Two Islington locals have opened a wildlife and native wildflower community garden to show residents how achievable it is to increase biodiversity in the local area with very little experience or costs. They plan to grow their own native wildflower meadow, attracting an array of insects, and use home-grown root vegetables to donate to local homeless charities.
The project was created by Ryan Dalton and Kelly Fisher, Islington locals and nature enthusiasts. “We both love the outdoors, we love gardening, we love wildlife, but neither of us has a garden because we both live in a flat,” said Ryan.
Located in Hornsey on Hornsey Rise Estate, the garden sits behind the block of flats and stretches the length of almost two tennis courts. The duo asked the council whether they could turn the unused area into a wildlife and community garden and were given the green light in January 2022: “I can’t stress how incredible Islington Council have been, and they are helping with future developments for the garden as well, such as supplying us with running water.”
The couple’s passion for wildlife is clear, Ryan said: “Kelly and I, especially since lockdown, grow a lot of plants. I have worked with wildlife and nature from an ecology point of view for a long time. So, when we both looked at the space, we knew that the potential there was just huge.”
Ryan and Kelly met five years ago through their love of animals. They both run dog walking companies in North London, CaNineTeenDog and Muddy Paws Walks. Ryan’s interest in ecology goes back to his job as a zookeeper. He worked as a native conservationist and built or adapted areas on the site to house the wildlife. His work since has become more domesticated: he now hosts a wildlife and nature podcast, Into The Wild, where he speaks to various experts across the world of wildlife, including Lizzie Daly from the BBC.
Ryan and Kelly will be dividing the responsibilities in half and have both decided to follow the gardening method of “no dig”. Ryan and Kelly will be collecting used tyres from MOT garages to use as planters, stacking up to three on top of each other, filling them with planters and then planting various root vegetables. This is a far more natural and environmentally friendly way of gardening, as the soil is left undisturbed, and it is only nutrition and organic matter that is added.
Kelly will be taking charge of the vegetable growing and food aspect of the garden. The focus will be on sprouting an array of root vegetables, such as potatoes, onions, carrots, and parsley, and they will be donating half of the harvest to Street Kitchen, an Islington-based homeless charity. The seeds are being sown now and the crop should be ready to harvest around September, just in time for autumn: “Kelly has a dream that one day she will be able to fill a full baking tray of home-grown tomatoes.”
Ryan’s half of the garden will be used to grow his own native UK wildflower meadow, with a focus on biodiversity. He currently has 12 pallets which he will flip upside down, take out the wooden slats and line with cardboard, compost them and plant seeds for UK wildflower high grasses. According to Ryan: “these pallets will also encourage lots of insects, not just bees and butterflies, but also grasshoppers, beetles and spiders, which are essential to maintain a healthy garden.”
If you don't ask, you don't get.
London allotments have 15 yr+ waiting lists so my pal Kel & I asked the council if we could turn this unused & secure area (fit with a pear tree) into a new wildlife & community garden….THEY SAID YES!
Work starts next week!???????? pic.twitter.com/4QfnurFlAO
— Ryan 'eco-freak' Dalton (@MrRyanJDalton) January 1, 2022
Ryan will also be creating his own pond, around six foot long, that will be filled with fish. Using two large tyres that he found on the side of the road, he and Kelly will submerge them and pile compost and grass feed around the perimeter to get it growing up.
“My aim is to really increase biodiversity. There are so many green spaces around London like this, and if we just didn’t mow them for a year, it would look completely different. So that is the benefit of doing this, we can grow some veg, help local people, encourage the community to hands-on get involved with it and then also we’re helping the environment by trying to increase biodiversity in areas like this as well.”
Ryan tweeted the news when he got the go-ahead from the council, and it received thousands of likes and retweets. They have since received many organic seed donations from supporters and like-minded members of the nature community across the UK.
Residents of Hornsey Wood Estate are being encouraged to follow Hornsey Community Garden on Instagram, where Ryan and Kelly will share any information about surplus crops that can be distributed between residents and about how locals can offer a helping hand in the garden with upkeep during the summer months.
Ryan hopes to see the garden in bloom by May and can’t wait to get to work on the project. “I’m keen to really inspire people about biodiversity and the strength of that and show people how easy it is to add native wildflowers to your garden, or balcony or window box with very little experience, knowledge or costs and power. I want to show people that if I can do it with next to no money, just on the floor and a pallet, then there’s no reason why anyone can’t do it.”
