The Walled Garden
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In 2014 Derby City Council put the management of the walled garden, including a Bothy and poly tunnel, out to expression of interest. In the November Friends of Markeaton Park were offered the lease of the garden.
Our aim is to restore the garden back to its former glories, when it would have produced fruit, vegetables, herbs and cut flowers for the hall, so it can be enjoyed by the local community. Thanks to funding from the University of Derby we were able to buy tools, seeds, compost etc to get the project underway. Volunteers set about clearing the garden of all rubbish and weeds and in the first spring 75% of the garden was brought back into use. The bothy was restored with some of the Heritage Lottery Fund monies the park was awarded.
Our aim is to restore the garden back to its former glories, when it would have produced fruit, vegetables, herbs and cut flowers for the hall, so it can be enjoyed by the local community. Thanks to funding from the University of Derby we were able to buy tools, seeds, compost etc to get the project underway. Volunteers set about clearing the garden of all rubbish and weeds and in the first spring 75% of the garden was brought back into use. The bothy was restored with some of the Heritage Lottery Fund monies the park was awarded.
Before
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After
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The garden was officially opened in August 2015 by our patron, Jonathan Moseley.
The Grand Opening
With the help of the Allestree Neighbourhood Board over the winter of 2015 the small poly tunnel was repaired and recovered. In the spring of 2015 the council gave us some raised beds, which were no longer in use and Toyota also funded some raised beds for our young gardeners club.
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Over the winter of 2016/17 we rebuilt the brick wall to the side of the bothy, which once housed the old glass house, built some traditional cold frames, created a small orchard area, re-planted the bed to the left of the gate as you enter the garden and replaced some of the raised beds in the large poly tunnel. |
The walled garden is open to the public on Wednesday 1-3pm, Thursday 10am-12pm and Saturday/Sunday 11am-2pm when seasonal produce and plants are available for purchase. It is also open for the same hours for volunteering. We sell the produce we grow and plants to fund our activities. We also hold events, horticultural workshops and put on activities for schools and other groups in the garden.
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During the Autumn & Winter of 2018 we re-designed and re-built some of our flower beds. The work was funded by a Tesco Bags of Help grant and was carried out by volunteers and a local landscaping company. We dug up and saved all the perennials ready to plant in the spring of 2018 then Mike and his crew moved in to do the heavy work using re-cycled sleepers for the edges of the new beds. We planted bulbs as soon as the beds were ready and are looking forward to providing another beautiful, peaceful sitting area for everyone to enjoy.
