CF61 Community Garden ProjecT WINNERS OF WALES IN BLOOM AWARD 2024
Our gardening volunteers have been working really hard to create a space for the community to enjoy around our CF61 Community Centre in Llantwit Major.
Our vision is to provide a community garden which will have many uses and will encourage local residents to enjoy the areas and to become more involved in maintaining and enhancing their community.
We have several planters and barrels around the area which are full of bulbs, flowers and herbs near our entrance and we have successfully planted fruit trees and bushes in our Mini Orchard which are surrounded by wildflowers and have cleared and planted borders near the staff entrance.
The creation of a Sensory Garden near the driveway into the gardens has been planted with plants with colour, texture, sound and strong fragrances. It will attract many native species which will benefit from a diverse living space with readily available food sources and connections to other wild habitats. The hope is that many animals and organisms will use the new green spaces as shelter, a food source or as a pathway to reach more of their own kind and in so doing improve their chances of increasing their population and ensuring diversity.
We have created a Vegetable Patch and built our Allotment housing lots of raised beds where the produce grown is used in our Foodshare Pantry at CF61 which runs every Thursday, giving variety and fresh produce.
We have planted a copse of Rowen trees near our car park which will produce red berries for colour and a food source for birds along with other trees, hedges and bushes surrounded by low box hedge. We now have the addition of a bench made by one of our volunteers which is surrounded by the copse of trees and faces two beautiful flower beds. This year has seen the addition of two sculptures created by local artist Gwyneth Mary Price, 1944 - 2023. We have added a wild area to this section of the gardens to attract more bees and butterflies and have renamed the grass area as the Picnic Patch. Dotted around the gardens we have bat, bird and bee houses, sources of water for insects and birds.
Our beach area has been laid with stone to simulate sand to replicate the local beach. A bench for our beach was purchased through a grant to sit on the beach area with hardy grasses and rockery type plants surrounding it.
We have created an area for the children with logs for seating and made wooden tables. This area is surrounded by a growing willow screen and arches with pathways to the seating area. At the back of the children’s area is a new bug castle with a backdrop of bugs made from coconut shells attached to the fence. These were made by Valeplus who have been volunteering with us for the last two years. The attendees are adults who have learning disabilities and who have been attending weekly sessions and have done a fabulous job helping out. They also helped us create a hedgehog house out of recycled bricks and planted their own herbs. The children’s area now has a stumpery with ferns and a snail bug house. We have added a book exchange box so children can enjoy a book whilst sitting in the area, all of which has been possible due to a grant received from the Health Charity. There are also painted building blocks, dice and painted rocks, a wooden play shelf, musical instruments, bird feeders and two benches for the parents, again made from recycled wood by our talented volunteers.
Work has been completed on our new mound area which has been planted as a rockery with lots of different coloured heathers and plants. A walkway has been built across the top for the children to walk through simulating a woodland track. We have also made made a sedum roof for the top of the outside meter building which will be a living roof that will attract bees and butterflies.
Our latest area is the Wall Garden which was a patch of undergrowth on the farside of the carpark which when removed revealed two original stone walls creating a fabulous backdrop to a new planting area. There is an old tree which has grown at an angle due to the stone wall, which allows it to be adorned with bird feeders and water containers.
This year has also seen the addition of an additional composting area allowing us to separate different types of waste which will be reused around the site.
Throughout everything created we have recycled where possible using old bricks, blocks, wood and even carpet and tried to create the best ecosystem we can. We are very grateful to the community who have donated plants, seeds and equipment.
Finally, a huge thank you to our incredible volunteers who have made this garden possible!