Jasmine Birtles
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Lend and Tend is a voluntary run project which aims to connect like-minded people who want to share gardens. It’s a scheme for people without gardens and also for people who want to share their own garden.
Registering your interest to share a garden is voluntary and doesn’t cost a fee (it’s voluntary donation-based) but it may take time for a Lender or Tender to become available in your area.
If your garden is awaiting maintenance but you have no time to garden, or can’t/don’t want to garden, you can register for a ‘Patch-Match’ and you could be introduced to someone who’s eager to garden, but may not have their own.
There are people out there who might be keen love to work your garden, and the rules are very much your own: you let them know your availability, and you agree all the plans and preferences. You could even meet someone who’ll share the fruits of their labours.
No garden? No problem! Get registered for a Patch-Match and you could find a garden owner near you who’s willing to Lend their garden space that’s going to waste. You’ll get time in a garden and all the benefits that gardening brings.
As soon as Lend and Tend have seen you are interested in sharing your or someone else’s garden, your location details are added to their map. They’ll then post on social media about it and if you want to help, your Tweets and Facebook Posts will add to the campaign.
Lend and Tend are based in London and spend a lot of time going to community events to spread the word, volunteering in gardens and speaking at events – but if you’re not in London and want to help out, you can do so in the following ways:
More ideas and how to sign up and join in are HERE.
If you are keen on starting Gardner’s but worried about cost, then check out our article here.