Prisoners in England and Wales are growing plants for their local communities

Growing plants from seed is a great way of reducing costs and lowering the environmental impact of gardening. By sowing seeds, gardeners can be sure of their plants’ provenance, and make sure that seedlings are accustomed to their ongoing environment from as early in their lifecycle as possible. However, due to time, space and the attention required, community growing groups often struggle with caring for seedlings in their earliest stages.

To help address this and support urban gardening and community engagement, the RHS has piloted a community plant sharing scheme in collaboration with HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) to grow seeds into healthy edible plants that local groups can grow-on in their communities.

The RHS trained HMPPS staff from four prisons in Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool and Manchester in how to grow plants from seed. “The training at RHS Bridgewater was brilliant,” says a Prison Industries gardens instructor. “The staff were really helpful and left me feeling confident about the scheme going forward.”

These Prison Industries staff, many of whom were new to growing, passed on these gardening skills to prisoners, giving them the confidence and knowledge to grow edibles from seed.

Alongside training, the RHS provided seeds, trays and peat-free compost. Over the space of a few months, more than 2,000 healthy young plants – including beetroot, cabbage and courgette – were grown at each prison. In total, over 10,000 young plants were grown across the four cities.

Once the seedlings were ready to be planted in the ground, they were distributed among local community growing groups. This would not have been possible without the help of partners in each city – Birmingham Open Spaces Forum in Birmingham, Social Farms and Gardens, Grow Cardiff and Cardiff Salad Garden in Cardiff, Myerscough College, Liverpool and Sow the City in Manchester – who provided local knowledge and practical support.

“It has been rewarding to be involved in a social innovation pilot like this, which brought instant positive results to the local community,” says Kieron McGlasson, Director of Sow the City.

“It has been rewarding to be involved in a social innovation pilot like this, which brought instant positive results to the local community,” says Kieron McGlasson, Director of Sow the City.

Community groups attended local training to enhance their basic growing skills and understand more about soil health, pests and diseases and watering to enable them to grow on the plants successfully.

“Receiving the plug plants was really helpful in ensuring we had enough seedlings to fill our vegetable beds in early summer when a lot of what we’d planted out was suffering from particularly wet weather this year,” says Raddon Stephenson, Caritas Lalley Community Allotment. “Harvests from these plants have now been distributed through our food pantry at the Caritas Lalley Centre, helping people in the area access organic produce with all the taste, health and environmental benefits of it being picked fresh with no food miles. The training session from Sow the City as part of this pilot also gave our volunteers a greater understanding of growing veg from seed and about which parts of vegetable plants can be eaten too, which we've incorporated into our educational sessions here.”

Once the plants were mature, volunteers harvested the crops, and edible produce was shared with local people via food banks, pantries and within the local community.

“Plants have the power to create lasting change for people,” says Sarah Galvin, RHS Head of National Community Programmes.

“Plants have the power to create lasting change for people,” says Sarah Galvin, RHS Head of National Community Programmes. “This pilot has enabled the RHS to support community groups in urban areas with access to seasonal edible plants, develop growing skills and promote plant sharing networks. The RHS is hoping to continue this work, streamlining and improving the programme with a view to potentially expanding it to other cities in the future.”

“Through this collaboration staff and prisoners have developed transferable gardening skills,” says Stephen Ball, Land Based Activities specialist, HM Prison and Probation Service Headquarters. “It has also built connections between the prisons and their local communities and fostered a sense of purpose and wellbeing through growing for the community.”

This pilot was inspired by Blaise Plant Nursery in Bristol, who have a long-standing community plant sharing network.

The RHS is passionate about community gardening. Find out more about how you can get involved.

Separately to this scheme, the RHS and HM Prison and Probation Service manage the annual Windlesham Trophy for the best-kept prison garden in England and Wales. HMP Whatton is the recipient of the 2024 award.