Community garden brings pride to Greenwood Park
The idea behind the community garden was to help beautify and inspire similar projects throughout the area.
A NEW community garden is soon to be the pride of Greenwood Park thanks to local residents and businesses.
Recently, a clean-up, spearheaded by Greenwood Park Primary School and various role-players in the community, saw more than 300 people come together to instil some civic pride.
Among the success stories and major positives from the initiative was the start of a community garden near the railway bridge on Mimosa Road.
Local resident Farrah Shaik said the idea behind the garden was to help beautify and inspire similar projects throughout the area.
“There was a garden a few years ago, but sadly that fell away. We identified this particular patch of land for the garden because Mimosa Road is the main entrance to Greenwood Park. While the garden is still in its infancy, we’ve already seen some plants flower, and it is a thing of beauty. Parks Durban North were kind to donate some of the plants for the garden, and we now have a landscaper, Louise Carlton, from Dream Gardens Durban, to help bring this dream to fruition.
Related story: GALLERY: Hundreds tackle Greenwood Park clean-up
“The community reaction has been positive. In fact, some businesses and residents have already come down to water the garden every so often and clean up the area around the site. We are all quite protective of our garden, and we feel the momentum is with us in terms of people ensuring there is no illegal dumping or littering in the area.
“With Louise’s help, we are also looking to expanding the garden project to different spots. In fact, Jennifer Rassie, a resident on Effingham Road has also expressed a keen interest in starting a garden there, too,” she said.
Shaik also thanked Marshall Security’s Cleaning and Greening initiative for their help in clearing the area around the community garden.
For Carlton, the best part of the garden is it’s a home to a variety of water-wise, indigenous plants.
“We have a few Agapanthuses, a variety of Aloes and Bromelia, to name a few. I’m really excited to see it grow. Once the garden fills up, we may look at extending it along the bank or pick another spot. The great thing is because the plants are all indigenous, they mainly care for themselves and multiply. Within a year, this garden will be blooming and beautiful, which is what the residents wanted,” she said.
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