Bloombox is a new service which aims to deliver pre selected boxes of beautiful plants to your door.
BloomBox Club’s goal is to bring you a blooming and vibrant outdoor space all year round, along with an enthusiastic and inspired gardener to go with it, (that’s you!) We asked founder Katie Gilbert to tell us a bit more about Urban Gardening.
"According to the anthem, we live in a ‘green and pleasant land’. As we make our daily commute across the capital, however, this utopian image of England seems a far cry from the reality, and our inner longing for a bit of greenery causes us to let out a little sigh.
And it’s no wonder – just Google ‘Gardening for health’ and hundreds of articles and studies are thrown up extolling the virtues of green space, gardening and growing your own food. From improving physical fitness through regular low-impact exercise to the mental health benefits of nurturing plants to life in the open air, there is no downside to gardening: As per our Bloombox mantra – time spent outside is never wasted.
And it doesn’t take acres of space. You only have to look at the efforts of the residents of the Barbican Estate in London to see how a brutalist monument can be softened with the addition of window boxes, grass and a fountain or two. The residents of this area in the City of London didn’t confine their urban garden project to their own private balcony spaces. They collaborated to turn the communal spaces from concrete hardscapes into beautiful areas with grass, shrubbery and water features that make it look like an entirely different place. It’s a credit to everyone involved that they have managed to take the principle of an urban garden and revitalise a place that was the epitome of urban living.
So we've established that urban gardening is good for the soul - but what if you aren’t lucky enough to have Barbican-scale community spaces or an orchard on your doorstep? Most Londoners consider themselves fortunate if they have a small balcony upon which to enjoy the outdoors, while a space with room for cat-swinging is nothing short of extravagant in this dense city of ours.
At BloomBox Club, we’re firm believers that you don’t need a lot of space to make a garden. Whether you have a balcony for a window box, a windowsill for a miniature greenhouse or a shared garden, however small, that you can contribute to, urban gardens can make the big city feel just a little bit smaller. Even a planter on your doorstep can give you a reason to pop outside for a few minutes each day and greets you with a smile as you come home.
And we’re not just talking plants here; you can use lighting, water, aggregates and wood to build a place you can enjoy all year round. The only limit is your imagination. People are making some amazing spaces from very little square-footage. However small your space is, you can turn it into something quite beautiful, relaxing and personal to you.
Let’s not forget, the growing of plants is an incredibly life-affirming experience. Nurturing seeds and bulbs until they sprout forth and grow towards the sky, can increase the colour in your life and heighten the senses to the grey sprawl you can see from your window. With a modest outlay and a little patience, you can create your own tropical paradise, miniature oasis or micro farm, all from the comfort of your own home. There aren’t many pastimes that can boast those benefits and will really give you something to sing about."
Thanks Katie, we definitely agree here at Green&Blue. You can find Bloombox exhibiting at this years
Grow London in Hampstead Heath (where you might also find a few pretty
beepots gracing the stand) and also at
RHS Hampton Court. You can find out all about
Bloombox and how it works on their website here.
"According to the anthem, we live in a ‘green and pleasant land’. As we make our daily commute across the capital, however, this utopian image of England seems a far cry from the reality, and our inner longing for a bit of greenery causes us to let out a little sigh.
And it’s no wonder – just Google ‘Gardening for health’ and hundreds of articles and studies are thrown up extolling the virtues of green space, gardening and growing your own food. From improving physical fitness through regular low-impact exercise to the mental health benefits of nurturing plants to life in the open air, there is no downside to gardening: As per our Bloombox mantra – time spent outside is never wasted.