I am originally from a small town in Worcestershire, which tends to mean that you aren’t too far from rolling fields, forests and other open spaces to indulge in nature. When moving to London over 7 years ago, I followed the usual criteria for movers, hopefully to find somewhere with a nearby supermarket, good transport links, a good local pub (of course!) but I added an equally important addition to my list. I had to be near green open space, somewhere I could walk and get my balance of ‘countryside’ as well as that of living in a city. Luckily, I managed to find somewhere only ten minutes walk from Tooting Common, which has definitely helped during the last 12 months to break up the working from home rut we are all in, particularly as I live somewhere without a garden.
It’s so important to have community groups/campaigns like Beautify Balham to support and encourage us to make where we live greener and cleaner and protecting the local ecosystem. It’s fantastic to see how much support this group has garnered. The aims of the group resonate with my own and so with ‘Balham in Bloom’ around the corner we have a perfect opportunity to achieve them.
Although I am limited to the constraints of my top floor flat this hasn’t stopped me from thinking of how I could create my own floral arrangements, albeit from my own (very) small gardening experience and sharing it in this blog. However, I will have to admit that prior to writing this I did put in a call to my grandmother, who briefly lived in the area just after 1945, and who has (for 50 plus years) run a small independent garden and plant nursery so I cannot take complete credit for it!
So my suggestions are:
Ready grown bedding plants
- Geraniums (Red, White or Pink)
- Pansies (mixed Colours)
- Marigolds (Orange)
- Petunias (Pink)
- Carnations (Pink and scented)
*All of these plants if they are planted just after the last frost (around May) they will flower in time for June and last until September/October time. They should also be planted in bedding compost and regularly watered (daily) particularly in drier weather.
Potted Plants
- Hybrid roses
- Strawberry plants
- Raspberry plants
*These should be planted/maintained the same as the bedding plants but will last year on year.
I am personally really looking forward to seeing the creations that start to emerge on our streets and I would encourage everyone to get involved and all make Balham a greener, cleaner and more beautiful Balham.
– Thomas Mytton
