LET'S SHARE THE GARDENING LOVE
Making a wonderful, inspiring space for all to enjoy is such a fulfilling thing to do!
At the end of last term, a hopeful li le email arrived from school: “Too long has the front of our school looked a li le bedraggled and downtrodden, but with your help we've the chance to make it a truly wonderful space,” it said.
Wonderful spaces are very much my stock in trade and I’m strongly in favour of things that encourage more gardeners: it’s true, get ’em young and you’ve got ’em for life.
But in this case there was also a hidden personal bonus. I’m very keen on propagating. It borders on a compulsion – I rarely repot or move a plant
without considering dividing it. Pruning provides material for cu ings. Broken shoots get po ed up to see if they want to grow. And that’s before we go anywhere near the self-seeders! As a result, I generate far more replacement plants than I can accommodate. I start with one, my hand slips and I've five. And nowhere to put them. So the idea of sending them to a happy home nearby fills my heart with joy. I read on. “…and to make this a true success we will need your wonderful help. If you were able to donate any materials or plants, take cu ings, share seedlings and so on that would be truly fantastic.”
The list of potential contributions was pre y extensive – Verbena bonariensis, climbing roses, shrubs, salvias, bulbs, herbs and geraniums – all the sorts of spares that I've kicking around anyway, or can quite easily magic up.
So I’ve set myself a task for the next few weeks. To pot up the surplus plants that are clu er in my garden, but will represent glorious bounty to the school; and to propagate anything that will prove to be useful.
I’ve also arranged to visit and have a chat about their hopes, dreams and ambitions. After all, there’s nothing that puts off a new gardener like losing all their plants, whatever their age. And with several hundred potential gardeners at stake, the least
I can do is improve the chances of ending up with something to excite and engage them.
It's utopia in microcosm.
I can indulge in unrestrained propagation mayhem and have a (reasonably) tidy garden, while the school can “turn this mildly barren patch of land into a beautiful haven for nature (and also} inspire the children to get their hands dirty!” A win-win situation if ever I saw one!