Fundraisers add gardening to their repertoire with makeover
A LOCAL charity’s first foray into gardening hopes to revitalise the area surrounding Victoria Tower in St Peter Port.
On Saturday, Only Fools and Donkeys commenced phase one of the Victoria Tower Big Dig, with half-a-dozen active volunteers turning over scrappy shrubs and bushes to plant bulbs, tubers and other perennial plants to grace the garden for years to come.
Event organiser and charity member Linda Armstead said she started this project as a carbon buy-back for the charity.
‘I wanted a good project that enabled us to off-set our carbon footprint without spending money off-island,’ she said.
‘As a charity, we want all our funds to stay in Guernsey to benefit the local community, and this is a great way to get involved and to offset our environmental impact.’
Mrs Armstead has spent a lot of time researching native pollinating flowers as well as the best types of plants that not only look nice, but would also benefit the local ecosystem and return year after year.
‘I came through these gardens a lot to walk my dog during lockdown,’ she said.
‘It’s a beautiful, quiet retreat in the middle of a built up section of Town. But if you look around, there’s not a lot of under layer below the trunk line. There’s not much here for insects and pollinators.’
Mrs Armstead said Only Fools and Donkeys has made a commitment to the States to work on and maintain the site for four to five years.
Every consideration has been made during the initial planning. Mrs Armstead said the plants she has chosen were low or no dig to retain the soil’s carbon sequestering power, and she has also chosen plants suited for dry soil as the ground is often dry.
Considerations have also been made for allergens. Mrs Armstead has chosen plants with low pollens qualities so that everyone – even those with allergies – can enjoy the garden.
Students at Le Rondin and Le Murier schools have assisted by making bug hotels and bird boxes to help develop the site as a wildlife refuge.
Out of all the plants she has chosen for the garden, Mrs Armstead her favourite is the Queen Victoria salvia, whose red flowers are low-growing perennials. She said she chose it because of its connection to the tower.
