Getting serial about gardens
‘‘I want everybody to have a garden, there’s no excuse.’’
Selwyn Eagle is a serial community gardener and through his organisation, the Just Dirt Trust, Eagle and his team have helped set up at least eight public gardens and have plans to create backyard gardens across Christchurch.
‘‘Our help may be just getting a truckload of soil, or helping to build some raised beds and get some seeds,’’ he said.
The trust is fundraising for a truck to cart donated soil from Living Earth, to their various projects.
Eagle said he was inspired to fill spaces with gardens after the majority of Dallington, his suburb of 40 years, was demolished following the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.
‘‘I realised you can do anything you like, if you just do it.
‘‘Get someone to help you, and just do it,’’ he said.
‘‘We wanted to help set up gardens but not just for one person – we wanted to do it in bulk.’’
The trust was set up in 2011 with John Patterson.
Eagle now chairs the trust with a committee; their aim is to create shared community gardens and gardens for individuals.
Since 2011, they have helped set up gardens ‘‘at the lowest possible price’’ in New Brighton, Phillipstown, Shirley, Temuka, and Richmond.
‘‘The community ones are so much more than a garden – they are a place where people can actually get to know their neighbours and come out from behind their fences.
‘‘If we all hide behind our fences, we won’t be a community, we’ll just be a collection of people who live in an area and you may never even realise who your neighbours are.’’
Eagle said his dream was for every Kiwi to have access to a garden.
‘‘If you live in an apartment, you can have window boxes.
‘‘If you have a horrible old concrete area, you could have raised beds on top. There’s no excuse.’’
‘‘We wanted to help set up gardens ... we wanted to do it in bulk.’’ Selwyn Eagle