At our March meeting we were delighted to welcome John Little whose garden was featured in the March edition of the RHS magazine, The Garden. He introduced his talk by emphasising the importance of gardens and gardeners; talked about the undervaluing of gardeners, and the lack of revenue to maintain large gardening projects, often created with a substantial amount of capital funding. We saw examples of some brilliant community gardening projects developed for the community, contrasted with bleak public spaces with no greenery at all. John talked about the necessity to rethink our gardening and create new landscapes growing on unusual materials eg rubbish destined for landfill or left through fly tipping. We saw pictures of the Canvey Wick nature reserve managed by the RSPB and Buglife, a brownfield site which developed on poor quality soil and sand, gravel and chalk. It now supports more species of invertebrates – including 30 species on the UK’s red list – than any other Site of Special Scientific Interest in the country. John recommended that gardeners should work alongside entomologists to ensure that planting can support a wide range of invertebrates – which in turn encourages a greater population of wildlife in gardens. John explained how it is possible to grow plants on sand, rubble and other building materials. He showed us pictures of the beautiful planting in his own garden, using Gabions to hold waste material to form boundaries, green roofs on sheds and bike shelters and altering the topography of the garden by creating mounds on which to plant. Members were inspired to try planting in builders sand or creating mounds in their own gardens. In the words of one member – John’s talk was truly inspiring in his subject and delivery ……it did feel as if there was something each of us could do in our own gardens.

The AHS committee is organising a visit to John’s garden on the 1st June – details will be sent to all members and supporters in the next few weeks.

A presentation by John Little of his garden ‘Hilldrop’ in South Essex. His garden is most certainly not rubbish, but a supreme example of gardening on poor soils and substrates and demonstrates how this supports a variety of plants and wildlife.

Those of you who are RHS members will see John’s garden in your March copy of ‘The Garden’: a front cover illustration and feature, “Rising from the Rubble” – a more appropriate title than the one we’ve given our session!

“Gardens should be resilient, sustainable and available to all”. John Little ‘The Garden’ RHS March 23

At the February meeting of Aldersbrook Horticultural Society, Myanah Saunders, a gardener friend from Forest Gate spoke about how she had created a new garden from scratch after moving into a smaller property with a smaller garden. It was fascinating to listen to how she planned her garden, anticipating what her garden needed to be like as she got older. She had raised beds put in to make planting and weeding easier and several arches to add height and interest to her garden. She also introduced artificial grass to reduce the need for mowing. As well as talking about her new garden Myanah gave us many interesting facts about who gardens and why and how they garden. She also gave us a potted history of gardening from gardening during Egyptian times to the present day accompanied by some colourful slides. Myanah is heavily involved in the Forest Gate Community Garden and she was able to update us on events happening in that garden, which we recommend that people visit.