Our most recent session in the Transmission Community Garden was very successful, with new people joining and decisions made
We had a very productive working session at the TransMission Community Garden on Saturday 2 November.
Turnout was excellent, with 11 people there at one point. Particularly encouraging as the weather wasn’t at its best. However, the rain mostly held off and it was great to see so many new faces.
The main topic of discussion was our next big task for the garden. Our main focus for the time being is to plant a hedge around the perimeter of the garden. We’ve looked into fencing the garden and it’s too costly. We also don’t want to make it look too intimidating – this is a community space and we want it to look welcoming.
However, recent events have meant that we need to do more to secure the space. We’re hoping a hedge will do this, while also remaining inclusive and improving the look of the garden and biodiversity.
We want to plant a hedge around the front and both sides. The back is protected by a wall and high metal fence. The hedge will comprise a mix of native plants and trees. The idea is to provide year-round colour as well as nesting places and food for a range of birds and insects, and possibly even small mammals like hedgehogs. These increasingly rare prickly pigs have been spotted at the nearby Walthamstow Wetlands and it would be fantastic to encourage a few to our little garden.
We had sourced an RSPB-approved hedgerow pack comprising Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Field Maple, Alder, Wild Privet, Wild Cherry, Bird Cherry, Guelder Rose, Spindle and Juneberry, all supplied as bare roots. This is a good mix that is wildlife friendly and will provide flowers in spring and summer, autumn colour and berries and sloes.
However, during the discussion it was suggested that unless it’s specifically stated then the plants probably aren’t organic. It’s not mentioned on the website so it’s best to assume the plants won’t be organic.
We’re now trying to source a similar pack, or even separate plants, that are organic. We’ll need around 120 plants. And organic packs will be more expensive than the non-organic kind. We’re hoping to source at least some of them for free, but it’ll be impossible to get that many for free. Luckily we still have some funding from St James Big Local to spend.
The final hour of the work session was given over to tidying up the garden. We picked up litter, added to our compost pile, raked over leaves and cleared out some rubbish that had been dumped in one corner. We also dug over some flowerbeds in preparation for our next session.
The next work session at the garden will be on 16 November and we’re going to be planting some broad beans and garlic. Everyone is welcome. If you’d prefer to be indoors, our next general meeting is at Ye Olde Rose & Crown on 11 November. Find out more about our events.
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