How can I bring colour to my grey neighbourhood? This is the question that kept running through my mind every morning, while walking my dogs around our new neighbourhood in the middle of last winter. It is the question that eventually gave me the push to create a vibrant and flourishing garden that has been a source of enjoyment, not just for me but every passerby, including pollinators. 

I live in a part of town that seems to be grey paving and endless houses everywhere, without any sign of wildlife or colour. When the wet and cold winter weather sets in, it can feel very depressing if you're used to the greener edges of town. After a while I concluded that I needed to make a change around here, so that I can focus on that... on something positive. This change manifested in turning the unloved front garden at the local community centre into a spot of delight. 

I contacted the very helpful and encouraging team managing the Freemantle and Shirley Community Centre and they gave me permission, and free rein, to create the garden I planned. I started by getting rid of the disintegrating weed membrane and the weeds, especially the very prolific bindweed. Then I used the few old clumps of actual plants as propagating material, creating dozens of strong new ones by the spring. I used a thick layer of leaves and some compost as mulch after planting. 

My own stock of staple plants, grown at home, became the bulk of new planting and together with the freshly propagated ones they filled up the flower beds completely. After a while it became apparent that a physical barrier might be a good idea, so a low, cottage garden style hazel fence was put in to protect the establishing flower bed. 

This garden reached its peak around mid-summer but has been full of interest since then too. It's been designed to be very low maintenance, so it requires one tidying a year, usually around early spring. This way it provides shelter and food for wildlife and interest for people all year round.  

The planting is also drought tolerant and only needed watering once, even in its infancy and throughout the very arid year we had in 2022. It's managed sustainably, so all the cuttings stay in the garden as green mulch.  With all the recycled old plants coming from the original site, and all the new plants having been grown by myself, this whole project cost no money whatsoever. 

All the plants, including the native species like primrose, teasel, foxglove, stinking hellebore, poppy and hawthorn have been great at providing food and shelter for pollinators and local birds. This garden improvement project has been extremely rewarding and puts a smile on my face every day when I walk past it, and from the comments I’ve had, I know for sure, I'm not alone. So, I very much encourage everyone to try to embark on a similar green journey of their own.