Creating green spaces: community gardening at the University of Leeds
Student Sustainability Architect, Coline Lightfoot, reflects upon this year's community gardening projects...
As the Student Sustainability Architect for community gardening projects, this year’s projects have focused on increasing collaboration between the university and local community to create urban green spaces which benefit us all. Specifically, the two projects which I have been working on this past year are the creation of a forest garden at Brudenell Primary School and the renovation of a green space at Chapeltown Community Wellbeing Hub.
Read on to discover about these projects and the importance of urban gardening!
Creating a Forest Garden at Brudenell Primary School
In spring of 2023, the University of Leeds partnered with Brudenell Primary School to co-create and design a forest garden. Situated in the heart of an urban environment it can be difficult for school children to connect with nature. As a result, this initiative aims to enhance access to green spaces and immerse children in the natural world, fostering their involvement and appreciation for the natural environment.
Why a forest garden?
Green spaces are incredibly important for both our mental and physical wellbeing, with growing up around nature having been shown to significantly benefits children’s physical, mental and social development. As Brudenell Primary School is located in the heart of Hyde Park, children may have limited opportunities to be amongst green spaces. Consequently, Brudenell provided a perfect opportunity for us to engage in a community gardening project as creating a forest garden will offer endless learning opportunities and can help connect children to the natural environment and the origins of food.
But what exactly is a forest garden?
A forest garden is just as it seems – a garden designed to reproduce the habitat of a natural forest! Not only does this provide plenty of fruits, herbs and vegetables, it also requires minimal maintenance and acts as a sanctuary for local wildlife, therefore protecting and improving biodiversity. The idea of a forest garden is informed by permaculture as it focuses on creating a sustainable and self-sufficient ecosystem which is productive in the long term.
For a forest garden to thrive, several different layers of plants, which all work together in harmony, must be established. These layers include plants such as trees, shrubs, herbs, and ground cover plants.
The process of implementing a forest garden
1. Preparing the ground for planting
The first step in creating a forest garden is creating a healthy soil where plants can thrive. This started in spring 2023 when the ground was prepped for planting using the lasagne method.
It’s not just the above-ground that’s important, but the below-ground too. Healthy soil is key for both animal and plant life so before anything can start to grow, we used the lasagne method to improve the soil health and prepare it for planting.
The lasagne method involves layering different organic materials to create nutrient-rich and fertile soil without disturbing or digging the original soil.
The different layers:
- Base layer – this consists of covering the ground with cardboard to suppress any grass or weeds
- A high-carbon (brown) layer – e.g. dried leaves, pine needles, straw
- A high-nitrogen (green) layer – e.g. grass clippings, kitchen scraps or garden waste
This environmentally-friendly method of gardening therefore reduces waste and increases biodiversity!
2. Designing the forest garden
Next, carefully planning and designing a planting arrangement was key for creating a sustainable garden.
Plants each have their own unique characteristics which they have developed to survive in different conditions. Some are better adapted to shade, whilst others like the sun, some don’t mind the wet whilst others prefer to be dry and not all plants require the same amount of nutrients. As a result, planning of what plants are included and where they are placed was important for both community gardening projects. For example, at Brudenell, sage, rosemary, thyme & lavender were planted together as they have similar growing requirements and are complementary of each other. Additionally, these herbs will offer lovely smells to stimulate the children’s senses.
3. Planting the forest garden
Planting of the forest garden took place across 2 volunteer days which took place in March and July.
To bring this garden to life, staff and student volunteers from the university worked alongside staff, children and families from Brudenell Primary School. This collective effort was central to the project’s mission as strengthening the bonds between the university and wider community was a priority throughout the year, therefore helping connect sustainability efforts across the city. Creating a fun environment for both children and university students to learn and get stuck in to gardening was therefore a great way to achieve this.
Additionally, the second volunteer day also consisted of sowing a little wildflower area in the hopes of increasing biodiversity and brightening up the school’s playground.
But we aren’t finished here! In the future, the university will continue to work with Brudenell in order to restore the rest of their green space. Collaboration is key to ensure the forest garden is maintained and other native fruit or vegetables are introduced to the forest garden. If the garden is plentiful and bears many fruits, perhaps activities with the school children could also include sessions such as jam making or apple juice making!
Attracting biodiversity at Chapeltown Community Wellbeing Hub
This year, we also worked with Chapeltown Community Wellbeing Hub to bring some life back into a little patch of neglected grass at the front of their community centre.
For this project, we aimed to increase biodiversity in an urban environment by designing and planting a colourful flower garden. Not only would this garden benefit wildlife and pollinators (e.g. bees and butterflies), but this colourful display of flowers will also benefit those around it as it helps bring joy to the area and create an aesthetically pleasing scene.
Before and after the volunteer gardening at Chapeltown Community Wellbeing Hub
To implement this project, the same steps were taken as those at Brudenell Primary School. Although we didn’t use the lasagne method, the ground was first prepped with a good healthy layer of compost before the plants were placed in the ground.
However, before planting our flower garden, we first consulted with the BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) Men’s group to understand what they wanted from this garden restoration and come up with a design that they would enjoy. Then, in May, we held a volunteer day where we invited students from the university to work with the men’s group in order to bring this garden to life. Working side-by-side helped to build relationships between the university and the wider Leeds community as well as fostering feelings of environmental stewardship and pride for the area.
Alongside the garden planting, this volunteer day also consisted of collaborating with the biodiversity student architect to create insect hotels which would attract a variety of different wildlife, such as beetles and ladybirds, in an urban environment!
Insect hotel to host wildlife
To create these little wooden hotels, recycled pallet wood was used in order to keep the project as sustainable as possible.
The next steps
Next, we will continue to visit the community centre so that we can build lasting bonds with the community and ensure the gardens success!
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
We use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to guide our activity. Our work on social impact is linked to the following SDGs:
- Goal 10: Reduced inequalities
- Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
- Goal 17: Partnerships
Find out more about our impact on the SDGs.
