Community Gardening

I’ve often thought that it would be lovely if Horsell had its own community gardening group. We’ve already got the Pares Woodland team and many Horsell residents have their own gardens or allotments, but a community garden has the ability to link different generations, socio-economic, cultural and religious groups and give the chance to garden for those not fortunate enough to have an outside space or allotment.

Research has shown that people belonging to community garden schemes or gardening groups feel less isolated and enjoy better physical and mental wellbeing. Thirty minutes of general gardening tasks can burn off 167 calories, whilst digging for the same length of time, can use a whopping 186 calories. That’s the same as a fast walk.

Not only is this beneficial to humans, but community gardens can help sustain wildlife and pollinators and support the environment by positively affecting the issue of climate change. Tangible results can be seen from small amounts of effort such as seeds germinating after sowing the week before.

With Woking Borough Council’s cap on all non-essential spending, we are unlikely to see the village planters and borders in Queen Elizabeth Gardens filled with bedding plants anytime soon. Was this really sustainable anyway? Not really. It would be far better to plant up once with long lived plants or produce that could be harvested and given back to the community. At the time of writing, initial discussions have been underway with the Horsell Residents Association, but ultimately, we need volunteers and support from the community to make it happen. We’d love to hear your feedback on this.