Hurray for Community Planting Schemes!
"GARDENS: National Gardens Scheme/Ealing in Bloom Do you need inspiration?I happened upon a National Gardens Scheme (ngs) open garden when working in Hammersmith the other day and managed to grab a look. It was inspirational - it was probably about 5m x 2 and a half. Enough space to sit outside the kitchen on a bench and have a cup of coffee and enjoy the plants in front of you and growing up the walls/fence. A peaceful little green oasis away from the grey hard surfaced pavements and busy A4. It had grass in the middle - not a lot but real grass proving that you don't have to turn any small garden into a patio. I wished I'd had more time... there were quite a few other gardens in the area which were open with the proceeds going to the charities that the ngs support.https://www.ngs.org.uk/(and apparently there is also tea and cake)Ealing in BloomNow I have heard of this but see fewer and fewer posters around. The deadline for entering your garden, patio etc is 8th June. You have to email or go to the library to get a form.https://www.ealingallotmentspartnership.co.uk/images/ealing-in-bloom/ealing-in-Bloom-2018-Poster.pdfPlease don't believe that it is so much easier to have a patio and pots because so many plants - if you choose the right ones ie not just the ones you fancy - will grow far better and will be less effort and less demanding growing in a garden than pots where you have to constantly keep on watering and feeding. Have a look at the shrubs which grow well in gardens around you - and give a neighbour a hand when they become less mobile - please! It will not only make our streets a lot more pleasant but will be good for the well-being of many."I posted the above on 4 June as a result of not being brave enough to knock on a door and offer to cut back a fuchsia which I think now had suffered as a result of the Beast from the East. It was alive but had a lot of dead wood. I don't know the person/people who live there - if I had done I would have without question.The garden has now been cleared and left with just gravel instead of any of the beautiful fuchsia which I had enjoyed as I walked past year after year. Sadly I'm too late :(With a bit of TLC I'm sure we could all still be enjoying that fuschia. They generally tend to be pretty hardy - especially once they have become established. It is the second very small garden that has gone that way in the last couple of months.So it is wonderful what has been happening in Brentford - community planting to make an area look so much better - which in turn tends to encourage people to take pride in their neighbourhood and keep it looking better:http://www.brentfordtw8.com/default.asp?section=info&page=airquality020.htm
Philippa Bond ● 2628d3 Comments