Leabank Square Gardeners Club

For those of you who don't know - Leabank Square is right in the heart of Hackney Wick. As it's name suggests - it is on the bank of the Lea River. It has 7 blocks - all looking out over a central green.

Due to a lack of management (but a lot of service charge!) the square has looked severely neglected for years now. So a bunch of kids wanted to start doing things to make Leabank Square a better place to live in.

So they started the club.

In these pics are just some of the things that the Leabank Square Gardeners Club have been up to.

They just do NOT stop working!!

They are such an inspiration to the rest of us in Hackney Wick to start planting & tidying up our own neighbourhood!!

More Green - Less Blue!!

In our feeble attempt to bring a bit of green back to your stroll, cycle, cruise, jog or even joy ride past the Large Blue Olympic Wall - we have planted a few more trees & bushes along it.

Taking advantage of this stunning weather - a bunch of us dug, weeded & planted the new additions. But as we are very skint - the offerings are very young & immature. If any of the above mentioned (possibly not the joy riders) are feeling a bit flush - please could you pop to B&Q or Columbia Road (http://www.columbia-flower-market.freewebspace.com/on a Sunday) & get something a bit more mature to plant.

Please simply plant it well & water thoroughly. Then grab any stick & stake it to them. This is more to stop the lawn mowers & strimmers from chopping it down. Oh.... and don't forget to take a few pics & send them to hackneywickgarden@yahoo.co.uk so that we can put them up on this blog.

The more we ordinary people take control of the public towpaths, unloved spaces, derelict buildings, unkempt sidewalks, unloved flower beds & unwelcoming ares - by planting - the better we are going to feel about our surroundings.

Go for it!!

We Love Hackney Council!

I urge the rest of Hackney Wick to go & make a new friend in the new Travellers site in Wallis Road!!

The gardens they are creating inside their very small spaces are so very beautiful!! From small pot plants - to delicious veggies - to stunning floral arrangements!! And they are extremely happy to show us all around. Please go & greet our brand new neighbours!!

BUT - a massive round of thanks have to go to Hackney Council as well!

The landscaping of the surrounding gardens & sidewalks are coming along beautifully. As you come over the footbridge from Viccie Park into Hackney Wick is pretty soon going to be the greenest corner of the whole area!!

This evening - why not go for a stroll over in Viccie Park - stopping to check out the gardening going on. In a few short months - this corner of Hackney Wick is going to be the most welcoming part of our neighbourhood - friendly folks & lush & green plants & trees!! What more can you want?!

It's a pity about the opposite side of the road belonging to Tower Hamlets tho'.

The high (& dangerous) brick wall attempts to hide a heavy goods vehicle parking lot. Why can't we persuade Tower Hamlets Council to create a lovely little park on this land for all the residents, workers & visitors in this highly industrious part of Hackney Wick - to take a breather.

Imagine sitting on a park bench, having a bagel from Mr Bagels (http://www.mrbagels.com/) coffee from the Wick Cafe (check out what the amazing blogger londonist has to say about this lovely cafe http://londonist.com/2008/03/whats_for_lunch_43.php) a newspaper from Premier next door in Felstead Road - and green grass, trees & shrubs!!

Instead of a run down HGV parking lot!!

Aaaaaaaaaaaanyway. Thanks heaps to Hackney Council for all the amazing work you're doing for all of us. I love cycling along Wallis Road every day now & it will get even better when the plants all mature.

Plum tree

As some of you know - we lost our Fig Tree under the Olympic Juggernaut Wheels - so here's one of the replacements......

A Plum Tree!!!

Where Has Spring Gone?

Can you believe all this cold weather?!

I've heard of April Showers - but even this has got to be extreme.

Anyway - it makes for good pictures though - so let's not grumble too much!

Last day of March

These are some pics of the amazing people who spent their Monday afternoon helping make Leabank Square look absolutely beautiful!!

Many thanks to the gardeners - Amy, Cyprus (who worked so hard - even with a broken foot!), Denai (surely Hackney Wick's youngest gardener!), Sennur (who suggested Monday afternoons as a regular gardening event!), Safiri & Shanthi.

But equal thanks go out to everyone who came along to give encouragement. You see........

It really does work - if one person plants something - then 10 other people get enjoyment out of it!

Please - Hackney Wickers - lets get our whole hood as green & colourful as possible - that way when we go for an evening stroll or weekend cycle - we can admire one another's gardening skills!!

Colours

The bulbs planted earlier this year in the garden of Leabank Square are starting to come up now.

Everyone who passes them does a double-take!!

The management company of Leabank Square has severely neglected the garden & some of the residents joined hackneywickgarden.blogspot.com in trying to do something about it!

Please remember that anyone can join us. All you gotta do is plant something in Hackney Wick - take a couple of pics - and submit them plus a few words to this blogsite.

As easy as that.

Officially spring!!

The clocks sprung forward by an hour this morning - so it must officially be spring!

So some of us decided to plant a whole heap of new bulbs along the canal again.

300 to be precise!!

Of course - for those of us without a garden of our own - this is the next best thing - but guess what we all agreed was the absolute bestest thing ever?

The amount of cyclists, ramblers, working-off-lunchers, canoeists, even the odd (very) joy riding biker - ALL saying how nice the existing flowers are looking!!!!

For any sceptics out there - who are still not too sure about brightening Hackney Wick up with plants & trees - just chat to your neighbours & see how appreciative they are of what we're all doing!?

You'll be out there with a spade & fork before you know it.