NOT everyone has an outside space they can grow in – which is why community gardens are becoming ever more important.
In their recent ‘Space To Grow’ report, Clare Matterson from the RHS called community gardening the ‘most quietly powerful movements in the UK today.’
“It brings people together, lifts spirits, improves health and turns forgotten corners into places bursting with life,” she said.
And according to the RHS figures, over 2.5m adults have taken part in community gardening in the past three years – with 14.7m more saying they’d love to be involved.
The RHS defines it as ‘any group that comes together around gardening, or gardens together, outside private and commercial gardens.’
This could be Britain in Bloom groups maintaining planters in their local high street, a community-run orchard in the local park, groups of residents gardening together in a shared space on a housing development, or those looking after spaces in schools, places of worship and hospitals.
And the report added that great amounts of good quality green space are associated with lower crime rates in urban areas.
Earlier this year Community Gardening was named by experts as a trend set to take over in 2025, particularly by Gen Z and millennials.
Richard King Director at Dino Decking told Sun Gardening: “Interest in community gardens is on the rise, as Brits – especially millennials and Gen Z’s – look for ways to improve their immediate environment and tackle climate change on their doorsteps.
“Community gardening also offers the opportunity to socialise in a healthy environment, connecting with others while disconnecting from our chronically online lives at a time when we are increasingly more aware of our screen time. ”
Campaigner Victoria Holden, who runs community orchard Northern Lily, has seen her local area transformed by the outside space.
She discovered the locked up and abandoned 166-tree space behind a plastic factory in Failsworth, Manchester, and over the last four years has turned it into a community garden and forest school, a therapy goat centre, and a bike library.
It’s buildings and sheds double up as classrooms, where they carry out horticultural lessons for visitors – as well as food festivals and community dinners.
Plus there’s polytunnels, vegetable beds, growing tunnels and the fruit trees so everyone can develop horticultural skills and up their physical activity as well as connect with others.
So far its grown enough food for 12,750 meals.
Victoria told Sun Gardening: “I think for me, the community side, bringing people from all walks of life, from ages nought to ninety, to create something together, is the best part.
“It helps people that have faced challenges to gain back some control over their life
”Whether it’s been that you’ve had a bad year or life hasn’t been smooth – in a community garden all sorts of magic happens.
“Like remembering skills that you used to have. We’ve got people who are retired, suffering from a bit of isolation, coming showing young people how to fix their bikes.
“So, it’s that intergenerational stuff for me, as well as, you know, sort of community building, creating something together.”
The Orchard Project is the only national charity dedicated to the creation, restoration and celebration of community orchards. Since 2009 they’ve been involved in over 726 community orchards, planting over 3,800 fruit trees.
It’s vision is that one day everyone living in towns and cities across the UK is within walking distance of a thriving community orchard.
Community orchards are spaces where people can come together around a shared purpose.
With loneliness on the rise, being able to connect with others in an orchard creates a greater sense of belonging and pride in where you live.
Nature connection is vital for our health and wellbeing, and this effect is magnified when people are also part of a supportive local food growing network.
Figures show that one in eight households have no access to gardens where they could grow food.
So Incredible Edible – who’s vision is to create kind, confident and connected communities – is spearheading a Right To Grow policy.
It’s designed to help turn disused public land into an oasis for food and wildlife by cutting local authority red tape and complex leases. .
It’s already received broad support in a debate in the House of Lords.
And SPACEHIVE website is worth a visit to find out more about community garden funding.
Around one in five Spacehive projects is a community garden and last year, it helped transform 420,469m2 of green space – equivalent to 80 football pitches
Some of the gardens grow fruit, vegetables and herbs, while others focus on rewilding and helping local wildlife – from increasing the bee population to helping hedgehogs cross gardens with hedgehog highways, to bug hotels.
Misha Dhanak, Spacehive CEO, said: “Community gardens are learning spaces — people of all ages can share knowledge, from seasoned growers passing on tips to newcomers learning from scratch.
“They’re diverse, inclusive, and intergenerational, helping communities connect across age, culture, and experience. We also know from our projects that they can help combat loneliness, giving people the chance to meet and make friends they might not otherwise encounter.”
Also in Veronica’s Column this week….
Top tips, Garden news, Plant of the Week and a Bird food bundle competition
For more gardening content, follow me @biros_and_bloom
TOP TIP! Frost and snow is finally here – make sure you’ve fleeced your less hardy plants if you can – like Bananas, cannas and plants in pots.
But crucially, do not walk on your lawn – no matter how much you love the crunch!
Your steps can cause the leaf blades to fracture and break, which can lead to patchy growth and long term damage. When the blades smash down under foot – they cover the roots – which means they can’t get the oxygen and water they need to stay healthy.
It’s also worth remembering that arranging plant pots together will give them a bit of protection.
And you can also cut up large plastic bottles to place over delicate plants to protect them. Good luck!
NEWS! ARUNDEL Castle in West Sussex has won the 2025 Historic Houses Garden of the Year Award. The world-renowned 38-acre gardens have a Tropical House, stumperies, an English Rose garden, Italian terraces, Kitchen and Wildflower gardens, water gardens and a famous tulip festival when it reopens in April.
WIN! It’s vital we look after our feathered friends as the temperatures plunge – so Peckish is giving away TWO £100 wild bird care bundles. To be in with a chance of winning, visit www.thesun.co.uk/PECKISHBUNDLE or write to Sun Peckish Bundle competition, PO Box 3190, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8GP. Include your name, age, email or phone. UK residents 18+ only. Entries close 11.59pm. December 13, 2025. T&Cs apply
SAVE! Keep your hands warm with Niwaki’s £`12 Winter Gardening gloves or get Kent and Stowe’s thermal versions for £5.99
PLANT OF THE WEEK! Nerine bowdenii are gorgeous and come in all sorts of lovely colours – with long lasting flowers. They’re also hardy down to -15oC ad grown best when the bulbs are crowded together.
JOB OF THE WEEK! Check the upcoming online garden centre and plant shop Black Friday sales online – some of them, like Marshall’s Garden, have up to 70 per cent off.
