New planting for "the car park slope"

Louise Drummond-Murray, a regular member of the Friends’ Gardening Gang, is on a mission to improve the appearance of the Library and Bullen Hall from the car park.

In particular, Louise is determined to find some plants rugged enough to succeed in the challenging conditions of the sloping border between the steps and the car park signs.

This is no mean feat, as the “soil” there is shallow to non-existent and is choked with tree roots and bits of tile and brick making it, in Louise’s words, “a beast to dig”. The border is dry, receives little direct sun and on top of everything else council contractors regularly dump rubbish bags on top of it!

Undaunted, Louise has taken another swing at it, this time with cotoneasters, forget-me-nots and white periwinkles – all from her garden where they have proven their tough credentials.

Let’s hope they take so that this unloved corner of Hampton Wick can start to blossom.