With the focus recently on the environment and biodiversity, this is the time to see what we can all do to encourage wildlife at the same time as making our communities beautiful and attrac-tive places to live. Community projects to reclaim unloved land have sprung up and you may have seen wild flowers embellishing previously unkempt corners.
One such example is a patch of land opposite the garages of the flats at Claremont, Shepperton.
With no garden of her own, local resident Laura Harrison decided she would try her luck with a sad and unloved piece of ground that she looks over from her alterations studio. She dug it over (very hard work!), removing stumps, stones and rubbish and planted wild flower seeds. The result this summer was stunning and made all the difference to this dark corner, as you can see from the photo. In true community spirit Rod Littlewood helped Laura create a little fence to mark the area out. Old pallets (from Shepperton Matters!) were cut up and Rod painted them. The result is a beautiful and cared for corner.
The movement of “flower bombing” is taking root. We need it! Flowers make us happier as well as attracting butterflies and bees, so neces-sary to our planet (see article on p 56 too). We can all do our little bit. But do make sure you know who land belongs to before you start, out of courtesy!