Amdega is pleased to announce the official opening of the Brandon Village Community Garden for use by the local community. The village garden committee is combining the opening with the presentation of Amdega’s gift to the Community Garden of a Retreat greenhouse; the first greenhouse the Darlington based conservatory company has built since the Victorian era.
The Brandon Village Community Garden will be officially opened by local MP Roberta Blackman-Woods at 6pm on Thursday 30th September 2010. In addition, to celebrate this event a free exhibition “Art in A Small Garden” with pieces from local established artists and graduates of Sunderland University will be open to the public all week.
The Retreat Amdega greenhouse donated by the Darlington based conservatory company will enable the garden to extend the growing season and raise tender fruit and vegetables. It will also provide a social space to sit when the weather is inclement.
The Community Garden, which has been created from a prominent derelict site with a fly tipping problem, aims to be a sustainable, environmentally friendly wildlife haven, vegetable garden and a meeting place where local people can pass on their knowledge and experience and get to know their neighbours better. The garden promotes biodiversity with a substantial area being given over to wildlife with a pond, bog, wild flower meadow, and a mixed native hedge. The pond has a small water feature running over a rock pile designed to increase the habitat for a wide range of insects, amphibians and hopefully encourage bats into the garden. The garden will have a range of flowers to attract bees, butterflies and other insects into the garden plus bird boxes and feeding stations to encourage garden birds. In contrast to the wildlife area, the vegetable garden has a formal structure of raised beds constructed from recycled plastics.
Over the past year, the village residents have worked hard to create the garden, helped by a County Durham Environmental Trust grant, (CDENT PREMIER Award of £14,800), sponsorship from local businesses and organisations, and support from Brandon and Byshottles Parish Council. With the guidance of dry stone walling expert, Peter Dent, the residents enjoyed building the south wall using traditional techniques, a wonderful teambuilding exercise.
The garden has no mains electricity or water, so rain runoff from the greenhouse roof is collected in underground storage tanks and then pumped out using energy generated by solar panels. These also run the greenhouse irrigation system, pond pumps and hopefully a few low energy lights. The garden also has various seating options, including space inside the new Amdega greenhouse to allow people to sit and enjoy the garden and wildlife. From the outset, the garden has aimed to be as inclusive as possible. Children are encouraged to get involved and the area has been made accessible to all by incorporating raised vegetable beds, benches and wheelchair friendly paths.
The Garden Opening is just the beginning. Next year the village hopes to build a herb spiral, increase the number of nest boxes and feeding stations, purchase a weather station and some nest box cams, and eventually run a website so friends and families can keep in touch with the garden.
The Garden Committee commented, “We can hardly believe that just a few months ago this piece of land that was an eyesore has been transformed into a beautiful community garden with the help of a state-of-the-art Amdega greenhouse and the generosity of other sponsors. With the hard work of volunteers, we have created something positive for the village and the wider community that brings people together in a lovely setting.”
Karl Wharton, CEO of Amdega, commented: “We are delighted to be able to offer Brandon Village a greenhouse to support the garden and hope that it continues to be a benefit to the local community for years to come.”
Amdega Greenhouses Long renowned for creating some of the finest conservatories, orangeries and garden rooms around the world; Amdega has reintroduced, by popular demand, an extensive range of covetable and state of the art greenhouses to the Amdega Garden Rooms collection, brought into existence especially for the discerning gardener.
Amdega has been designing and handcrafting timber and glass structures from the original workshops in Darlington since the Victorian Era. The Amdega Garden Rooms range comprises of Chelsea, Hampton, Manhattan and Portland summerhouses,as well as the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society Special Edition Collection and modular Greenhouse range.
Contact:
Amdega Ltd
Sarah Gilmore
Co Durham
DL3 0PW
01325 349 518
United Kingdom
sarah.gilmore@amdega.co.uk