Create a community garden

Securing a piece of land

The first step is to find a piece of land that will become your community garden. Ideally, it will be close to your Scout meeting place. You could take your group out for a session to identify potential locations. It doesn’t matter if it’s a roundabout, a former industrial site, an alleyway or a railway station, you can request the permission to adopt it from the person who owns it. Remember, you can achieve a lot with a small space.

Public and semi-public organisations may have sites available for community gardening use. Have a look at the information below to find out more about organisations to approach.

Involve older groups in lobbying the organisation or landowner. Follow these top tips to grab their attention!

1. Send a letter with a packet of seeds inside to get their imagination going.
2. Send an email and attach a video of your group saying why they think it's important to take positive steps to connect people with nature and raise awareness of biodiversity issues that will help to fight climate change and inspire your community.
3. If you find a piece of land but you're not sure who owns it, try:

• Putting up a sign on the land telling the owner what you would like to do
• Contacting the property Department, Rates Assessor and District Valuer of your local council to request information on land ownership
• Ask at neighbouring properties if they know who owns the land.

Source gardening equipment

1. Your aim should be to have as much gardening equipment donated as possible. Try approaching local garden centres, allotments and supermarkets. A business may wish to sponsor the garden. You can give them a permanent sign in the garden in exchange for the equipment you need. Some gardening chains might consider this option.
2. When requesting plants, seeds and compost, please ensure they will not be harmful to local wildlife. As a rule, it is better if they are organic. Ask for:

• Peat-free compost
• Pesticide- and peat-free plants that are native to the UK
• GMO-free seeds that have been grown without the use of animal or chemical fertilisers.

3. It will be helpful to find local volunteers to help you prepare, plant and look after your garden. Your group could hand out flyers and put up posters. It would also be useful to use local pages on social media, which you can do on behalf of your group.
4. At this point, you might also choose to tell the local press about your project. These activities are great feel-good ideas that give something back to the community, as well as connecting people with nature. They also help raise awareness of biodiversity issues and what we can all do within our local communities to live a greener, more sustainable lifestyle.

Planning your garden

Now, for the fun bit! Give everyone a say in what to include in your garden using the ‘Our Community Garden’ planning sheet. 

1. Start with a brainstorm - what wildlife do your Scouts want to attract to the garden? And who from your community will use the garden? How will they make both welcome?  Some ideas could include: Wildflower beds to attract pollinating insects; A pond to attract dragonflies, frogs, toads and more; A bug hotel - this can shelter everything from bumble bees to hedgehogs; a butterfly feeder; a bird feeder.
2. Be ambitious but also realistic about what you can achieve. The amount of planting you can do will depend on the space you have available and how much time you can spend maintaining it. A wild flower meadow is great for wildlife and low maintenance; Why not create a space for relaxing with a donated bench, you can make the space green from top to bottom with recycled planters, potted tree and green walls; butterfly feeders can be added to the recycled planters.
3. Now, let your group split into small groups to draw their ideal gardens.
4. Come back together as a group and create a master garden design.

Planting your garden

1. Secure a group of willing volunteers who can help your group to prepare and plant the garden. It might be beneficial to ask knowledgeable gardeners to help at this stage. Why not see if any of the group’s parents would like to help out?
2. Once the garden has been planted, you’ll need to plan times when your groups (and other volunteers) can visit the garden to look after it.

This activity helps contribute towards some of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Find out more about the SDGs, and how Scouts across the world are getting involved.