Building on our two award-winning projects, the bird, bee and butterfly garden at Ham Library and the allotments at Grey Court school, this project aimed to create more “Good Gardens” - residential gardens that are environmentally kind as well as attractive to look at - in our community over the course of one year.

We promoted the ideas and expertise on wildlife-friendly and resource-saving practices in a changing climate through a series of events (workshops and guided walks) and our existing communications channels (newsletters, website, social media, the Ham & Petersham Magazine, etc).

The project ran from July 2021 to June 2022. 

Click on the hyperlinks to read summaries of the events in this project: 

Improving your garden for wellbeing and wildlife. Talk by Alison Marsden. - 28th June 2022

Growing good. A walk and talk on sustainable food and flower growing with Ham House gardeners Vanessa Park and Janette Slack-Smith. - 29 April 2022

Adapting gardens to climate change. A guided tour of Ham House Gardens with Head Gardener Rosie Fyles. - 4 March 2022

Attracting garden birds. A talk by bird enthusiast John Gard. - 11 November 2021

How to get the best out of water in your garden - A walking tour of residential ponds and water harvesting systems. - 17 October 2021

Green grafting for a greener environment - An informative tour of the Wates Estate’s gardens with local garden designer Thérèse Rebeiz. - 25 September 2021

Good Gardens launch party - 6 July 2021 

Resources

We have put together some excellent resources from books and websites to podcasts and videos to help you turn your own garden into a "good garden". Click here to view them. 

Thanks

Artwork kindly provided by local artist Beatriz Olivares Vela. Follow Bea on Instagram @bea.wims. 

Good Gardens for Everyone is funded by Richmond upon Thames' Local Area Fund.