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A resident has lost a black ladies jacket in Preston Park on 1st April with 2 sets of car and house keys (lego and pink keyrings). Please get in touch if you come across them.

CPRE Sussex are delighted to announce their annual Tree Festival photo competition is back for a third year! I Love This Tree Because… invites you to celebrate the trees you love through photography. They are looking for photographs that capture a meaningful moment with a tree – something that inspires, informs, or simply makes you smile. Entries could show a dramatic landscape tree, a hidden woodland gem, a favourite climbing tree from childhood, or the tree that brightens your daily walk. Whether you are an experienced photographer or simply enjoy taking pictures on your phone, everyone is welcome to take part. Alongside a photograph, they invite you to complete the sentence “I love this tree because…”.

The submission deadline is 11.59pm on 28 May. Click here for more information and entry forms.

The photo competition forms part of the annual Tree Festival.

This year’s festival will take place on:

Sunday, May 24

Friday, May 29 to Sunday, June 7

Saturday, June 6, to Sunday, June 7

If you would like to attend a free event, please just turn up! You can book your place on a paid event here:

Tree Walk with Alister Peters: Saturday 11 July 13.00 – 14.30

Park Walk with Alan Griffiths: Thursday 20 August 18.30 – 20.00

Bat Walk with Huw Morgan: Wednesday 9 September 19.40 – 20.40

History Walk with Sue Shepherd: Sunday 3 October 14.30 – 16.00

Wreathmaking: Saturday 5 December, 9.00 – 15.00

A year ago, in January 2025, Phase 2 of the refurbishment of the Rose Garden started with 250 new roses replacing the old and ailing ones on the west and east outer beds. In November 2025 the two central round beds were replanted, and we added the new rose, the King’s Rose, to the Rosemoor bed by the pond. The replanting was made possible owing to the generosity of David Austin Roses, the rose grower, who donated the roses, as well as fertiliser two years running. FoPP purchased the King’s Rose and Buckingham Rose Soil from Bury Hill Landscape Supplies in Horsham. 

The volunteers were treated to two complementary David Austin Roses pruning workshops, where they also gleaned many pieces of advice on how to look after shrub roses all year long.

Looking after hundreds of roses is a mammoth task and volunteers meet every Tuesday to weed, deadhead, prune, edge, and fertilise according to the season. We are also greatly helped by our Rangers who bring in their team of volunteers, as well as companies and schools who organise volunteering days for their staff and pupils. Our resident CityParks groundsmen are always happy to give a helping hand, especially when we have to dig clay and chalk for planting. 

We started pruning in December 2025 and once pruning is over, feeding and mulching the Rose Garden in Spring is our next big task. Mulch will slow down weed growth, lock the moisture in the soil and help the roses thrive. FoPP will supply the mulch.

Preston Park Rose Garden is one of the largest public rose gardens left in the country and its survival is only due to the relentless work of the volunteers who look after it all year round and the generosity of David Austin Roses. It is a much-loved place by the residents and visitors who enjoy the beauty of the blooms and scent and it has been awarded Level 5 Outstanding by South and Southeast in Bloom in September 2025.

So, why not joining our dedicated team of volunteers on Tuesdays 10-1pm. No gardening knowledge needed, just a pair of gloves and an urge to help us maintain this beautiful community space.

NB Residents may have noticed that the Community Book Swap Box has been removed from the Rose Garden. This is due to continual vandalism. We now have a book swap bookcase in the Rotunda Café. We are hoping to put a box back in the Rose Garden at a later date in the new year.

Volunteers looking after green spaces in Brighton and Hove were invited by their Rangers at Waterhall to meet Paul Gorringe, who is in charge of the local rewilding programme. 

Waterhall was a golf course for seventy years and over the past four years the aim has been to restore the chalk grassland and improve habitats for multiple species. This project has been funded by National Lottery money and is led by the National Trust. No power tools are used, no pesticides, the work is done following the precepts of organic gardening. Multi-species grazing is done by twenty Sussex Red cattle, seven wild ponies and sheep are also brought in. Rangers Paul and Mike are helped by zealous volunteers who cut, clear, restore and encourage natural processes for the landscape to recover and reconnect with itself.

We looked at a large variety of moths collected (and released), wildflowers and ant hills. Paul and Mike run educational programmes for school children and are very keen to educate and show the importance of wild spaces in our lives. On this note we were reminded that we should keep our dogs on lead during the breeding season which runs from beginning of March to end of July as dogs run into thickets and bushes and disturb nesting and young wildlife. From a thousand dogs a day visiting Waterhall four years ago, numbers are down to two-hundred-and-fifty a day. Paul explained various reasons why dogs’ behaviour should be monitored by their owners, such as the presence of cattle, school children, wildlife habitat and even the preservation of the ph of the soil which is altered by dogs’urine and excrement! As Paul said, most dog owners are obliging, but some abuse the Rangers or take signage down, not considering that this rewilding project is very fragile and reliant on everybody’s decent behaviour to be a truly successful story and a legacy for future generations.

Paul Gorringe is always looking for new volunteers so if you would like to know more about volunteering at Waterhall please get in touch with him at wildingwaterhall@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Friends of Preston Park next walk is the General Tree Walk with Alister Peters on Saturday 9 August, 13:00-14:30, starting at the Rotunda Cafe. Not to be missed! Book now on our website.

If you are keen to try some gardening in Preston Park we welcome volunteers on Tuesdays 10 to 1pm in the Rose Garden or on Thursdays 10 to 1pm in the Rockery. Please come along and meet the teams.

The Cherry tree that was vandalised earlier in the spring, only one week after planting, has been replaced. Whilst we realise this is not a good time to plant a young tree, the timing of receiving the replacement went awry. The tree is now in place and the snapped tree has joined the other vandalised trees near the Chalet Café. We aim to keep them all watered over the summer months and if anyone would like to help with this, can they contact FoPP via our website.

Many thanks to Kez and his team for all their help in getting the trees out and in the ground. Great work!