Well done Warham guerilla gardeners!

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Permalink Reply by Liz on June 19, 2011 at 13:52

Thanks Isidoros, I was inspired to get going by one picture in particular by Alan Stanton of Falmer Road (right), where a little light gardening has transformed a problematic space.
Let us know, by the way, if you come across new ways to get money to transform sites as there are still lots of streets on the Ladder that could benefit from  some street gardening but the route I used has, in reality, been closed by the cuts and demise of NM.  

Although, I do stand by my advice not to wait for permission but to take over the abandoned spaces, appeal for some plants from local gardeners who often have too many seeds and seedlings and get going. Even a few sunflowers and nasturtiums will transform a place. The poppies in the Mattison planter are the result of one packet of seeds being scattered there a couple of years back. When we weeded it, we found all the plants and 'liberated' them from weeds and litter and now they look beautiful.

 

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on June 19, 2011 at 15:31

I wanted to ask for pictures too but I was worried they would be taken as requests for proof. The one you have posted is fantastic Liz. Just how much money are we talking here?

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Permalink Reply by Liz on June 19, 2011 at 21:37

The thing is I don't actually know how much the planters were as the website doesn't list prices. However, the recycled plastic were quite a bit cheaper than any other type. Topsoil came free from parks and plants were donated by residents. We borrowed tools from the Gardens Community Garden who have a tool library. The money side was all handled via NM.

I think if a non planter street can get at least 2 people to commit to the project, the next step is to approach a councillor for help on who to speak to in the council. The big stumbling block is getting the containers but if the council were supportive perhaps people could build wooden ones? We did a lot of measuring and drawing up plans beforehand. Perhaps putting together a project might be the first step.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on June 19, 2011 at 21:44

Nice and transparent then. The trouble with building your own out of timber is that they don't last forever and they make an impressive firebox. Surely a local garden centre would love to provide suitably festooned recycled plastic planters?

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Permalink Reply by Liz on June 20, 2011 at 10:49

No, not a matter of being transparent or not. Dasos did discuss prices with me and I have a vague memory of 800 quid for a big plastic planter but that may have been for the metal ones we were turned down on. If NM were still in existence, I expect I could have got the costings for it.They weren't a secret. We didn't handle the money so I didn't pay much attention. We weren't successful for MTD (people bid for that via RAs generally and the voting system meant mobilisation was easier for community groups than a couple of gardener:) ) so the costs of plants were met by donation. 

During the meeting with Veolia, I discussed the possibility of street gardening projects with them. They didn't say no so that may be an avenue to explore further, especially if we can convince them that it can be part of a strategy to reduce dumping and littering on the roads. Since the planters came, instances of fly tipping have dropped to almost nothing from me having to report something at least once a week. Gathering evidence from across the borough that this is a common effect of street gardens would make a good case to take to Veolia.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on June 19, 2011 at 17:21

A few weeks ago I saw a street in Clapham where the residents had had some of the paving taken away in front of the walls to their tiny front gardens and had planted actually there on the foot path.  It looked absolutely fantastic.  They had also cleared away paved areas around street trees and planted around them.

 

PS - saw the poppies on Mattison today and they look great

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Permalink Reply by Abi on June 19, 2011 at 18:21

This looks beautiful - a sunflower will brighten up any spot, I think!

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Permalink Reply by Alison P on June 19, 2011 at 21:01

That particular stretch - Mattinson through to Warham - is now so fantastic to walk through. Every time I walk past each one something has changed (not always good - eg snail attack topples sunflower - but that's gardening.. ).

 

If anyone does want to try and improve some of the existing planters I'd really encourage you to just give it a go. The liberated planters on Mattinson are looking really fantastic, but were pretty dire before they were done - one in particular was just a mess of dead looking begonias and bindweed. The initial blitz on both took around 4 hours or so. You'd want some help (ideally some with muscles and some with gardening know how), but after that it isn't that much work - just keeping an eye on them and tidying up later in the year. If someone is keen to have a go elsewhere I'd be happy to lend a hand.

Personally, I'd love to have one on Seymour, so please do post here if anyone has ideas about how to raise money for the containers. There is certainly space for them, though presume we'd need to talk to the council about whether we could get rid of the railings.

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Permalink Reply by Alice Mezzo on June 19, 2011 at 22:34

Thanks Gardners! These flowers make me so happy every time I walk by. Absolutely brilliant!

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