Harringay Street Gardeners: I have serious petunia envy

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Permalink Reply by Nick G-T on September 18, 2013 at 22:19

You probably meant Frobisher Road - Ant and his children are responsible for those.

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Permalink Reply by Liz on September 18, 2013 at 22:24

Aargh yes I did - sorry had a long day. Yes this post was aimed at Ant from a fellow street gardener. Will change it now.

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Permalink Reply by JB on September 19, 2013 at 9:47

Love this. Thanks for posting. What is the situation with putting tyres on bollards as planters? Can I try it on my road do you think or do I need permission from somewhere?!

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Permalink Reply by ant on September 19, 2013 at 12:01

I say do it! You don't need any permission, along with the tyre planters we've also painted one of the bollards and i once saw a council guy inspecting it so asked him and he thought it was fine and said it brightened up the place. They do come with a bit of responsibility of maintenance though and can look a bit rubbish if they aren't cared for and all the plants die. 

You can get old tyres from any of the tyre shops (there are quite a few around Harringay) as they have to pay to dispose of the old tyres so are more than happy if you take some away. Think a bit about where its located, there was one at the other end of Frobisher Rd which kept getting hit by cars turning the corner badly and mounting the edge of the pavement so i've moved it to the other side of the road and its not been hit again yet.

Its worth cutting the rim out of the top side of the tyre to provide more open area to plant in, the rubber cuts easily with a sharpish knife so thats quite simple to do. If you paint the tyres with spirit based paint there's some reaction with the rubber and it takes weeks to dry properly but it does dry ok eventually.

The tyres provide quite a well drained planter and the soil can dry out if you don't water it regularly, adding some water retaining crystals to the soil helps if you're planting something that likes it moist. They also take a surprisingly lot of soil to fill up completely.

Happy to help if anyone wants some or to do some bollard painting.

Spring bulbs like daffodils seem to work really well in tyres and its a great time to be planting them now and you can get big bags of bulbs for just a few pounds at the moment.

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Permalink Reply by Liz on September 19, 2013 at 12:23

I was contemplating one around the bollards outside my house near our planters, thanks for the tips Ant

@Jerry with any street gardening be prepared for thieving so never plant anything expensive - growing from seed keeps costs down as does plant swaps- and damage (usually tops of certain flowers like daffs or sunflowers snapped off) but definitely go for it. It's a real pleasure to see any form of public gardening. Let us know how you get on if you decide to do it.

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