Greening Willesden Green: This initiative started with Willesden Green and Dollis Hill tube stations but has progressed.
I am Vice Chair of the Willesden Green Town Team which is now 3 years old. We are the active residents and businesses striving to improve our high road and its environs and to make our community healthier and communicative, collaborative and consultative.
We want all our community members to participate in helping us Green the area - starting with our two Tube Stations and moving down the high road. We want to add yet more railing planters; lamp-post baskets; planters where children can grow vegetables (note we have little public space and no green space along our high road); places where plants and bike parking can mix with seats and mosaics..
We have begun working with children planting seeds with the help of a grant from the Edward Harvist fund, and more such workshops will happen in 2016 as I have arranged with our local library to have some planters outside for the children. I will also be running a regular gardening club at the library.
We have been helping our local shops and other retail premises to grow plants outside and inside their premises with many of the plants donated but also by purchasing plants, seeds and bulbs for these activities..
The work is all carried out by volunteers.Including transferring by hand, and back, in 25 kilo black bags, 4.5 metric tons of soil from the pavement, down two flights of stairs, to the platform, for the tube station planters!
Shops water the containers by them; local gardeners and members of our Residents Associations weed and dead-head; and children will learn alongside them.
We will all enjoy the fragrances and colours and hopefully, some of the vegetables the children grow too!
All money raised goes towards buying items.It costs us £350 pa to plant each railing basket and £100 to buy another such planter. Planters for the children will cost £250 ea.Seeds start @ £1.50
