Merton Garden Streets is an initiative from Sustainable Merton – Merton’s local environmental charity.
Here’s a quick roundup from Merton Garden Streets on what’s happening over the next couple of months before we come back together for our September planting day.
For those who have been involved in recent planting days, we hope your plants are coping well. Please remember to water them regularly, especially during dry spells, and don’t forget to water any newly planted street trees in your area. 💦
1. Seed libraries summer break
Just a quick heads-up that all of our seed libraries will be taking a summer break from around 18 July until 2 September. ☀️
We’ve had a really busy spring and are running quite low on seed stock.
If you’re saving seeds from your garden, allotment or street this summer, we’d be very grateful if you could donate some to the seed libraries. If you have a larger quantity to donate, please email me. We can either process the seeds for you or provide small envelopes if you’d prefer to package them yourself. Thank you for your support! 🌻💚
If you’re new to seed saving, have a look at our YouTube channel. We’ve uploaded the recording of our Introduction to Seed Saving webinar, as well as the lovely short videos* that Syebvonne has been making on collecting seeds from specific flowers. https://www.youtube.com/@MertonGardenStreets
* it’s not under “videos” but under “shorts” in the channel
2. Plants from AELTC
Once again, the Wimbledon Foundation has generously offered community groups to collect some plants after the tennis tournament. 🌸
Once we know how many plants we’ve been able to collect, we’ll arrange a local collection point. There won’t be a huge number available, so we may decide to distribute them within just one neighbourhood.
3. September Planting Day
In September, every Merton Garden Street will receive a box of spring bulbs. If you’re also organising a community planting day, your street will receive an additional bag of compost and a small selection of plants.🌷
This year, we’ve timed our September planting day to coincide with Car Free Day. This means you can apply through Merton Council to have your street closed on Saturday 19 September or Sunday 20 September—completely free of charge. 🚗
Closing your street is a great opportunity to organise a Play Street/ planting session with your neighbours. With everyone already out enjoying the street, it’s a fantastic way to get more people involved in planting and meet neighbours at the same time.
If you’re interested, it’s worth applying as soon as possible so you don’t miss the 25 July deadline:
https://www.merton.gov.uk/streets-parking-transport/streets-and-pavements/events/wcfd
4. Flag reminder
We’ve recently had several incidents where street cleaning teams have accidentally mown planted verges or removed planted tree pits.
Please remember to place the waterproof flags in your planting areas. I’ve spoken with the relevant council teams, and they’re making sure everyone working on the streets knows what our flags mean and understands that these planted areas should not be mown, damaged or removed.
For any questions or anything you’d like to chat about, please get in touch with Hanna Dunnell, Merton Garden Streets and Community Growing Project Manager, by email (gardenstreets@sustainablemerton.org) or WhatsApp (07999948416).