Blenheim supports councillor's grow your own garden scheme

Merilyn Davies, West Oxfordshire district councillor, is challenging residents in her ward of Freeland and Hanborough to get out in the garden, in efforts to improve their mental heath.

The independent councillor heads the Hanborough Covid-19 mutual aid group, which will be providing plant pots, compost and a variety of flower and vegetable seeds for people to grow at home.

She said: “A resident approached me with the idea of using gardening to help people’s mental health.

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“I’d noticed a lot of people sharing pots of seeds they were growing via social media and how much it cheered them up.

“Everyone has absolutely loved it so far and wants to be involved in it.

“We’re looking at starting an online gardening club and hopefully have a community garden once all this is over, and the produce can be used for the community.

“Nature carries on whatever happens to us and it’s a reminder new things do grow, and I think that’s why lots of people have started gardening.

“The idea is for us to display the flowers we grow in our windows, alongside the rainbows we have drawn, as a way to remind us all that, while we might be physically apart, we are still all together.”

The councillor added gardening can keep people healthy during the lockdown, by being outside and having something to do that keeps the mind active.

She also said the possibility to swap plants and vegetables was being explored, so people can get their hands on something they need.

Alison Wilson, whose initial idea sparked the project, explained: “Growing plants indoors and out has many health benefits.

“I thought why don’t we provide the community with the resources it needs to take up gardening and put planters in communal spaces to enrich the local environment?”

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Blenheim Estate has also got involved in the scheme, after being approached for donations to the project.

Hilary Wood, the Estate’s head of gardens, was more than happy to oblige, and supplied pots, bags of compost, and a wide selection of seeds, including carrots, beetroot and broccoli.

It is not the first time that the Hanborough group has partnered with Blenheim.

Last month, Blenheim Estate donated one of its vans to the group so its volunteers can make deliveries to vulnerable people, who are self-isolating during the lockdown.

The arrangement, in conjunction with Co-op sees twice-daily food deliveries made in the village and surrounding area.