Two years have passed since I moved into our Warner flat in Walthamstow. While we quickly worked out all the quirks of the building (oh hi hidden chimney breast in the kitchen), the challenges we hadn't clocked before we moved in (very thin walls and a leaking roof), and exciting finds once we peeled back … Continue reading Managing a shared Walthamstow Warner garden: what’s worked in two years
I set this blog up to chart changes to my Warner back garden in Walthamstow - a small patch of shared space measuring no more than 6m x 6m. After two years of experimentation, all done on a non-existent budget, there's still a lot of work to do (the raised veg beds have been pretty … Continue reading Planning a vertical green wall for a Walthamstow Warner flat
Today I visited Hawkwood Plant Nursery, as part of the horticulture course I'm studying. We got to spend a day up at the site in North Chingford mastering seed-sowing techniques, learning about best practice crop rotation, and exploring the wonders of heirloom seed swapping. Hawkwood is home to OrganicLea - a community food project based in … Continue reading Exploring Hawkwood
As covered in a previous blog post, the good folks at the Neighbourhood Directorate of Waltham Forest Borough Council and our local Chapel End Councillors are making funds available to local residents and groups to set up guerrilla gardening projects in this corner of Walthamstow. Planting up overgrown or empty tree pits with bee-friendly seeds, … Continue reading Could you help with E17 Edible Gardens?
Atop 20 Fenchurch Street, 155 metres above the City of London, perches the Sky Garden. Created by landscape architecture practice Gillespies, drought resistant plants usually at home in the Mediterranean and South Africa sit in planted terraces alongside champagne quaffing City types and selfie stick waving tourists. Whichever category of visitor you might be (I won't judge), all … Continue reading Exploring the Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street
My interest in guerrilla gardening - where individuals or the community come together to plant up unloved spaces in their local area - was piqued after attending a talk in the summer by Richard Reynolds about the transformation of empty flower beds around Elephant and Castle. Since then, I got hold of a copy of his … Continue reading Guerrilla gardening: coming to Walthamstow in a big way?
One of GROW London's most interesting offerings was in the form of a talk by Elephant and Castle-based guerilla gardener, Richard Reynolds.
This weekend in London it's Open Garden Squares Weekend, where more than 200 London gardens will unlock their gates. We know lots of gardeners and growers are looking forward to exploring everything from traditional squares to roof terraces and allotments. But for something a bit special - and in our wonderful Walthamstow - the Hornbeam team have organised Waltham Forest’s … Continue reading Waltham Forest’s Green Open Homes 2016: recommendations for gardeners and growers
Lloyd Park is one of the most treasured spots in Walthamstow. If it's one of your regular spots for weekend picnics and gallery visits you'll know all about what makes it a pretty magical place, but here are our five reasons why we love it so. What have we missed? Add your comments on the bottom … Continue reading Five reasons we all love Walthamstow’s Lloyd Park
For gardeners, veg patch keepers, and allotment growers, raised beds are one of the best ways of growing a wide range of plants, fruit, and vegetables. This blog post describes how to make raised beds from scaffold planks. You can pick these up at builders' yards, gardening shops, on ebay and Gumtree - but I bought mine for … Continue reading Making raised beds from scaffold planks… the Walthamstow way
