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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.

 

Hampshire Gardener
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Posts

  • sotongeoffsotongeoff Posts: 9,802

    Really-which station?

  • Gardengirl..Gardengirl.. Posts: 4,172

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

    Hampshire Gardener
  • sotongeoffsotongeoff Posts: 9,802

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

  • Gary HobsonGary Hobson Posts: 1,892

    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

  • Gardengirl..Gardengirl.. Posts: 4,172

    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.

    Hampshire Gardener
  • Gardengirl..Gardengirl.. Posts: 4,172

    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.

    Hampshire Gardener
  • What a wonderful station garden! I live outside Glasgow. And all the train stations I pass through everyday are so drab and could be easily made to look so much better with plants.
  • Todmorden, where Incredible Edible started, has vegetables as well as flowers.
  • Gardengirl..Gardengirl.. Posts: 4,172

    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

    Hampshire Gardener
  • Gardengirl..Gardengirl.. Posts: 4,172

    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

     

     

     

    Hampshire Gardener
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