To celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the start of the war, on 4th August, we launched a new Commemoration Street campaign category for the best display of poppies.
Ray Wilson, a resident of Ivybridge in South Hams, Devon, decided he wanted to do something in his local community to mark the Centenary celebrations. He’s an active member of the Royal British Legion, so he settled on a poppy project.
“I wanted to see what we as a town could do to commemorate all the people from the area who took part in the conflict. Forty-four of them never came back; others came back with the mental and physical scars of war,” he said.
The first task was to give every school child in the area a bag of poppy seeds to plant at home. That turned out to be easier said than done, especially when they found out how many schoolchildren there were in the area!
The mammoth task involved getting 5000 bags and manually filling them with a mixture of sand and poppy seeds, to make sowing easy. They then made cards and flyers to send out, and distributed the packs to all the schools.
“It was four nights’ work for a lot of our members. But I loved meeting young people who said ‘I have planted my poppy seeds’ or ‘my poppies are growing’. More importantly, when asked why they were growing them, they knew,” said Ray.
The next project was to create a ‘Flanders Field’ of poppies in the town. Residents decided to makeover an unused patch of land, which they described as an ‘eyesore’.
They decided to name it ‘Harry’s Patch’, a play on words of Harry Patch, who was the last surviving soldier to have fought in the trenches. He was known as the last fighting Tommy, and he died in 2009 at the age of 111 years, 1 month and 1 week.
But the site was to prove difficult. First in was the ‘Weed and root removal party’, who painstakingly attempted to clear the land with picks and shovels. After several hours of effort for little reward, they decided to hire a rotavator!
Once the ground was turned over, the local South Hams garden team treated the area to remove the weeds. Last October, Ray planted 800 daffodil bulbs and created a wooden sign.
The group then added five river boulders, to represent the five years of conflict and the tombstones around the battlefields. They added benches and pathways, and the South Hams garden team sowed poppy seeds.
One of the finishing touches is a handmade poppy mosaic. It was designed by the local church group and made by visitors to a local community centre event. They plan to put it up in the garden as a winter project after the poppies have finished blooming.
“We were blessed with a great team of volunteers, and we also had financial support and grants from our local district and county council,” said Ray.
Councillor Mrs Karen Pringle, Mayor of Ivybridge thanked Ray and the team for their hard work and said, “Not only has the land been hugely improved but by involving children, via the schools across the town it has engaged everyone. I believe that the project has acted as a catalyst across the town and is an outstanding demonstration of the gratitude that Ivybridge retains for those who served our country during WWI, not just between 2014 and 2018 but we hope for the future.”
Harry’s Patch won Commemoration Street 2014. The group has won £500 of National Garden Gift Vouchers, plus a donation of £500 to their local Royal British Legion branch.
This category was judged by Graham Mentor-Morris, the founder of the Real Poppy campaign. He asked 512 members of his local British Legion branch to vote.
They felt that the people of Ivybridge had made a truly fantastic effort, particularly with the commemorative signs and mosaic. The time people spent bagging up seeds shows a true dedication, and the judges were very impressed with everything they saw.
It’s wonderful to see a community uniting over poppy flowers.
Ray says “The feedback we have had from members of the public has been very moving and so far exceeds what we could have hoped for. It’s not just from Ivybridge but from people who have visited the town and former members of our armed services. That has been the win for all of us involved with the project – total pride in what we have achieved.”
[fusion_dropcap]Q[/fusion_dropcap]I want to build a sensory garden – can you give me any advice on designing and creating one for a school? It needs to be a quiet, calming place for students to relax and work.
[fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap]Sensory gardens are a great idea. The best way to design one is to add elements for the different senses.
Scented plants are a must, and climbers are good too as they surround people with flowers and scents. Jasmine and honeysuckle are great for this.
You can also try tough herbs like lavender, thyme and rosemary. If you plant mint, keep it in containers – it runs wild if planted in the ground.
Next add in plants with texture and foliage. Anything with rich leaves works – just head to your garden centre and stand plants next to each other to check they work together. One of my favourites is lamb’s ears, which has soft fluffy leaves.
Texture and foliage plays a big part in sensory gardens
You can also try succulents and alpines in paving cracks, grasses in among wildflowers – whatever you like! I have written about great foliage plants, as well as choosing the best varieties from Chelsea Flower Show and Hampton Court.
If you have a large area, a tight budget, or even just a bed you want to fill with flowers quickly, I would recommend a wildflower mix. This will give you a great range of pretty flowers in just a few months.
Make sure you create lots of seating areas for people to enjoy the garden. This doesn’t have to be furniture – if you have raised beds or water features, make sure they have walls or edges that people can sit on. If you have the space for a lawn, it’s really the most cost-effective seating area!
Water features are very calming, and they attract wildlife, which is a good bonus. If you don’t have room for a fountain, try rain chains and bird baths.
With school gardens, students get the most out of them when they are allowed to help create the garden, from choosing plants and features to building, planting, watering and weeding. Good luck!
To celebrate the second year of our Cultivation Street campaign, we’re taking a look at last year’s winners and what they’ve done with their prize vouchers.
The deserving winners of Inspiration Street 2013 were residents of Grove Road Estate in King’s Heath, Birmingham. They had come together to develop the gardens in their sheltered housing scheme made up of two tower blocks, mostly inhabited by single elderly people.
The judges were impressed by how the residents had joined forces to make the garden beautiful, and do therapeutic and meaningful activities together to improve relationships between the neighbours.
Residents Jan and Terry began doing up the garden because their friend Trevor used to sit on the garden bench with nothing but concrete to look at.
“We decided to transform the garden into a nice place to sit. Then we got inspired, and started transforming all of the grass and concrete area around the two blocks!” said Jan.
Bit by bit other residents began to join in, and they overcame some tough hurdles. The site gets a lot of vehicle and foot traffic through to a local school and a pub, and many residents have health and mobility issues. Some of those that couldn’t help physically in the garden offered plants and cups of tea instead.
When they won the vouchers, they all headed to the local garden centre and spent three happy hours taking advice from staff and choosing plants.
They have planted species with golden foliage and berries to celebrate the RHS Go for Gold Britain in Bloom, and had everything ready for RHS Open Gardens day on 22 March, to coincide with the Big Dig Day.
The residents now have a local allotment group coming to do a veg-growing workshop with them. Jan said, “This year, it’s all about relationships: our growing understanding of sustainability and how to show respect for nature, and our growing friendships with one another as we garden side by side.”
“The garden was wasteland only two years ago, but now it’s almost as if it knows that it’s loved and cared for – the grass feels lusher and the air is full of energy. Now we can admire not only the flowers, but the bees, butterflies and tasty produce too!”
The garden this year, including the bench with the plaque
Sadly, Trevor died of cancer last July, and the residents had a plaque installed on the bench in his memory. But the garden is still bringing their community together, even in the face of adversity.
Jan told us, “When we’re out in the garden, shyer neighbours stop for a chat, and as a result, some are coming to our indoor events too. There is quite a knock-on effect.”[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
