PimpYourPavement's Blog

The value of community involvement

Richard Reynolds — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 22:48:27 +0000

I’m reading through the detail of Southwark Council’s new Tree Strategy. They’re determined to do better, and while there are still some significant oversights – the maintenance and inspection regime is too infrequent – they now recognise the value of community involvement. This is where the Pimp Your Pavement approach intends to help and really needs to so the weakness in the official maintenance regime can be overcome.

Here’s the quote:
4.5 Community involvement – Community involvement has the potential to provide additional resources for tree management and maintenance. Past planting projects in Southwark have demonstrated that, when local residents are involved in planting and maintenance, new planting have a better survival rate, are less likely to be vandalised and give a sense of ownership to the local community.
Read the full document here: http://www.southwark.gov.uk/downloads/download/2621/tree_strategy

Pimp Your Pavement Walking Tour 20 June

Richard Reynolds — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:38:46 +0000

As part of the London Festival of Architecture I’ll be leading a 90 minute walking tour around the numerous pimped pavements (and beyond) of Southwark, most of which are guerrilla gardens. We start in the centre of the Elephant & Castle North Roundabout at 3pm this Sunday, 20 June. Details and tickets available at the LFA website.

The event is one of Jonathan Glancey’s top picks of the festival for The Guardian. Read more here.

The beauty of tree cages

Richard Reynolds — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:41:49 +0000

Tree Cage Pimped

Young trees are often caged in a wire fence, which is all very sensible (as long as the cage is removed when the tree gets bigger and isn’t left to pierce into the trunk) but also quite ugly. Beyond ugly, it’s such a missed opportunity for a gentle climber. And so I’ve been experimenting with Sweet Peas and Morning Glory. So far the Sweet Peas are doing best, and have also proved remarkably low maintenance too. You can enjoy these in Princess Street outside the surgery

The Gardens of You Me Bum Bum Train’s

Richard Reynolds — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:51:32 +0000

When You Me Bum Bum Train got in touch I thought they might be confused about what kind of pimping I offered. But they weren’t. They needed help transforming two very miserable old flower beds outside a derelict council office in Tower Hamlets in preparation for their big show in July. They had a budget for plants, they even had permission to do it, they just needed manpower and skill… so I sought help from London guerrilla gardeners who were up for doing something legal for once, and over two consecutive Sunday afternoon’s we transformed the dandelion fields into the most formal beds I’ve ever got my fingers into: hummocks of soil crowned with New Guinnea Busy Lizzies and surrounded by rings of white, pink and purple petunias.

Pavement pimping in progress on Cambridge Heath Road

The grand gardens poised to bloom (come back in July!)

Stoke Newington’s Ladies That Pimp

Richard Reynolds — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 17:45:53 +0000

I gave a talk at the Stoke Newington Literary Festival this morning about guerrilla gardening and my Pimp Your Pavement project. And afterwards a delighted woman called Chris told me about her street nearby where several residents have been planting up the tree pits in the pavements on both sides of their Victorian terraces. It all started with one lady doing the couple nearest her home and has now spread to about seven tree pits… with plenty more opportunity for others to adopt some too.

Stoke Newington Pimped Pavement

Big Lunch gathers pace

Richard Reynolds — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:47:23 +0000

I’m planning another Big Lunch this year, and pimping the pavements in preparation. Out there this evening I bumped into Becki, a stranger, but actually a neighbour of 12 months. It turns out she’s a community youth leader too. So what a perfect random meeting, because she’s keen to get involved in the Big Lunch on Princess Street and even has access to the Salvation Army Hall kitchen at the end of the street.

Becki in Princess Street

Spottings

Richard Reynolds — Sat, 15 May 2010 09:17:32 +0000

I’m spotting more pimped pavements around London, tentative little seasonal plantings of bright bedding. These are encouraging signs, simple steps towards something more spectacular. Here’s one in a traditional tree pit on Kings Cross Road, and another on Cold Harbour Lane that proves there’s always a place to pimp if you look hard enough!

Unfortunate chopping

Richard Reynolds — Tue, 11 May 2010 09:26:17 +0000

Earlier this year my neighbours and I pimped three tree pits in Princess Street Southwark. We planted around three ornamental pear trees that Trees For Cities had planted here in spring 2006. Actually they’d planted four but one had been removed. Now another has been chopped down too. Which is all rather disappointing considering how lovely (and expensive) they were. It turns out it had been planted in a rather stupid place – directly in front of a traffic light, which just goes to show, that even when professionals are pimping pavements with trees, they can get things wrong. I’ve spoken to Trees For Cities and we hope to find some new locations for more permanent trees. Nevertheless, the tree pit remains and I’ll be repairing the planting around the stump. Here’s a photo of the tree before it was chopped (with, by chance, Mayor Boris Johnson next to it), and how it looked today!

London Mayor Boris Johnson next to the Princess Street pear tree before it was chopped.

Godfathers in Essen

Richard Reynolds — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:26:10 +0000

I’ve recently been touring Germany speaking about guerrilla gardening. And I’ve been on the look out for pavement pimpers, I even joined some locals doing a bit in Essen and Munich using the usual guerrilla tactics. But I was on the look out for places where the city actually encourages it and in Essen came across the “Pflegepatenschaften” scheme which I learnt means you become a ‘godfather’ to care for little public space. In Essen there are more than 1000 godfathers, with citizens and enterprises who do the gardening. The city expects four things: (1) watering (2) keep it clean of weeds and litter (3) planting (4) scarify the soil when needed. Sounds good to me. You find a spot, you make a request online and if they city agrees you press on and get an official document. You’re not legally bounded by the law to do the gardening and can end your ‘godfathership’ whenever you want… so it sounds like a fairly relaxed and sensible scheme. Even so… there’s lots more potential to pimp Essen. So although the scheme’s in place the benefits for everyone of participating need to be drummed up. You can view a report of the guerrilla gardening in Essen here.

Planting primulas by a pavement in Essen, Germany

Interview with Edie

Richard Reynolds — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:01:00 +0000

Edie.net came along for the Trinity Street gardening and I gave a brief (and noisy) interview to them about Pimp Your Pavement.