The Village Hub had been interested for some time in expanding its green fingers into the back lane behind our courtyard garden, believing that the back alleys in our area could be a huge untapped resource for local communities.
Before & After – what’s possible in the back lane between houses?
Image credits: Rachel Dobbs / The Village Hub
We were introduced to the idea of a Wildlife Corridor by Helen Moore of Inner City Seeds who has been working to support the Village Hub’s courtyard garden since July 2021. Wildlife corridors join up existing green spaces in urban areas to allow movement of insects, birds and mammals and back lanes could make a real difference to their survival.
The Village Hub’s courtyard garden keeps developing, changing and growing!
Image credits: Rachel Dobbs / The Village Hub
The Village Hub’s courtyard garden has proven to be an important space for our community – somewhere to potter, hang out, chat, grow plants and enjoy the sunshine. It has been built and grown from scratch. This has been a labour of love – with hundreds of hours of work from people lending a hand when they can to construct planters, plant seeds and bulbs, paint murals, water the plant in the summer and to generally look after the space.
The Village Hub’s courtyard garden in 2022
Image credits: Rachel Dobbs / The Village Hub
Inspired by Helen’s creative approach, volunteers have put all sorts of materials to use – mostly up-cycled, found, or rescued and given a new role in the garden. Even some of the furniture that was previously fly-tipped in the back lane has been put back into service – with an old bed frame becoming the perfect structure for vertical planting!
Before & After – from trash to treasure! With a little hard work by volunteers this discarded bed frame became shelving for plants.
Image credits: Rachel Dobbs / The Village Hub
During 2023, Helen ran a project supported by funding from Plymouth Octopus Project to not only help other species to thrive but also to support volunteers and local residents with additional workshops from Hope in the Heart CIC, Lucas de Koenig and Climate Clarity on keeping healthy and well, using themes from nature to support our own mental health, working through disagreements and conflict, and enabling us to support the natural world on our doorstep.
Transforming the back lane with vertical planting
Image credits: Helen Moore / Inner City Seeds
We finished the project with over 30 people crammed into the Village Hub to hear about how we went about it, view the planters and wall fixtures that had been made with recycled materials to make the best use of the narrow space and high walls of the back lane and eat food together, some of which came from the Community Larder operated by the Village Hub.
Helen & Wildlife Corridor volunteers with their new wildlife library
Image credit: Inner City Seeds
We learnt that a can do attitude is infectious and can inspire others to explore similar projects behind their own back yards. Tess Wilmott spoke about the three ethics of permaculture – Earth Care, People Care and Fair Share – and we took heart that these principles are embedded in the work of the Village Hub and the Wildlife Corridor project. It’s fantastic to be part of this wider community across Plymouth that shares these values.
Visitors take a look at the new planters in the Wildlife Corridor
Image credits: Helen Moore / Inner City Seeds
Contributors:
- Karen Pilkington
- Helen Moore
- Rachel Dobbs