RHS Community Garden revisited
RHS Community Garden at Forgeside RFC, Blaneavon, designed by Victoria Wade Landscape Architecture
A couple of weeks ago we popped back to Blaenavon, South Wales to see how the community garden we designed at Forgeside RFC in the spring for The RHS and BBC One show was getting on.
Forgeside Rugby Club had applied to the RHS Community Garden scheme asking for the transformation of an unused, scrubby patch of land lying adjacent to their pitch into a plant filled oasis. They were chosen as one of four community gardens to be created, announced on the BBC One show, and designed by us!
The build took place in the Spring of 2022, and the garden was unveiled on RHS Garden Day, May 2nd. Though we’ve enjoyed regular updates through WhatsApp and social media, we hadn’t visited in person since that day, so we were really excited to go and find out how it was bedding in.
Photoshop brought to life…
I have to admit, I felt a bit emotional when we arrived! You could see the brightly-coloured planting all the way from the car park on the other side of the rugby pitch. As we walked into the garden it looked exactly like the first photoshop visualisation we had shown them of the design…
We’d designed a true community garden with multiple uses, that includes a polytunnel for growing fruit and veg, raised beds overflowing with flowers, an outdoor classroom and a pizza oven for evening socials.
It was amazing to see the space already looking so abundant and filled with flowers, vegetables and wildlife, just as we had pictured it would be.
I was blown away by how well established and full of life the space has become in just a few months since we were last there. But this is all thanks to the hard work of the amazing community, who have taken real ownership of the garden and tend to it with such care. It was really special to see the space being used just as we had envisioned and I was in awe of the beauty and abundance created by the community.
Photoshop visualisation of the garden at design stage
The raised beds and polytunnel when we visited in Autumn 2022
We had our little one with us, and she wasted no time in heading straight for the overflowing polytunnel to pick tomatoes and make herself right at home!
Hard landscaping
The hard landscaping has weathered just as I hoped. The steel planters have rusted beautifully and the oak seats have silvered in the sunshine. Just within the space of one season, it already looks as if it’s always been there.
It was always my intention to create a space that didn’t feel too shiny or new but one that blends in perfectly with the surrounding industrial landscape. Seeing it in all of its rusted glory makes me very happy indeed.
But as lovely as it was to see that it’s all looking so beautiful, even better was hearing all of the stories about how much the community are enjoying the space. I am so delighted and proud to hear how well loved it already is. They have already started work on phase 2 and I am so excited to see what's next for this precious community space…
You can read more about the RHS Community Gardens and see a video about the launch of the Blanaevon garden on the RHS website: Blaenavon community hub.
