London children encouraged to garden

Tuesday, June 16 2009 12:30:05 by Editor

Children in Islington are being encouraged to grow their own plants.

The Rowstock Estate in the borough has a garden which has previously won awards at the Islington in Bloom ceremony and has led resident Esther Jury to begin a gardening scheme with children in the area.

After doing a City and Guilds course in amenity horticulture, Esther gave up her job in recruitment and now runs a gardening maintenance business with her husband.

The Daily Telegraph noted that they are now growing vegetables in the grounds of the estate, although there have been issues with local dogs.

However, as the scheme has been such a success, Esther is now hoping to find funding to launch an allotment to which the residents of the estate can have keys.

Proving that even the smallest areas can benefit from a few shrubs, Esther planted flowers in a bed below her flat to begin with, which eventually led to her business.

"After about a year I realised that the residents were quite happy with me doing it and I got offered cups of tea, glasses of beer and given a few plants," she said.

She added that recently grown roses have taught children some responsibility.

"Because they have planted them they will want to make sure they do well," Esther concluded.