GUERRILLA TACTICS TRANSFORM PLOT

By Richard Wright - Friday, April 25, 2008

Maurice Cushen, left, and Ruth and Barry Mundy with the community garden they created in East Cowes. Picture by Peter Boam.

GARDENING DIARY
THERE have been guerrillas at work down in East Cowes but now they have come out of the mist and attacked a project with the help of the authorities.
A couple of glasses of wine provided the inspiration for Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator Ruth Mundy, her husband, Barry, and 70-year-old neighbour Maurice Cushden to follow in the footsteps of so-called gardening guerrillas in London.
The trio went their own way and adopted a piece of wasteland to transform like their London counterparts do — unofficially.
It wasn’t long before the tiny 6ft by 2ft trial strip of bulbs, in Southbank Road, proved a great success and the three guerrillas were much encouraged by the fact nothing was taken or trodden on.
So, too, was the IW Council, which is firmly behind supporting community initiatives, believing, quite rightly, people who live in an area are best placed to be involved in making it better.
It’s a hackneyed phrase but if a community has ‘ownership’ of a scheme, in other words is a real part of it, it stands a much better chance.
Look back to the days of so-called slums when scrubbing the front step extended to keeping that bit of pavement spick and span, too.
There wasn’t an expectation that everything would be done for you and there was a feeling that by doing your bit, it was for the greater good.
Now, down in Southbank Road, planting a few shrubs on a forgotten bit of land won’t put right social disenchantment by itself but by making the environment that bit nicer, it’s probably a poke in the right direction.
Preaching over but word has spread around the town that it’s residents themselves who have done their bit to make things better and there has, touch wood, been no vandalism.
And the oasis has been part of a greening of the road. East Cowes Town Council has just planted another two flowering cherries to recreate the old avenue of trees that used to grace Southbank Road decades ago.
It has been a hard slog for the three reformed guerrillas, none of who is in their first flush of youth.
But it’s been fun. Even, as Ruth recalls with her frequent fruity laugh, dragging the six metre-tall silver birch across the road to plant and protect it at the height of gale.
They did it to make their bit of the town nicer, with the hope that civic pride would spread.
“It’s debateable whether East Cowes should be called a town at all. It’s a mess and regeneration seems a long way off, especially in the current climate,” says Ruth.
“Who knows? We might have a community barbecue there. Although we’ve all got our own gardens we frequently pop up the road there for a cup of coffee, or maybe a glass of wine together in our community garden and we would welcome other people being a part of it.
“We’re down to our last £46 at the moment, after spending the lottery money and donations from businesses and individuals and if people wanted to roll up their sleeves, we certainly would not turn them away.”
• For the few of you in East Cowes who don’t know how to get in touch with Ruth, her number is 281489.
• If you know of a bit of forgotten land that could do with beautifying and think you can make a difference, why not have a go?
In my patch, Pondwell Residents’ Association won £1,000 from the council’s One Million Blooms initiative.
I’m currently rolling up my own shirtsleeves and am doing my bit at the top of Pondwell Hill. The Himalayan birch is in, the beds cut out and with a bit of luck the ground will soon dry out enough for the 30 shrubs to follow the tree and the meadowflower strip put down by contractors.
• Matthew Chatfield, the IW Council’s parks and countryside manager, will I’m sure, point you in the right direction. The council’s number is 821000.

YOUR CHANCE TO BAG UNUSUAL PLANTS
THE Hardy Plant Society (HPS) stages its spring sale at Carisbrooke Church Hall tomorrow (Saturday) between 10.30am and noon — an annual opportunity to pick up some unusual plants.
The society, which aims to promote perennial plants and has an annual seed list and propagation scheme, has specialist groups within it, peonies, pulmonarias and variegated plants among them.
Many of the Island members had been meeting for years and in the society’s 50th year in 2007, decided to become the 49th county group in the country.
Gardening is a great way to meet like-minded people and you do not need to be an expert enthusiast to join.
Leaflets will be available at the plant sale or from the secretary on 873768.
The group’s Joan Cooper told me about it:
“Members meet informally every month or so, volunteering to host the group, viewing each other’s gardens and swapping plants. Some of us attend national events on the mainland and we have made gardening friends from all over the country, and visited Scotland, Ireland, Wales, the North East, Midlands, and recently the South West.
“Our favourite outings must be visiting plant nurseries, where we rarely leave empty handed. One of our members says joining the HPS was the best thing she has ever done.”

GUERRILLA TACTICS TRANSFORM PLOT

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