plant projects
The UP Garden has over 200 species of plants at the last count, carefully chosen for their hardiness, colour, and benefits to urban wildlife. Although we have a few knowledgeable hobby gardeners amongst our regular volunteers, most of us are new to gardening. We don't consider anything to be a failure, just a learning opportunity; The UP Garden will evolve as we try out different ideas and suggestions. As well as the wide variety of plants you'll see at every turn, we have some ongoing projects worth mentioning.
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Micro-allotments
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We built six box planters of around 1sqm which local residents with no gardens of their own can borrow on a rolling basis to grow their own food. It has been fascinating to see the different plants that each household has chosen to grow, and how they have been used in meals!
If you would like to join the waitlist for a micro-allotment, please apply here. Please note that we prioritise certain factors, and cannot reply to all applicants.
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Adopt a planter
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Our micro-allotment project has become so popular, we are going to make our colourful trellis planters available too. They will be for ornamental plants, rather than edible ones. Details coming soon!
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Nature Builders food project
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We are lending one of our two low box planters to Nature Builders urban forest school to aid their sessions. After being readied by our Social Weedia community gardeners, the students plant their seeds, learn about plant care and protection, and gain skills in problem-solving, resilience and patience. If all goes to plan, they harvest what they have grown and learn about food sustainability. A wonderful inter-generational project!
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Bee bed
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With help from CPRE and Totum Partners, we excavated a 3x3m asphalt slab and turned it into a wildflower bed with plants specifically chosen to attract bees and other pollinators. So far we've spotted ox-eye daisies, cornflowers, musk mallows, poppies, fiddlenecks and corn marigolds. It's incredible how popular the bee bed is - dozens of bees every day in warm weather!
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Butterfly bed
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In summer 2023, GoodGym helped us to dig out a 1x8m bed at the end of the urban meadow, then Sustainably Muslim hosted a 'Big City Butterflies' event funded by Butterfly Conservation. Butterflies and moths have been disappearing due to habitat threats. So along with various themed activities, the bed was filled with plants specifically chosen to attract butterflies and moths, e.g. raven hawkbit, wild marjoram, common st john's wort, kidney vetch, wild carrot, oxeye daisy, birdsfoot trefoil, bis gears, strawberry, lavender, mint, camomile, basil, rosemary.​
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Stumpery
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We inherited some huge tree stumps so decided to make them into a feature, adding smaller stumps that insects can use to create homes in. During our first winter, we planted a variety of spring bulbs, such as English bluebells (which are under threat across the countryside), daffodils, crocuses, snowdrops, and scillas. Due to its location, the stumpery is also where we experiment with plants that prefer more shade.
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Wisteria pergola
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We encourage upcycling where possible, so instead of having the laundry poles sawn out, we asked to keep them so we can grow wisteria along them. The wisteria is just starting to creep its way across the laundry lines, and will take time to spread out, but eventually we should have a natural pergola! It's also a nice touch to give an original feature new purpose, that lets visitors know why the Yard exists in the first place.
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Calabash pergola
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Whilst we wait for the wisteria to make its way along the laundry lines, we successfully trialled growing calabash on them!
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Herb planter
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To encourage visitors to come by sustainable means of transport, Doing R Bit made us a buggy shelter, scooter rack and bike rack. This also helps to keep walkways clear and everyone that bit safer. We always look for an opportunity to add green features, so a herb roof was incorporated into the buggy shelter (which also funnels excess rain into a water butt). There are a few herbs that grow well in shallow soil: we have mint, creeping thyme, lemon thyme, dill and chive.
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Grapevine project
We are trying to grow grapevines over by our single gate. If successful, we might have The UP Garden wine!
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Tea-tree planter
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LuLin Teas have been huge supporters of The UP Garden since early days. When this Forest Gate business asked if they could grow tea here to help with demonstration workshops, we jumped at the chance! LuLin Teas donated four tea trees, and did the honours by planting them in ericaceous soil, and watering them.
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We added a net barrier to protect them from cheeky foxes and cats. Once they're less vulnerable, we can remove the barrier. When they get to 'tea-bush size' (although all tea plants are actually trees), the planter will only accommodate two, but we have started with four to give us more chance of success.
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As all tea comes from the same plant, a tea variety is determined by where it is grown, the climate, soil conditions and how the tea is processed (like wine!), so LuLin Teas says that should be enough to make the tea that comes from our plants "The UP Garden tea"! We can't wait to try it so fingers crossed we can keep the tea trees alive (East London is not a natural home for tea growing)!
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