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Street gardening

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  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    What a lovely site @Loxley - thanks for sharing that.
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    Nice blog, @Fire :smile:
    We've done a lot of plant swapping in the street since lockdown - I think we've all got one of Fred's begonias in a pot, Claire's sunflowers are in most gardens and there are very few houses without one of my Peperomia. Individual swaps have included irises, sedums, cyclamen, herbs, etc. Lots of toys and jigsaws are gradually working their way from house to house and we all now know who has which tools to borrow. Fewer actual communal activities, though we did have front garden lockdown concerts every week for over 3 months.

    The problem we have with the tree pits is shallow, very dry soil. The pits are not big, so mainly filled with tree roots, and water tends to run off if we're not very careful. I've seen that others elsewhere build up the sides a bit but I don't think that would work here for various reasons. So crocuses and other small bulbs that can be inserted into gaps between roots have been OK, and I'm planning things like Lobularia maritima and Erigeron karvinskianus if I can get them established.
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    @LG_ our tree pits are basically sandy, so we have gone for plants that are ok with very sandy soils. We haven't gone for wooden edging as we don't want to present a trip hazard. Sedum seem to do well and wild flowers like ox eye daisies, valerian rub., yes, fleabane. I'm learning as I go and have only been gardening for ten years. Other lifetime gardeners will know a wider palette of plants that do well. Sometimes the tree beds look very hard but if you dig a bit with a trowel, they might surprise you. The size of the bed is pretty key. The tree my house has a big bed so more room to play.

    We tried encouraging others on the street to plant up their tree beds, but it didn't work out. They did it for a few months and then it all turned to weeds.
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    edited August 2020
    I have dug - sometimes for weeding, sometimes for planting - there's very little that isn't tree root and the pits are only about 18"-2' square. The trip hazard issue is the same here, among other issues. I tend to do the whole street - with the blessing / encouragement of the neighbours - as it's not a long street and there aren't that many trees. I've got loads of bits of ground covering sedum I could try, thanks for the idea, I'd forgotten I had them. I'll wait until I can face being outside though - this heat is killing me.
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I'd love to see pics. x
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    What a wonderful response; it gladdens my heart to know so many people are tidying and beautifying the streets we live in.  Civic pride at its best.

    My last house had only a tiny back yard, but a strip of waste ground across the road which the council mowed once or twice a year.  I tried to cultivate a bit of it, hoping that other local people would join in when they saw what I was doing, but in 14 years no-one ever did, and my unaided efforts made little impact.  I hope the daffs and crocuses are still coming up each year.

    Two of the tree pits on my street were briefly adopted by someone who soon gave it up, having covered them with what I suspect to be multi-purpose compost.  It soon became impacted, the tree roots having grown up into it.  I didn't know roots could defy gravity;  I suppose the lure of a quick fix of nutrients and water overcame their natural growth habit.  Now it is impossible to dig planting holes or to water it.  Water runs off it like off a duck's back.  Last year, I struggled to punch holes all over it with a hand fork, and still the water couldn't penetrate.   Should I try and hack it all out, rescue the spring bulbs that are in it, and replace it with some of my own soil and home-made compost?  Would it damage the tree?


  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    It probably doesn't count but builders dug up a corner of my garden a couple of years ago when they were working on the plot next door. They dumped the soil up the road and now it's covered in all kinds of interesting 'weeds' from my garden. There're teasels, ox-eye daisies, feverfew and other tough survivors.
    No point in planting the rest of the street up though as the council have blokes on quad bikes who go around spraying anything green. I keep the street litter free though.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,360
    The council here do spray the tree pits but if they see that someone has planted something, they leave it alone 🙂, for which I'm grateful. The consequence is that I do have to weed them, as the weeds aren't killed either! 
    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    If a bed is really full of tree roots, I would find another bed. We have London planes in our area and decent sized beds around them, so it's not too much of a problem.

    Also, trees are fairly often taken out, because of insurance claims etc. The trees here were planted at the same time as the houses, around 1905, and were planted quite close to the houses. We are on basic London clay so subsidance, weather shifting aquifers etc, do clause problems. I will be jumping on beds that are not going to be replanted with trees to stop them being tarmacked over - hopefully becoming community plots.

    Lockdown has certainly raised the profile of these issues - gardening, community group, mutual aid etc. Let's hope it lasts, alongside people's commitment to new community projects. 
  • ERICS MUMERICS MUM Posts: 627
    Our council sends some round twice a year to spray the gutter weeds with weed killer.  We residents then pull up and dispose of the dead remains.
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