A year of neighbourly action

Since the first edition of The Arlingtonian was published last April, it has been an action-packed twelve months for the Arlington Association. Together we’ve planted, gardened, celebrated, objected, donated, won prizes, sourced funding and thrown some rather handsome parties…

This time last year we were rejoicing in our first host of golden daffodils. Like all the best bulbs, the daffs have returned, but this year they shine in a square more packed than ever with new plants, bulbs, shrubs and trees.

In fact since we first started to tend the square as a community group, our new plantings total more than 25,000, including some exotic palms. That’s not counting the herbs and veg in our community garden (picture), which celebrates the first anniversary of its official opening on 21 April. It’s gratifying to see neighbours pop out on Friday and Saturday evenings to snip a little thyme or rosemary to flavour their evening meal.

We are very grateful to the friends and neighbours who turn up to our community gardening Saturdays every month. There can’t be any regular user of the square who hasn’t noticed the many changes our volunteer gardeners have made. As the director of VisitBritain said when she visited during Open Squares Weekend last June, “London has wonderful open green spaces where people can come and relax – and this is a showpiece of that.”