Making The Garden Grow: The Inside Story 28

And. . .  We're Done!

We've been hard at it since our last entry, making sure the Garden was ready for our Big Lunch/Big Launch and thanks to the team who went above and beyond what was asked of them, the finished product looks gorgeous.

We'll let the photos speak for themselves and just say a humungous thank you to the team - you know who you are and we think you're amazing!

Making The Garden Grow - The Inside Story: 29

The Final Countdown?

The building team are busy bees this spring trying to get the final elements of the garden in place.

The pergola's now taking shape. It will hopefully house artwork, including a lovely mosaic by local resident and garden member, Hazel.  It will be lined by 2 raised beds and a bench made from pallets.



Planters and beds are appearing everywhere - of particular not are our 'herb crabs' made from tyres and reclaimed chair legs!  Next weekend will see our first planting day - all those fostered plants will finally be coming home so come and get your hands dirty and help them settle in.

Since the last blog post we've held our Spring Event, which was attended by over 300 people and it was fantastic to see the garden come alive with people.  It's also great to see families coming in on Saturday's to either help our or just sit and enjoy the space - exactly what we'd hoped.

Making The Garden Grow - The Inside Story: 28

Spring is Coming!

In a season where we've seen Cherry Blossom in December it's been a slow start in the Garden, but finally the bulbs planted by our volunteers and the pupils of the Quwwat-ul-Islam school are finally showing signs of life. Everything looks fantastic in the sunshine and it feels as though everything is about to burst into life.

Daffs & Muscari showing their heads

Welcome sunshine!

A thousand bulbs were planted in mid-December and we're looking forward to a great display of Daffodils, Muscari, Hyacinths and Tulips, which will add some welcome early Colour.

Despite the prolonged cold snap our building team are still hard at it and we're now adding the final touches to some of the main areas. 

The pond liner's been trimmed and fixed in place and the pond itself's been decorated with river rocks and pebbles.  We'll be planting the Water Lily and Iris donated by members as soon as we can raise some money for aquatic soil and baskets.  We're also looking for funding to complete the pond planting, including oxygenating plants to keep the water healthy for aquatic wildlife.

The bed behind the pond's been filled with a mixed later of gravel and rubble for drainage, which is sitting under 1 ton of sterilised topsoil.  Compost will be added next week ready for planting with Yukka, Foxgloves, Irises, Japanese Anemone and grasses,  A mix of pollinator friendly seeds will be sprinkled into the remaining spaces.

The final stage of construction's also underway.  The entrance pergola's been marked out ready for work to start next week - exciting!

Making The Garden Grow - The Inside Story: 27

It's All Coming Together!

Sophie & Jenny's raised bed

Bill's stage is almost finished

It's funny how everything just starts coming together all of a sudden.  Ever since the pond was lined late last year the garden's really started to take on it's final shape.

Raised beds are going up all over the garden ready for planting and we're starting to place plants ready for planting in spring.  Sophie and Jenny made an amazing bed, complete with trellis backing on Saturday, which will house the wild hop and clematis we found on site when we move in.

The new container entrance

Stepping stones and raised bed

It's difficult to do anything on the side of the garden with the missing hoarding but we've started to edge the path and created a raised bed around the Sycamore.  Once the hoarding's back up we can finish that section off and build another insect habitat.

We're also starting to plan out the final stepping stone paths at the far end of the garden between the Victorian gate, the quiet zone and the pond, which will be dug in next weekend.

A bit of extra work went on during the week and the container now has a permanent astroturf finish (complete with plastic wildflowers) to welcome everyone - a nice match for the 'grass' at the front of the stage. The March deadline's starting to look a bit more realistic now!

Making The Garden Grow - The Inside Story: 26

New Year,  New Garden

So much has been happening since the FGCG re-opened on 9th January and things are really coming together now.

Our first raised beds and seating area

The finished Quiet Zone and Pond

Our amazing team of volunteers have finished the Kids Area and the Quiet Zone (apart from a final few touches to the book shed).  We're also finishing off the pond area paving so that we can start filling and decorating the pond. Paths are being laid to connect the various parts of the garden and the entertainment space is now a roofed stage with deck board flooring.

The finished Kids Area and fallen hoarding

View from the Stage out into the garden

Seating and raised beds are starting to appear and all the lovely pots of bulbs planted in December are being dotted around garden and bring some welcome Spring colour and to decorate the seating areas. It's looking great as you can see from the photos.




Still a bit to do before Spring so if you're free on Saturday morning come along and take a look/help out!

New Year - New Job?

We are appointing our first garden co-ordinator!
This is an exciting opportunity for the right person to build on the good start we have made over the first 6 months.
We are looking for someone to organise the practical work in  the Garden for 8 hours a week over the next two years.
Could it be you? Or someone you know?
For the full Job Description and Person Specification email info@forestgate-community-garden.org.uk 
The closing date for applications (on-line only) is January 15th and interviews for short-listed candidates will be held on January 27th 2016