Communal Garden

The story

A group of local residents decided to get together and create a communal garden that they could all enjoy. Each resident would agree to maintain a certain part of the garden and all areas are free to be used by everyone in the group.

The gardeners

Susan & Jack Burrows – Both keen gardeners, they enjoy the outdoors and keeping fit. Jack manages the small allotment and shares all the produce with the group. Susan likes to sit in the summerhouse with a book and keeps an eye on Jack through the side window.

Sam Yeung – He’s created his own little piece of Japan and grows his award-winning bonsai trees on the plot. People come from miles around to seek his advice and he spends most of the day tending to the plants and keeping things orgainsed.

Liz & Tom Fisher and their son Mike – They have the low maintenance open garden area, which is perfect for the busy family. Whenever Liz is in the garden, she is usually busy working and chatting on her phone. It’s left to Tom to mow the lawn and keep on top of the weeds. Mike loves to play with his cat Mia and her kittens, but they have to keep a close eye on them because last week they wandered over to the Japanese garden and destroyed a couple of Sam’s plants. Oops.

Angie Hope – A happy-go-lucky soul. Doesn’t have her own plot to look after, instead she helps everyone whenever it’s needed and keeps the central fountain area clean. She cycles to the garden most afternoons once she’s finished work and sometimes brings treats for everyone.

Bill Bennett – A stern character, he runs a tight ship! He’s a retired farmer and likes to keep busy. Loves to dig and tidy up any areas that are neglected, then allocate the plot to a new owner.

The build

There were many small stages to the build. I started with the baseplates, then the trees and it just developed from there. It took quite a long time because I had to keep buying more parts and waiting for deliveries. I was also working on other projects in between. The trickiest part was the Japanese garden floor tiles. It isn’t a perfect shape so I had to create the area on a separate baseplate and keep trying until I got the pattern right. I’m especially proud of the three grey oriental statues.

The number of parts is around 800.

The idea

It all started with the raised baseplate! I was originally going to build a royal garden but it ended up as a communal garden. I think it has a lot of character and fun and I really enjoyed building it. Maybe I’ll try the oriental/royal garden idea next time!