Train Station Gardens

Hello

Has any one volunteered at their local railway station garden before?

Creating a new flower bed from scratch or working on one that has already been started is very rewarding.  I have just started to help out at my local station garden in Southampton, making a nice new flower bed from scratch.

There are 2 of us and we have added a few low maintenance plants to make a bit of colour for commuters to see in nice free draining soil in a sunny site.

Really-which station?

Hi it's Sholing station on the southampton central to portsmouth line

Now I know-when passing will have a look-thanks

I am not far from Leamington Spa station, in Warwickshire.

A couple of years ago, the garden there, which was maintained by volunteers, received an award from Country Life for the the best country garden, of any kind, in the country.

It was up against gardens at Corsock House Scotland, Goodnestone Park Gardens in Kent, and the Plas Cadnant Gardens North Wales, and many others.

Photos of Leamington Spa station garden:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70023venus2009/4675418043/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70023venus2009/4675420253/in/photostream/

Story:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/6674671/Leamington-Spa-train-station-garden-voted-Britains-best.html

Hello sotongeoff

Feel free to have a look any time- it will be more colourful in spring when the bulbs appear.

Garden down off the entrance walkway to the right.

Hello Gary Hobson

Your photos show an amazing arange of colour and what a lot of garden space and volunteers working on that garden.

There is only 2 of us but our garden is a lot smaller than that one.

We are trying to adopt the station scheme.

Good growing edibles if you dont mind tending to them a lot and harvesting them.

 I grow veg at home but dont think I would at the train station think I would just like to add colour with flowers and plants that mainly look after their self - but I did think of that a bit to start with

Hello

just to let you know how I got into volunteering, by an ad in the newspaper which said about planting a garden at Woolston station in Southampton, which I was intered in.  Started with a bit of litter picking then we planted some roses- few more volunteers here than at Sholing - which was a start to making a station garden, more work has been done since.

Swaythling station also got a garden tidy,there is a wildlife area at that station with a small pond.

So if any body is interested in voluntering contact Mark Miller (volunteers always welcome)

If you are just interested, here is some of there websites to look at with some pictures of some of the stations on route line

www.facebook.com/threeriversrail  

www.twitter.com/threeriversrail        

www.threeriversrail.com

Hay there has been a photo added to the facebook page link above post.

showing our flower bed at sholing station if anybody would like to have a look.

Nice one Garden girl, having just moved into a new house in Wales and have taken on an allotment from scratch time prevents us from helping or starting a station venture, but we have moved from Falmouth and a couple of stations there were just suphered one has a large wooden noddy type of train for the kids brightly painted and full of colourfull flowers and i hasten to add yobo problem free, its really great what your doing Good Luck
Alan4711 

Hello Alan4711

Thanks

Would be nice to have a large planter like the brightly coloured train but there is a large raised bed and some small areas for planting.(shame there is not much colour at the station even in paint).

Good luck with your allotment, lots of winter digging to do then, the station had a lot of digging to be done as the raised bed was overgrown, But worth the effort to make more colour there.

Anybody had a look at the photos on  www.facebook.com/threeriversrail  

Tell me what you think of sholing station does it look ok?

Could  it do with something else added?

any thoughts people

it looks great and that bike is something else,,do you think the rail people would be interested in a kind of competition for station gardeners, they might help with the flower supplying or something, anything to help maybe tools as prizes whateve,r with  the prices  we all pay for tickets ,I'm sure they can afford it , and they would probably be glad to help all good  PR stuff, i know you dont do it for gain but it all helps .

Good luck Alan

Bike not at sholing, it is in a different station, I like too.

Nice of people to donate items and plants to help at stations look attractive. 

We bought a few plants and got our money paid back from the three rivers rail - they are a non profitable business, just to make journey nice for commuters, isn't that nice of them and with help of volunteers- to keep stations looking good for others.

Hello all

Some news that sholing station could be getting a water butt.

Which should help when all the plants need watering in the new made flower bed.

Do you know of any train stations that has a water butt?

Hi Gardengirl, It looks great, once the spring bulbs get going it should really start to shine, well done for getting involved and doing this. You can't beat flowers for making somewhere a pleasant place to be. The forum doesn't have a clapping smiley but if it did I would place one here.

Hello all

Found some very old pictures of Sholing station looks complety different

 Here's how it looks now

 Railings are all blue not red

 The shelters now so much smaller

The new raised bed garden which I have been helping with - more like a garden than it was an over grown mess. The garden is getting there will have lots of bulbs in spring. Allways things to do.

What do you think about Sholing station?

Have you got any photos of the train station near where you live and how it looks now?