Hackney Wick Garden

Saturday, 5 September 2009

Hackney Wick Guerilla Gardeners Strike Again!!

With only a few short weeks to go to the Hackney Wick Festival 2009 - our VERY friendly Guerrilla Gardeners have delivered a stunning raised bed for us!

Thank you to everyone involved!!! You have really made this little corner of the Wick beautiful!!

Please - Hackney Wick - go for a lovely stroll over the weekend - and spend a few minutes on the new wide corner of Berkshire Road & Wallis Road. There's a fragrant bay tree surrounded by loads of busy lizzies & pansies!

Hackney Wick Guerrilla Gardeners - we all love you!!!

Wednesday, 15 April 2009

Sunflower Avenue Through Hackney Wick!!

This summer - we would love to attempt an avenue of sunflowers all the way from the Hackney Wick Community Centre - in the Eastway - through to the footbridge at the end of Wallis Road.

Imaging a beautiful path of yellow all along Osborne, Berkshire & Wallis Roads right over into Viccie Park!?!

Some of the residents of Leabank Square - about half way - have already agreed to plant along the main Berkshire Road part of the avenue. Terry - the manager of the Hackney Wick Community Centre - has lovingly agreed to kick it all off at the Community Centre. And Tom & his lovely family at the Wallis Road end have fantastically agreed to plant some along the tall brick wall.

So - please everyone else!!! Grab a bag of seeds at Lidl, B&Q or the Pound Shop - and start planting all along this avenue! It will bring us all together in such a great path of happy yellow!!

Monday, 16 March 2009

Spring Onions 2009

How's this for some excellent Guerrilla Gardening?!

Some fantastic gardener has planted about 100 sets of spring onions all along the Hackney Wick beginning of the Greenway - just before the Hackney Wick Pill Box Bunker.

Thank you very much for adding such delicious flavour to our picnic on our monthly trip to see how far the Olympic Stadium has come along. These are the milder flavoured spring onions - so the kids tucked in with as much relish as us adults!

Come on Hackney Wick - let's start planting much more food all over The Wick!!

Tuesday, 13 May 2008

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!!

Friday, 9 May 2008

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.