The idea
The two raised beds contain established cordylines and agapanthus that have had little attention from Ealing council for a number of years. Years ago the beds were planted with bedding plants that gave a splash of colour and interest in the summer months, but the council has (rightly) abandoned bedding plants borough wide and with the need to be mindful of climate change a new scheme is called for.
And that plan is to remove top 10cm of soil and replace it with compost, trim and prune the existing prunus trees and cordylines and then plant with ornamental grasses and perennials such as vebena bonariensis and echinacea purpurea. Adding summer flowering bulbs such as alliums and later, spring daffodil and tulip bulbs.
It's anticipated that this work can be done over a couple of weekends with the aid of the community - in fact the community are key, this is an area that we'd like everyone around it to be proud of and care for.
What we'll deliver
- Revamp and replant the flowerbeds
- Create a small herb garden
Why it's a great idea
This is really quite a small scheme, the two flowerbeds are roughly 15m by 2m, this is your archetypal many hands make light work project.
At the moment the beds have some colourful tulips and daffodils but in a few weeks the main ingredient will be fat hen, great for chickens but visually just very green.
With a couple of days work, one to prepare and one to plant we can have year round interest and a feature to be proud of.
Steps to get it done
- Meeting with local residence to discus the project
- Meeting with the council officers to discuss their input
- Clearing the plot - work morning!
- Removal of the top soil, removal of overhanging cordylines and other odd plants. Adding compost.
- Planting day - getting the plants in
- Planting bulbs for next spring and summer
On Saturday 6th April we held two meetings (at 11am & 4pm) at the flowerbeds to tell neighbours what we plan to do. The meeting was advertised by a leaflet drop to 250 near by houses, posters and on local social media - namely "Nextdoor".
Some people got in touch to say they couldn't make it but were interested in helping and a total of about 15 people turned up to hear what we were going to do.
It was agreed that communication would continue via Nextdoor and the Facebook page and that a WhatsApp group would be formed.
