Wilder + Canopi
The Canopi building is situated just off Borough High Street, in a highly polluted and ultra-urban area. Wilder has transformed the concrete concourse surrounding the building into a lush wildlife-friendly garden.
Working with Sterling Landscapes, we de-paved three sections of the concourse and re-used the paving slabs to create a large composting bin. We then collaborated with local residents and volunteers from the Canopi building to prepare the ground using the hügelkultur method, before planting a combination of perennial plants including sweet woodruff, ferns, blackthorn, bellflowers and St John’s wort, to name just a few.
We then created a permaculture area to the rear of the building, planted with interesting edibles, and a small forest garden. Both have been used to demonstrate the benefits of permaculture methods.
A big thank you to Local Trust, Canopi, Groundwork, Trust for London, Veolia and Buglife.
Clive Dove-Dixon
Chief Executive
Canopi
“What do you do with a large area of concrete paving slabs and a few trees? Call in Wilder!
We have a large open area around our office block in Borough. It has always been a challenge to manage and keep looking respectable, so when Helena and Leanne knocked on our door to ask if we would like to turn it into a community garden we jumped at the chance. Why wouldn’t we? It fitted with our brand and as a provider of office space for charities we knew that our customers would like it too.
Helena and Leanne planned the garden, helped with the fundraising, and then recruited a team of volunteers from amongst our customers to do all of the planting. They now have the contract to manage the external space and will continue to work with the volunteers to maintain the garden as it develops and grows.
I am so pleased that Wilder thought to knock on our door last year.”
‘If you grow together, you grow together. That’s what communities do.’
— Ron Finley