How we got involved with Bloom
Words: Julie Henry
I stumbled across Lorraine’s garden by accident. It was outside a medium rise block, the size of a postage stamp and crammed full of plants and blooms. The surrounding area was bleak but she’d done the most extraordinary things, using toasters and toilet seats for planting; she’d managed to create a little secret garden within this estate.
As an artist, I’m fascinated by what makes people tick. For Lorraine it was entering her local ‘in Bloom’ competition. She lived and breathed her garden: it was her creative outlet and, getting to know her better, I discovered it also helped her to regulate a serious illness.
My colleague Debbie and I were so inspired by her that we set out to meet other gardeners who entered Bloom around the UK, particularly focusing on those who were gardening against the odds in economically deprived or environmentally challenging areas.
RHS Britain in Bloom is the biggest community gardening campaign in the UK. The problem was, we believed communities had become broken and fragmented – we both live in areas where people keep themselves to themselves and their heads down. So, while we were fascinated in delving deeper into the dynamic between individual gardeners and their displays, we were dubious about finding communities gardening together.
But we were surprised. During our nine month journey we saw gardening as glue tying communities together and building up new connections where there were none before.
In a tower block, it would be easy for people to stay isolated in their own flats. But in Manchester we met a group of residents living vertically but coming together to tend a shared garden. It was started off by a few enthusiastic gardeners, creating a beautiful place to sit and chat, but it led on to a breakfast club, a sports and social club and Christmas parties. With just a few tools, shared knowledge and lots of determination, this group had created a space for everyone to meet. The Bloom competition kept them all focused and it was taken very seriously.
We all know that if a place looks well kept, it is less likely to be littered. The beautiful thing about the people we met was that they were using gardening to invest in their neighbourhoods and people were sitting up and taking notice.
We saw communities taking control of their environment, from the bottom up. It was humbling to see the impact it could make. It needs promoting and I think that it needs funding – a small amount of money can go a long way in these kinds of projects. This isn’t like Cameron‘s vision of the Big Society, where services get cut to the bone and the 'hidden wealth' of communities is supposed to rise to take it’s place. This is positive action by local people, recognised by organisations like the RHS and their local councils and supported by them in order to carry on with what they’re doing. It’s a people driven agenda that becomes political rather than a political agenda that becomes personal.
If this exhibition helps to keep that going, then I say good job, job done!