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Our Gardens
The Growing Space really is the green heart of Wincanton, with it's own market garden and the wildlife gardens that wrap around the Balsam Centre. A variety of spaces to explore and escape into and havens for wildlife, used by whoever needs them, for whatever brings them there that day.
Our gardens cater for a wide variety of needs. There are spaces and areas for quiet contemplation, socialising, playing, food production, propagation and learning.
The Market Garden
Mission
Across the road from the Balsam Centre is our Market Garden — The Growing Space's own site, and where it all began. Our 13 X 5m greenhouse is full of cucumbers, tomatoes, aubergines and peppers all summer. The raised beds, rows of vegetables, fruit and cut flowers are tended most days by staff, volunteers and everyone who comes here to work. The barn near the entrance doubles as a classroom for nature-inspied art and craft workshops, and there's a cosy, brick-built room nearby for a cup of tea when the weather turns cold and wet. What's grown here doesn't stop at the garden gate — our vegetables, flowers and herbs find their way to community cafe's, cooking groups and flower arranging workshops.
The Plant Nursery
We are fortunate enough to have excellent propagation facilities. An 8X5m greenhouse with heated benches for seeds and cuttings, coldframes, and areas for standing plants down all enable us to produce a wide range of plants. We not only produce all our own flower and veg plants for the gardens, but also produce plants for the community.
We're slowly increasing our stock of drought tolerant plants like salvias and dahlias, and this year we've started propagating native wildflowers in plugs for community groups creating small meadows.
The propagation greenhouse also has a kettle for those all important cups of tea during community propagation workshops.
The Bridge Gardens
These gardens were designed to look good from the bridge which leads The Balsam Centre.
Centre users get a sense of joy and tranquillity, as the vibrant hues and textures stimulate the senses, uplift their mood, and offer a peaceful view over nature's artistry.
There are block plantings of grasses, Michaelmas daisies, geraniums and other perennials flowering over a long season.
The mood of those walking through to the ground floor of the centre is lifted and children on their journey to and from Conkers Nursery pause to watch the butterflies and bees.
The Pond Garden
Behind the Balsam Centre is the largest of the gardens — built up over six years by The Growing Space's volunteers and groups, almost entirely by hand, around a pond created during the pandemic and a bridge that was built for it before it was even dug.
A large canopy, put up this year from money raised at our spring plant sale, now shades a seating area to meet, look out over the water, watch dragonflies dance or get involved in a craft activity or flower arranging using flowers straight from the gardens.
Close by is a culinary herb garden and the lavender and thyme that visitors always remark on. It's a sheltered, enclosed garden with planting that comes right up to the water on every side, so you're inside the garden rather than looking out across it. And it's open to anyone: local people passing through, gardeners and visitors on their lunch break, or whoever wants to sit for a while.
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The Orchard
Mission
Our small orchard has 9 trees on semi dwarfing rootstocks and 2 that are very dwarf for children to crop.
The orchard also has a fire pit, with tree stumps for seating and enough room for a temporary canopy for events on wet days.
We take a very light touch to this area, keeping the paths low enough for visitors not to need wellies, but scything the main areas only twice a year. Brambles are left for blackbirds and robins to nest in, and plants such as teasel, nettle and ragwort are always allowed to grow as they are such important fodder plants for caterpillars of lots of moth and butterfly species.
It's not just a small orchard - its a whole little ecosystem!
The Nest Courtyard
Lavender and upright rosemary is interplanted with prostrate rosemary to create a cascade of plants down over the oak timbers from the bank and into the courtyard where people gather from the Nest - The Balsam Centre's indoor space dedicated to children and families.
This landscaping is a new project begun last year with a grant from Awards for All. We're propagating all the plants ourselves, including salvias along one of the sides so planting will be ongoing as plants become large enough to increase the display.
It will be a great space for children and families to gather, socialise and play.
