6 community garden ideas for your outdoor project

 

Community gardens are important spaces for local people to meet, learn, and develop skills together, so being in charge of one can come with a lot of responsibility. 

 

What is a community garden?

Community gardens are shared outdoor spaces where the local community comes together to partake in various activities.

Activities can vary depending on the community and garden space, but common activities include gardening, growing vegetables, or nature-related learning.

In this blog, we’ll run through a selection of community garden ideas to keep your space fresh and engaging, as well as some guidance on how to set up a community garden in the first place.

 

Our top community garden ideas

 

1. Choose a theme

Theming your community garden can be a good way of encouraging involvement from people with a vested interest in your chosen theme.

For example, you might want to focus on potting and growing a certain type of plant or a collection of plants from a specific country or region, or you might even want to look at growing things like herbs, spices, fruit, or vegetables.

You may be surprised at how many people in your local community are interested in these kinds of activities and would be willing to get involved!

 

2. Educational spaces

There’s virtually no end to the things we can learn from nature, and community gardens can be great educational spaces for people of all ages to gain knowledge and learn valuable life skills.

Whether it’s general gardening skills, environmental practices and sustainability (more on this later), biodiversity, or cooking—the list goes on, and there’s so much you could focus on.

Community gardens often work in partnership with local schools and colleges, so this might also be something you want to look into depending on your core demographic.

 

3. Sustainability projects

Sustainability is an important topic that presents a key opportunity for community gardens. With an increased societal focus on living more greenly and doing good for the planet, community gardens can play a crucial role in helping local people drive change.

Here are just a few initiatives and project ideas you could consider when thinking about your community garden:

• Waste reduction: teaching people about sensible waste reduction through a composting programme, for example, can be extremely beneficial.
• Water conservation: like waste reduction, teaching people how to effectively collect and store rainwater for irrigation can ease the strain on other local water supplies.
• Biodiversity: biodiversity is incredibly important for our ecosystem. Start by researching the local wildlife and native plant species and what your garden can do to preserve them and help them thrive.
• Energy efficiency: installing wind or solar-powered appliances in your garden can massively help to reduce your garden’s carbon footprint and impact on the environment. Not to mention that overuse of energy sources like oil and gas can impact biodiversity.
• Homegrown food: you may want to set up an allotment area in your garden to teach people about sustainable food choices. Growing your fruit and veg locally has tons of environmental benefits—not to mention the benefits of a fruit and veg-rich diet for your health!

The more people can learn at your garden, the more likely they are to implement changes in their day-to-day lives—thus increasing the positive impact of your garden over time.

There may already be interesting sustainability projects going on in your local community that your garden can support or get involved in, so do your research and see what’s out there.

 

4. Wellness zones

Gardens are supposed to be calming and relaxing spaces. Having a dedicated wellness zone in your community garden can be a great way to promote mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing among members of your community—all while encouraging a deeper connection with nature.

‘Wellness’ can mean different things to different people. But in the context of community garden ideas, common initiatives may include:

• Meditation areas
• Outdoor exercise or yoga zones
• Sensory gardens
• Natural art installations

All of the above will encourage people to take stock and reconnect with both themselves and what’s around them.

 

5. Creative workshops

Creative workshops can also be a great way to engage your local community. People of all ages and backgrounds thrive off creativity, but many don’t have the time or opportunity to flex their creative muscles in their day-to-day lives. That’s where community gardens can play a part.

The good thing is that you don’t need piles of specialist equipment either—just use what’s around you!

Consider things like garden art and natural sculpture workshops, flower pressing, plant potting, landscape drawing, or even cooking with fresh produce from the garden.

Anything that makes use of the natural surroundings and encourages creativity will surely be a winner.

 

6. Accessibility and inclusivity

When running a community garden, it’s important to ensure that everyone feels safe and welcome, regardless of age, background, ability, and so on.

That means you should have systems, procedures, and facilities in place to cater for all the needs of those your garden serves.

Each of your community garden ideas should be accessible, inclusive, and reflective of the whole community. There’s lots you may want to consider, but some key areas might be:

• Wheelchair-friendly paths and access: people with reduced mobility should still be able to come to your garden and get involved, so you should consider the access points and how people using wheelchairs can be included in activities.
• Religion and culture: your garden should recognise and celebrate the diversity in your community and tailor programmes to ensure everyone feels seen and heard. You could also actively seek out marginalised or under-represented communities to make sure your garden is a welcoming and inclusive space.
• Age considerations: people of all ages can enjoy community gardens, but it’s important to ensure yours isn’t too targeted at one demographic, alienating others. Make sure you run programmes and activities suited to all ages.
• Affordability: as the ongoing cost-of-living crisis continues to rumble on, money is tight for many people and families throughout the UK. If you need to charge a fee for any of your community garden ideas, ensure your pricing is fair. The more free activities you can offer, the better.
• Multilingual activities: if you live in a particularly diverse community, make sure your events and activities are tailored as such. Think about your garden signage and things like instruction guides, and consider whether you need alternate versions in different languages or in other formats such as Braille.

 

How to start a community garden

There’s no one-size-fits all approach to starting a community garden, and you could go about it in various ways.

First and foremost, though, you’ll need to identify a suitable location and work out who is currently responsible for the land. Public green spaces will often be owned by the council, so this could be your first port of call.

Local authorities are often supportive of community gardens, so you might also be able to lean on their support to get things off the ground.

The council will likely want to know what kind of activities you plan to run and what ideas you have for your garden, so this is where you’ll need to think about everything we’ve talked about in this blog.

Once you know all of that, it’s over to you to spread the word and get local people involved!

Even in today’s increasingly fast-paced, digital world, community gardens and open outdoor spaces are still so important. They provide opportunities for people to slow down, reconnect with themselves and others, and learn.

 

Specialist community insurance through Ripe

With so many potential community garden ideas out there, the possibilities for yours are almost endless. But once your community garden is up and running, you may want to consider protecting it, along with yourself and any volunteers, with insurance.

If you run a community garden or any other kind of organisation in the community sector, for that matter, you’ll likely face various risks on a daily basis.

However, sporting club, leisure and community insurance coming soon to Ripe is designed to safeguard against these risks so you can focus more on making a positive impact in your local community.