners as well as experienced gardeners, and people with varying levels of mobility. Gardeners in our sessions tell us how a couple of hours each week of gentle exercise outdoors in all seasons improves physical health in all kinds of ways. The mental/emotional benefits are even more apparent – the sense of purpose, and sharing with others to achieve it, the optimism that is part of gardening, learning to deal with the failures, close observation of plants through the seasons – all these strengthen our resilience. Everyone suffers from anxiety or low mood sometimes – whether from work, studies, our digital world, isolation, family life or past trauma – for a few hours a week many find solace and an immediate sense of achievement in sowing seeds, weeding, watering, planting and pruning. We also welcome people dealing with memory loss and can sometimes provide one-to-one support where needed.

If you are unsure whether gardening is for you, please feel free to contact us and we will answer any questions and arrange for a taster session.

Session Times

There are three sessions a week:

Tuesday: 10am - 12 midday

Tuesday: 1.30pm - 3.30pm

Friday:    10am - 12 midday

Sessions are led by qualified staff who will guide you through activities but are also open to suggestions.

To find out more contact Anne-Marie Bur

Volunteer Opportunities

We have participants from time to time who benefit from one-to-one support. If you would like to combine gardening and supporting others and have some relevant background – professional or informal, we would love to hear from you. Contact us if you are interested in volunteering opportunities

Lewes Mosaic Project

Do you own an allotment? The Lewes Mosaic project is developing an exciting programme of wildlife surveys and workshops to identify the rich biodiversity present and potential on allotment sites. We are posting the results of these plant, bat, amphibian and reptile and flower visiting insect in our Mosaic blog

Our Summer Newsletter has details of events, top tips on supporting wildlife, and a selection of creatures to look out for in our allotments and gardens at this time of year.

We have been consulting with allotment holders to find out what sort of support would be most helpful to protecting and attracting wildlife on their allotments. The results of responses to our survey from 90 participants with allotments on 14 sites in and around Lewes can be viewed here. In summary 96.5% of respondents said growing fruit and vegetables was most important to them. Second most important was supporting and enjoying wildlife at 58.1%.  70% of respondents said that they are interested in monitoring wildlife on their plot. There is still time to take part in our allotment survey by clicking here or scan the QR code here.

We are delighted to have secured 3 years funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, in addition to the generous funding we received from local sources. The new funding is being used to expand sessions at Lewes House garden and to help to grow a mosaic of wildlife-rich habitats across the town. We will be working closely with the Railway Land Wildlife Trust, Wildflower Lewes, Lewes Swift Supporters and Lewes Urban Arboretum. We will also take part in a new ‘Wellbeing Hive’, to promote the connection between wellbeing and the wildlife and nature around us.

Wilding the garden

Biodiversity and rewilding are hot topics right now. It is therefore a real breath of fresh air to be able to offer a sanctuary for bees, butterflies and many other insects and wild creatures here at Lewes House Garden. We have been creating habitats for hedgehogs, planting nectar rich flowers, and growing the food plants for insect larvae. This spring we decided to avoid bedding plants and instead seed our planters at the front of Lewes House on the High Street with a mix of garden and wild flowers.  This drew a lot of attention from passers-by, commenting on how attractive the displays were and delighting our members, giving them pride and confidence in their  work.

Here is a list of the garden plants that are most attractive to pollinators with photos of the flowers

Please do contact us if you have surplus tools, plants, seedlings, bulbs, or seeds. All gratefully received!

Thanks

We are very grateful for support from Sussex Community Foundation, Enjoolata Foundation, Chalk Cliff Trust and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, National Lottery players, donations from St. Andrew’s GP Surgery, Sussex Crisis Fund, Lewes Town Council, the Big Lottery Local Connections Fund, and Lewes District Council. Thanks too for donations of plants and tools from individuals and from Fi’s Yard, Waitrose and Notcutts Garden Centre. Thanks too for the special discounts and advice from Rotherview Nurseries, Goldcliff and Lewes Garden Centres.