What can you do in your own garden?
V17 Village in Bloom is a volunteer-led community group started in 2004.
Our volunteers tend and plant local flowerbeds, wild flower meadows, ponds, veg plots, orchards, and planters - and maintain our green spaces. We focus on the environment, attracting wildlife and increasing biodiversity. We are facing a climate crisis; the scale of the problem is overwhelming, but TOGETHER we are making a difference!
Walthamstow Village has been awarded GOLD in the regional London in Bloom and national RHS Britain in Bloom gardening competitions thanks to our volunteers, residents, businesses, schools, groups, WF council and sponsors including Fullers Builders & BEE17.
Bee-friendly streets: Waltham Forest council don’t use chemical sprays on streets that have applied to become ‘Bee-friendly’. Importantly, in order to keep a street’s Bee-friendly status, residents need to weed the pavements outside their homes, if they are able to.
Monthly Gardening Group
We meet on the first Saturday of every month at 10.30 am, come rain or shine, at the Village Square on Orford Road.
We have a year-round list of activities that includes weeding, planting and pruning, litter-picking, re-painting street furniture, clearing and cutting back vegetation from footpaths and tending the Community Meadow.
You don’t need any special gardening skills as we’ll give you guidance as we go along, but if you have, all the better! You can bring your own tools or use ours. If you’re new to gardening you’ll find you learn so much from our experienced members, it’s like a free gardening class! There are always jobs for all ages and abilities so please do just turn up and you’ll receive a very warm welcome.
Why get involved with Village in Bloom?
Support vital pollinators and natural biodiversity. Make a real difference in a climate crisis.
Help keep your village loved, cared for and in bloom.
Learn new gardening skills and pass your own knowledge onto others.
Spend time outdoors and away from your devices!
Make a real difference to the place you live in or enjoy visiting.
Meet your community.
What to Do in Your Garden
Improve biodiversity & mitigate climate change
Plant ANYTHING
Use pots if your front garden is paved. Even a small tree or shrub in a large pot will improve biodiversity on your street.
Skip the Astroturf & Weed Barriers
These will invariably end up in landfill after starving and degrading your soil - your garden’s most important asset!
Try a Clover Lawn
Minimise maintenance and increase biodiversity by seeding red clover - it only grows 3 inches tall and it improves the health of your soil.
Right Plant, Right Place
A little research will ensure your plants not only survive but thrive; learn what conditions you have in your garden (sunny/shady, dry/damp), and select plants accordingly.
Integrate Native Plants
Having evolved here, native species are well adapted to conditions in our local gardens - and they are often preferred by native insects.
Plant for All Seasons
Birds and solitary bees need sustenance over winter - fortunately, berries and winter flowering plants are also attractive additions to a stunning winter garden.
Leave Dead Wood
Leaving some dead wood in a corner creates an incredibly important habitat for insects, especially for our endangered stag beetles.
Let Some Lawn Grow Wild
Tall grass is an important habitat for many insects. Leave your grass to grow in a section or replace part of it with native wildflowers to make a mini meadow - providing an important food source as well.
Just Add Water
Adding a small pond encourages frogs toads and newts - which feast on slugs and snails, creating an ecosystem that reduces ‘pests’. If a pond isn’t feasible, leave out a dish of water for thirsty wildlife.
Helpful Links & Inspiration
‘… specific objectives for the conservation of key habitats and species, the raising of public awareness and the involvement of all sectors of the community.’
