Gardening Club Plus gets their ‘green fingers’ in Tree Pit Gardens on Tunmarsh Lane

Following a successful pilot of ‘Adopt a tree Pit’ initiative by PSBL Green Spaces and Streets team, five out of seven Tree Pit gardens have now been adopted since February 2019,thoroughly transformed with hard work and dedication by local residents living nearby, who also look after them.

Three months on, to give residents a helping hand with maintenance, Gardening Club Plus has expanded their twice-monthly meet-ups to now include  Gardening at Tree Pit Gardens once a month as well, so we are now meeting every 1st,3rd and 4th Wednesday  at 10 am for socialising and nurturing plants-and friendships!

The Tree Pit Gardens are now a point of conversation, passers-by stop to admire them, and compliment us on the gardens looking lush and colourful, people driving past and tooting their horns in support and even a few ‘thank you so much’ shout outs! The local dog owners have been very respectful too, as they do not let their dogs disturb the plants or leave ‘deposits’ when they curiously sniff around the Tree Pits.

Last Saturday,27th April, we also had our first ‘Tree Pit Gardeners’ meeting, where we discussed challenges of growing public community gardens (stolen plants, littering, fly-tipping, vandalising), and where to source out water for watering the Tree Pits Gardens during dry spells-and we came up with a great solution: Water butt to be installed in one of our Tree Gardeners front gardens, for everyone to use during the dry spells. The minimal amount of plants that grew ‘legs’ instead of roots has already been replaced by PSBL, and there are plans to sow more seeds over the coming months to keep the Tree Pit Gardens beautiful. Our next Tee Pit Gardeners meeting will be at the end of June, hopefully ending with the picnic.

There are funds available to transform the remaining two Tree Pits on Tunmarsh Lane (one in collaboration with Tunmarsh Centre and their Children’s Play group), so watch this space for more greenery on Plaistow Streets!

We also meet at The Orchard on the Greenway, where we are in the process of creating a ‘Herb Garden’, as well as at ‘The Mix’, where we shelter from cold and wet weather, and run cooking or creative workshops of some sort in winter.

If you are interested in getting involved- by donating plants and seeds, volunteering, creating beautiful and lasting legacy in our neighbourhood, as well as making new friends whilst doing a spot of gardening, please get in touch with Milena via e-mail on milena@plaistowsouthbiglocal.org.uk