{"id":4291,"date":"2021-10-29T15:16:32","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T13:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gardensillustrated.com\/?p=62120"},"modified":"2021-10-29T15:23:17","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T13:23:17","slug":"how-to-create-a-pocket-park","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/rss_feed\/how-to-create-a-pocket-park\/","title":{"rendered":"How to create a pocket park"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Katie Beale\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 29 October 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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IN BRIEF<\/strong><\/p>\n

What<\/strong> A guerrilla-gardened \u2018pocket park\u2019. Where<\/strong> Totnes, South Devon. Size<\/strong> 18m x 9m. Soil<\/strong> Acidic and extremely free-draining with significant rubble. Climate<\/strong> Warm temperate, with high rainfall and some frosts. North-facing park with some sun in the mornings. Hardiness zone<\/strong> USDA 9.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\""The\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The park is a precious space for residents and visitors to meet and relax<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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A pocket park, according to Richard Reynolds, who tends one in picturesque Castle Street in Totnes, Devon, is a park that \u201cdoesn\u2019t have room for a bandstand, but you might just squeeze in a string quartet\u201d. In his opinion it must also have room for a couple of benches and perhaps some play equipment, as well as having a sense of enclosure. \u201cYou see greened-up, former parking spaces called \u2018pocket parks\u2019 but imagine sitting in one. I think that\u2019s a nonsense.\u201d His park, as tiny as it is, really feels like a park.<\/p>\n

Moving from Elephant and Castle in central London with their two daughters, Richard and his wife Lyla made the decision to actively look for a public space to take on and green up. Richard had been at the forefront of the guerrilla gardening movement in London and had created Elliott\u2019s Row pocket park in Southwark, but it was clear to him that such spaces are just as necessary in a small market town as they are in a big city. \u201cIt is wrong to assume that everyone beyond central London has a garden. Here we have a two- and-a-bit bedroom house with no garden and barely any pavement space, and at least ten of our neighbours are in a similar situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""The\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
The pocket park has enough space for two benches, a lawn and several perennial borders, all carefully tended by Richard every week. His aim is to garden it intensively, with plenty of changing interest all year round to draw residents in to use it. In late summer there is a backdrop of the spectacular, if briefly, blossoming of Eucryphia lucida<\/em>.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

They arrived hoping to adopt a garden, and Castle Street pocket park turned out to be perfect opportunity. It is a very decent 18m x 9m and runs along the stone wall boundary to Totnes Castle grounds, bounded on its other sides by railings and with lots of growth, a lawn and borders, and a couple of benches. The street was once featured on postcards of Totnes, and the little park had been built in the 1970s by a local business, and until recently been tended to by another resident. As luck would have it the former gardener was moving out just as Richard and his family moved in. \u201cIt was the perfect guerrilla gardening opportunity, a space that had been vacated by someone else. We waited for a summer to see if anyone else was tending it and then moved in on it.\u201d The street had become a little run-down and he was inspired by the idea of turning it into a place that might appear on a postcard once again. \u201cI liked the idea of beautifying this street, and putting it back on the map.\u201d With borders now colourfully packed with carefully tended flowering perennials, he has certainly done that.<\/p>\n

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A transplanted fuchsia, donated by one of the street\u2019s residents. Many of the plants are gifts from neighbours who love to use the garden<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n
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As they are what is known among locals as \u2018DFLs\u2019 or \u2018Down From Londons\u2019, Richard and Lyla have benefited in particular from their involvement in the project, in the sense that it has given them a role in the community. Many people stop and chat \u2013 \u201cYou find that interested people are generally interesting themselves,\u201d says Richard \u2013 and local residents have been supportive, some donating plants and containers, and many making use of the space. But this is not a community gardening project. Richard has done all\u00a0of the work himself, which gives him the creative control that he obviously relishes. He has planted the borders in a style inspired by Great Dixter, with hot and bright oranges, reds and chrome yellows to brighten the north-facing spot: dahlias, rudbeckias, salvias and cosmos dominate in late summer, as well as a few late flowers of the many roses he has planted. He spends several hours a week working on the park and manages it with great care, even \u201cunfashionably\u201d, he says, mowing the lawn twice a week in summer and weeding and top dressing it to make a beautiful sward for local children to play on.<\/p>\n

\""Dahlia\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Dahlia \u2018Topmix Red\u2019, with Rudbeckia laciniata, continuing the garden\u2019s fiery colour scheme<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

\u201cI could ask for help, but it is so tiny and I love doing it so much that it is not a burden,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t ever want council workers of other guerrilla gardeners thinking the park looks a bit neglected and so moving in on it, which is always a danger with public spaces. That\u2019s why I work so hard to keep it looking good.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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USEFUL INFORMATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

The park is part of the #LoveCastleSt project revitalising the street through beautification, nature and community connections. Follow updates on Twitter @Richard_001<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The hand- painted hashtag provides a reference for visitors, who can make digital connections using their own pictures of the garden.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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The park is a precious space for residents and visitors to meet and relax; <\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Pretty Castle Street, with its densely packed historic homes nestled in the shadow of the Norman castle, once appeared on postcards of Totnes but had become more run down over the years. Richard\u2019s hope is that the garden helps residents and tourists to appreciate the beauty of the area.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""The\"<\/picture><\/div>
The pocket park has enough space for two benches, a lawn and several perennial borders, all carefully tended by Richard every week. His aim is to garden it intensively, with plenty of changing interest all year round to draw residents in to use it. In late summer there is a backdrop of the spectacular, if briefly, blossoming of Eucryphia lucida.<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""Dahlia\"<\/picture><\/div>
Dahlia \u2018Topmix Red\u2019, with Rudbeckia laciniata, continuing the garden\u2019s fiery colour scheme<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
\""A\"<\/picture><\/div>
A transplanted fuchsia, donated by one of the street\u2019s residents. Many of the plants are gifts from neighbours who love to use the garden<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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Cosmos are dotted through the garden to provide late-summer colour<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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A deep-red strain of Dahlia \u2018Sunset Mixed\u2019 fits into the park\u2019s rich and intense colour scheme<\/span> <\/figcaption> <\/span>\n<\/div> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/body><\/html>\n
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By Katie Beale Published: Friday, 29 October 2021 at 12:00 am IN BRIEF What A guerrilla-gardened \u2018pocket park\u2019. Where Totnes, South Devon. Size 18m x 9m. Soil Acidic and extremely free-draining with significant rubble. Climate Warm temperate, with high rainfall and some frosts. North-facing park with some sun in the mornings. Hardiness zone USDA 9. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":4292,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/how-to-create-a-pocket-park-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/how-to-create-a-pocket-park-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/how-to-create-a-pocket-park-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/how-to-create-a-pocket-park-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/how-to-create-a-pocket-park-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/how-to-create-a-pocket-park-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2021\/10\/how-to-create-a-pocket-park-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Katie Beale Published: Friday, 29 October 2021 at 12:00 am IN BRIEF What A guerrilla-gardened \u2018pocket park\u2019. Where Totnes, South Devon. Size 18m x 9m. Soil Acidic and extremely free-draining with significant rubble. Climate Warm temperate, with high rainfall and some frosts. North-facing park with some sun in the mornings. Hardiness zone USDA 9.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/4291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/gardensillustrated\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}