Community-focussed urban gardening is increasingly attractive and beneficial for people who want to improve their local area; lead healthier lives; meet others and bring people together; live more sustainably and support a local economy.

These are some of the ambitions driving the ongoing trend in locally led gardening and growing that has transformed spaces within many cities. Projects responding to local needs and ideas also take on the challenges associated with setting up and maintaining a locally managed piece of land.

We find pockets of space are often available on a short-term basis, which has provided opportunities for a number exciting meanwhile gardens. Core Landscapes is a moveable meanwhile garden that includes micro allotments, plant nursery, plant sales, design and event spaces housed on temporarily available land that would otherwise be inaccessible and left to deteriorate. Everything is container grown and designed to be moved to new locations as land availability changes. The project is an innovative showcase of a meanwhile space for community benefit.

Among the examples of temporary, meanwhile and POP UP gardens we find some return as annual events or establish permanent sites as a result of their success. Core Landscapes has built on award-wining work on permanent gardens sites to develop a moveable garden model that has to overcome the challenges of starting up at each new location. The project has sustained 8 years of activity on 4 meanwhile sites and improved through experiment and experience, developing robust design solutions that sustain and adapt the garden infrastructure to make the most of the opportunities each site offers.

Core Landscapes also offers a suite of subsidized assistance to support the expanding urban-growing network.