It’s been a busy spring for Team London Bridge with a number of public greening projects on the go.

The largest was this 160sqm space along St Thomas Street belonging to Guy’s Hospital: an opportunity identified in our recent Green Grid strategy which now adds more life to the public realm around The Shard, hospital and London Bridge station.

The 1,247 plants were all chosen for their ability to withstand shaded growing conditions, increase biodiversity, serve as a food source for pollinators and provide year-round aesthetic interest. These included tiarellas, dogwoods, hellebores, astilbes, brunneras, skimmias and liriopes whilst sarcococca and trachelospermum were planted at the hospital’s Southwark & Bermondsey Wing entrance for their attractive scent. 

As with the majority of our greening projects, this was all achieved by our fantastic team of gardeners from St Mungo’s Putting Down Roots – an organisation that provides horticultural training to those who are currently homeless or at risk of becoming so.   

Just a little further south on Newcomen Street we’ve also laid 103sqm of wildflower turf, building on the ‘Enchanted Gardens’ project we began there a year ago in partnership with our member business,  Belmond. Newcomen Street forms part of the London Bridge and Bankside Low Emissions Neighbourhood and as such we’re championing it to become a key walking route with reduced traffic, improved air quality, visual amenity and greater biodiversity.

If you’re interested in helping look after London Bridge’s green spaces we have a few volunteer days planned throughout the summer, please email henry@teamlondonbridge.co.uk for more information.