In your better nature

If you are walking through William Morris Garden and Lloyd Park in the coming weeks, take a moment to appreciate its beautiful botany. 

Thanks to a crack team of dedicated volunteers who meet up every single week to work on them, the flowerbeds and gardens are set to become even greener and more nature friendly as spring blooms.

The Lloyd Park Volunteer Gardening Programme is run by Groundwork London in partnership with the Council. As well as providing some of the vital regular maintenance of some of the greenery in the park, it creates a hugely beneficial place for people to meet, socialise, and spend time together.

Abbas, a volunteer, explains: “Whenever I walk through the park with friends, I show them the work I have been part of. I’m extremely proud of myself and the team. This was the first time I did volunteering and thanks to this experience I have fallen in love with helping. This opportunity has changed my life.” 

Another volunteer, Frank, adds: “I really love the spirit of the team, and everyone is really encouraging. I never dared doing any pruning before, but now I feel comfortable to just give it a try.” 

Groundwork Gardener Saira Gregory leads the sessions, which take place every Thursday. She explains that nature and biodiversity are at the heart of everything that the volunteers work on: “It takes real teamwork to create a beautiful garden but we also want to make sure that that it is really wildlife-friendly too. 

“The council selects a high proportion of pollinator friendly species to support bees particularly, and they select bird-friendly species too, shrubs for habitat and berries for food. They also include plants that flower at different times of year, so there’s always food for pollinators. 

“No herbicides are used, just weeding by hand, and we mulch the beds, which provides habitat for invertebrates and improves the soil.”

The Lloyd Park Volunteer Gardening Programme is always welcoming new participants to the scheme. 

Visit the Council’s website for full details on getting involved with volunteering opportunities in local parks.