Green-fingered residents give garden a facelift

Residents of Pembridge House in Fordingbridge, a supported housing scheme run by Sovereign, approached their landlord with plans to start a gardening club to manage their communal garden.

The tiered garden was tidy, with some established shrubs, but residents wanted to make it their own with a herb garden and growing their own choice of plants.

They already have an active social calendar which includes coffee mornings and Sovereign were keen to get involved and lend their support.

After chatting through their ideas with operatives from Sovereign Response and grounds maintenance contractors, Ground Control, it was all hands on deck and overgrown bushes were pruned, pathways cleared and the grass given its winter cut.

Resident, Ann Johnson, said, “I am looking forward to joining the gardening club and enjoying being in the garden again.”

Amanda Devine-Bowden, Sovereign’s maintenance manager who organised the work said, “The communal garden is there for all residents to enjoy and we thought it would be nice if we could get more involved to create an area which residents could look after themselves.

“This has been a great team effort by all involved from our own Property Services and Supported Housing teams to Ground Control and Travis Perkins, who kindly donated a garden shed to get the newly established gardening club off to a flying start.”

Abigail Travers, Sovereign’s housing services manager (Supported Housing) said, “This day was a great success, not only in returning the grounds to their former glory, but also in bringing residents together with a common interest in gardening…”

Resident, Margaret Steele, said, “It’s been such a fantastic day. It’s so wonderful to see everyone coming together to improve our garden.”