Bringing the Roxby Community Garden to life
Over the past few years, we’ve been working to transform Roxby Close, once a disused playground in Lincoln Green, into a vibrant community garden.
This blog tells the story of that transformation: how an underused, overlooked space became an open, welcoming garden of sanctuary. With support from Leeds City Council and input from local residents, the garden has been turned into an attractive, open green space with seating, planting and areas to grow, meet, rest and play.
Roxby Close pre-transformation, September 2023
Designing the Garden
created by Zosia Berkieta-Lewis
Zosia Berkieta-Lewis created design plans for the space that incorporated all of our research and the community feedback we’d gathered. We asked her a few questions about her work and creative process…
Introduce yourself!
I am a botanical designer/artist inspired by the therapeutic benefits of being surrounded by natural elements. How people interact with and use space fascinates me and I have made permanent and temporary environments with people and plants in mind.
What is your role on this project?
I have been asked to look at Roxby Close gardens and design and make a beautiful green space for members and the local community to access and enjoy. As part of the project I'll be visiting other beautiful green spaces and will work with members to think about what they would like to see growing in the space and creating year round interest in their plant choices.
What have you used as inspiration for the Roxby Close redesign?
There are many different starting points and inspirations for this project but initially I looked at how other green urban space designs don't have to be perfectly manicured and can remind us of the countryside and landscapes outside of the city.
What is your creative process/how do you approach designing a space like this?
I always have to visit and be in the space whilst thinking about the designs. And then it's about thinking about the light, soil quality, and particularly thinking about the right plant space. But for this specific project it needs to be right for all the people who will be using this public space so we have really taken the lead from community consultations and discussions on how you want to feel when sitting, playing in, and using the space.
Describe your design
After our first consultations and meetings I wanted to make a space where local residents and visitors to the space could; play, meet, gather, grow, escape, explore. The design creates different zones for each of these and I have chosen planting zones to complement the activities and areas giving interest. For example a woodland edge zone will be planted and packed full of bulbs to give lots of early season interest and scent when the trees are blossoming.
What is your favourite plant and why?
I love all plants but my favourites are the perennials and grasses which come back year on year. It's round this time of year [spring] that they start to wake up after their winter sleep and soon enough will be bursting into life.
How the project came to life
During the pandemic it became increasingly apparent how highly women in Lincoln Green value green spaces. A house plant sharing scheme in 2020 lead to conversations with our members about growing and the lack of access to outdoor spaces.
Lincoln Green is an area of dense population, with many residents living in high rises without access to a garden. Residents have reported feelings of isolation and a lack of opportunities to make meaningful connections with their neighbours.
We thought about how we could help nature to flourish in an urban area and provide a space for people to come together. We identified the disused playground in Roxby Close as a site full of potential for redevelopment.
The next step was to involve Mafwa members and the local community, we wanted this to be a collaborative project and their input was crucial. We developed our ideas by hosting creative workshops called ‘Sow and Speak’ where we invited Lincoln Green residents to have a brew and chat about the local area, while planting a seed in a pot to take home with them.
Evolving Ideas Through the Seasons
As our conversations with local residents continued throughout the winter months it became clear that there was a real need and desire for an accessible, welcoming outdoor space in the area. The community expressed interest in gardening, participating in activities and gathering with friends and family so Growing, Learning and Socialising Areas were identified as priority needs for the space.
We worked closely with Leeds City Council during our consultation process and they arranged for the playground site to be cleared for us at the start of 2022.
Our research continued throughout Spring 2022, taking trips to local green spaces with Kuluhenna Drama, exploring our connection to nature, learning about eco-friendly gardening and developing ideas on how we can turn the site into a multifunctional space that can accommodate community arts and wellbeing activities.
Building Together
The Roxby Close Garden was made possible thanks to the help of some incredible students from Leeds College of Building.
39 students attended our ‘Dig Days’ during summer 2022, helping us to weed, litter pick, dig up areas, clean the space and prepare it for planting. You can learn more about their invaluable contribution and how their involvement with this project came about in ‘Creating and Growing Partnerships with Organisations’, a case study written by Florence Drayson, Youth Social Action Apprentice.
Florence initiated Mafwa’s connection with Leeds College of Building, Leeds City College and Leeds Conservatoire at the start of 2022. Her case study examines the lasting impact this relationship had on both the community and the students involved.
What the garden looks like now
Celebrating with Family Flourish Day
In May 2023 we held a Family Flourish Day to celebrate the vibrant Lincoln Green community and the newly transformed Roxby Community Garden.
Tribe Four Films joined us to capture the event and the progress made in the space.