There’s no better way to celebrate the arrival of the warmer months than with National Gardening Week, the UK’s largest celebration of all things gardening, which takes place between 1st – 7th May.
To mark this week-long celebration, Olio is encouraging Britons to share the joy of gardening with their local community. So whether you’re an experienced gardener ready to regenerate and propagate, a shed-clutterer in need of motivation to share your unused tools or someone who’d like to brighten up your home with window boxes, we’ve rounded up four quick and easy ways you can get started.
1. Clear the clutter
The garden shed is a prime hotspot for clutter with many housing numerous unused garden tools, paint pots, garden furniture, broken barbecues and old bikes. Take the opportunity during the long May bank holiday weekend to remove anything you and your family no longer want or need and think how useful this could be for one of your neighbours. Perhaps that unused paint pot could spruce up your neighbour’s front fence, the broken barbecue could be mended to allow the new couple down the street to host their first garden get-together, while your unused tools could get someone else started on a new green-fingered hobby. Remember your trash could be someone else’s treasure.
2. Create a coronation container
To celebrate this year’s National Gardening Week, many across the country will be creating colourful coronation containers to celebrate King Charles and his love of horticulture. Why not brighten up your street with colourful window boxes, hanging baskets or plant flowers in an unused pair of wellies? Celebrate the coronation by planting his favourite flower, the delphinium.
3. Turn scraps and cuttings into new plants
Share the off cuttings from your favourite rose bush or honeysuckle with neighbours to help brighten their gardens and give off that heavenly scent or offer cuttings from your String of Pearls houseplant to help someone start their own.
Turning fruit and veg into new plants isn’t nearly as hard as you might think – so next time you’re about to scrape your seemingly inedible leftovers into the compost bin, have a think about how they can be regrown into a brand new plant. Garlic, for example, is grown from single cloves, and tomatoes and peppers can be started from salvaged seeds. Even new potatoes can be grown from their white sprouts.
Share your surplus with your neighbours who will appreciate the superior taste of home grown tomatoes and will appreciate the gesture.
4. Share your unused garden items with your neighbours
Remember to upload any unwanted items you uncover from your declutter or uneaten homegrown vegetables to Olio to ensure it finds its way to a great new home within your local community.