Applegarth and Hutton Partnership

This Pocket Garden was built by pupils at Applegarth Primary School and Hutton Primary School who cooperated together to build their garden.  It is named the William Boyes Pocket Garden after the pupil who designed it. The Pocket Garden has pride of place at the front of the school, and was built with the help of the school Gardening Club.  Have a look at this Sway presentation made by pupils.

Beautiful flowers

Planters made of tins

Plastic tub pond

Every Pocket Garden tells a story.  Here is the story of this garden in the words of the pupil who designed it:

"The garden will have 2 pallet walls with plant pots made out of all old tin cans. The top of the pallets will be lined with old silage plastic so we can plant native insect friendly flowers and vegetables. There will be a herbs like parsley, rosemary, thyme, fennel, chives planted because these are brilliant for insects and for me to eat and cook with. The garden will be south facing to get as much sun as possible. The pallets will shelter the plants from wind.

There will be an old gutter between the two pallets. To reuse water I will connect the pipes under the top flower bed of the pallet. So the drained water from the pallet will run into the gutter. The gutter will grow trailing plants which grow in shallow soil, which are good for insects and look pretty.

In the corner there will be a raised bed with 3 layers made out of rubble, This raised bed will contain native spring bulbs and vegetables later in the summer. Raised beds made from stones and wood, this will create more space in the garden and provide a beetle/bug bank, hopefully moss and lichen will also cover the wood and stone, helping diversity and create new homes. The materials will be waste pallets and stones from a local builder.

An ice cream tub will be used as a wormery next to the raised bed to eliminate food waste, create compost to grow plants in. This saves the planet since it is instead of buying compost in bags of plastic. Worms help degrade waste into compost. The worms could be used for fishing and aerating the soil.

Bird feeders- will hang off the pallets to help the birds in the same way the plastic helps my plants. In winter they will provide food for wild birds. I would make my bird feeders out of plastic bottles. If I have nothing to do one day I would reuse a plastic bottle to make a bird feeder. I would also like to make bird feeders out of old drain pipes.

Veg - to help feed humans and save buying veg in plastic bags and save food miles. It would also provide homes for insects, although I am worried that the insects eat the veg before I eat it. Sometimes you can’t eat food in certain seasons so I will try to plant different seasonal food so I don’t starve at certain times of the year. The rocks around the veg patch will create homes food and shelter for small insects and their predators.

Log piles- to provide a habitat for bugs and animals that might get cold in the winter like frogs, beetles or hibernating queen wasps or queen bumble bees. I will leave dead wood and dead plants over winter for insects, fungi, birds and mammals to live on and in.

Bird feeders

Vegetables

Log piles

In the soil there will be a little hole for a plastic sweet tup pond. The tub will contain stones, mud and water to make a water habitat for insects, bugs and a drinking area for birds and bees. This little pond would be a different habitat for attracting different plants and animals like frogs, newts, fish, mayflies, damsel fly’s, dragon flies.

There will be old mushroom and fruit trays germinating native tree seeds and sunflowers. The plan is to transplant the seedlings in the surrounding environment to help animals and birds. If we need to make a mini greenhouse. I will cover these tubs with clear plastic bags or old agricultural see through bale wrap. Native trees help wildlife and help clean the air. The plastic covers will help when very wet, cold or windy the plants will get shelter, this should also speed up germination. The old plastic will help me extend my food seasons. If I had space I would grow blueberries and black currants from cuttings which I would then move to roadside hedges.

Flower choices include:

Bluebells: to feed the bees, they are native, they would come back every year

Native Snowdrops: to make my garden pretty and feed the bees in the early Spring

Native daffodils: to make our garden pretty and feed the bees in the spring

Wild garlic: pretty when it flowers, animals, hens and humans can eat it. The bulbs make nice garlic and cheese scones

Poppies and cornflowers: this is insect friendly and seeds can be collected easily

Sunflowers: I will use the trays to germinate them and when they get a bit bigger I will keep one for the big raised bed and transplant the rest around the countryside. They will be good for insects, bumble and honey bees in the summer and provide winter food for wild birds. If the birds leave some seeds I will replant them next year.

Pupils created a wormery using an old plastic bottle. The wormery sits next to the raised bed and can be used to eliminate food waste, and create compost to grow plants in. This saves the planet since it eliminates the need to buy compost in bags of plastic. Worms help degrade waste into compost. The worms could be used for fishing and aerating the soil.