We Filled the Van: July 2026 Gardening Day at the Japanese Garden of Peace

The Japanese Garden of Peace had one of its best turnouts of the year on Sunday 26 July, and by the end of the morning we had stopped counting bags and simply filled the van.

It was a hot, dry morning and the garden showed it: the grass in Hammersmith Park bleached to straw, the stream down to a trickle, and the ponds thick with blanket weed. Most of the day went into the water.

Ponds | Blanket weed, lily pads and a moorhen brood

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Most of the morning was spent in waders. Blanket weed came out in heavy green rafts and was piled on the bank to drain — worth the extra step, because a day or two on the grass gives snails, larvae and anything else caught up in it the chance to work its way back into the pond before the waste goes on the van.

The water lilies had the same treatment. Left to themselves through a hot summer they close over the surface completely, so the job is thinning rather than removal: pull back enough pad to open up clear water and reflections, and leave the crowns to carry on. It is slow work and it needs a team, and this was the part of the day where the teamwork really showed.

The moorhens approve. This year's brood is doing well, and at least one well-grown youngster spent the morning working the newly opened margins. Cleared water and a draining heap of weed are both good hunting.

Bamboo | Summer damage along the boundary

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The bamboo has taken a knock. There are snapped culms across several of the stands and a scatter of broken canes on the ground beneath them — more than a summer's wind would account for. School holidays and a busier park are the likeliest explanation, though we cannot say for certain.

The stands themselves are healthy and will grow through it. The one thing that helps, if you are passing, is to keep to the paths and stay out of the clumps: bamboo takes several seasons to recover its shape once the outer culms are gone.

Beds and paths | A parched July and a van-load of green waste

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July was hard on the planting. Some of what went in earlier in the year failed, sadly — established plants ride out a dry spell, but anything in its first summer often does not get the chance. The beds along the rockwork are carrying more brown than green at the moment.

Litter, at least, was not the problem it can be. The grounds team has been keeping on top of it and the garden was in good order when we arrived, which meant the morning could go on horticulture rather than rubbish.

We did not get a reliable count of bags, but what we can report is that the van went back full.

Thanks | A well-travelled turnout for the Japanese Garden of Peace

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Thank you to everyone who gave a Sunday morning to the Japanese Garden of Peace. Some walked round from a street away. Others travelled in from much farther away.

That is the best argument we have for this place: a survivor of the 1910 Japan-British Exhibition, tucked into a park in Shepherd's Bush, that people will cross London to work in. Keeping it that way takes hands, and we can always use more.

Gardening days run monthly through the warmer months. No experience is needed and no equipment either — come as you are and we will find you a job. Details of the next session are on the website and our social channels.