Guerrilla Gardening Hits Gillingham
Mysteriously, overnight the Orchard Park Roundabout on Shaftesbury Road has sprouted flowers! It happened just in time for the summer visitors and has brightened up a bit of a dead spot.
The roundabout has been sadly neglected and was only mown every now and then so as one of the main entry points to Gillingham it was certainly lacking in pizzazz. The soil here is very poor and the guerrilla gardeners went to the trouble of installing five attractive raised beds made out of treated half round timber.
A mass of locally grown [Mere] geraniums are getting their roots down and with a bit of good weather should put on a show until the autumn. Who knows what will happen then!
The roundabout is at the entrance to Gillingham’s garden centre Orchard Park. Richard Cumming, who runs the business there, said “ I have absolutely no idea how the planters got there but it does make a wonderful difference. We have been in discussion with the local council for some considerable time about landscaping the roundabout but we are still trying to sort out costs with them as apparently we are going to have to pay business rates if we sponsor it.”
So, in the meantime Orchard Park have said that they will gladly look after the flowers and keep the grass cut, and have promised the guerrilla gardeners a bit of help with an autumn or winter display when the time comes.
Want more information?
Contact Richard Cumming, Orchard Park, Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham SP8 5PX
Tags: flowers, garden, gardeners, Gardening, Orchard Park, raised beds
It’s been great to see the geraniums this summer – gives a nice positive feel to that end of town. Thank you Orchard Park!
Whatever happened to the roses on the roundabout on the Mere road? Did they get neglected – for some years they looked fantastic all summer. Have most been stolen or do you think they died. So sad to loose that lovely splash of pink as you come into Gillingham