From Concrete to Wildlife Haven: The Leaside Nature Garden
At first glance, a car park doesn’t seem like the obvious place to create a thriving wildlife garden. Yet just two years ago, that’s exactly what a team of volunteers set out to do at the Leaside Centre by the River Lea – and the results have been astonishing.
The team have transformed a barren stretch of concrete into a flourishing habitat that now supports an incredible range of plants and animals.
Building a Garden Against the Odds
The garden began as an experiment. With very little budget, volunteers and community members came together to:
Create drought-tolerant planting beds on top of concrete.
Install a pond, now home to frogs and breeding newts.
Add features like a bee bank, bee hotel, log piles, and even a hedgehog tunnel to connect wildlife.
Cover large areas of concrete with woodchip, softening the space and creating a more natural feel.
Much of the planting was inspired by the pioneering gardener John Little, who champions the use of reclaimed materials and designs that benefit pollinators. Seeds and plug plants were chosen carefully to provide nectar and pollen throughout the year.
Wildlife Returns
The transformation has been remarkable. In just a short time, the garden has welcomed:
Grass snakes basking near the pond.
Frogs and newts breeding in the water.
A wide variety of bees and butterflies, including the rare brown-banded carder bee.
Countless invertebrates making use of the log piles and bee habitats.
Even in mid-September, the beds are buzzing with pollinators such as common carder bees foraging on late-flowering plants like viper’s bugloss.
Community at the Heart
The Leaside garden is maintained by a small but dedicated team of volunteers, meeting once a month to keep the space thriving. This project shows what’s possible when communities come together, even in the most challenging conditions.
The garden is now part of the Hackney Buzzline, a pollinator corridor being developed along the River Lea. By creating “pollinator pit stops,” we’re helping link habitats and support pollinator populations across Hackney and beyond.
A Model for Urban Rewilding
What makes this garden so special is that it proves what can be done in the most unlikely spaces. With knowledge, creativity, and teamwork, even a concrete car park can be reimagined as a thriving green space – a home for wildlife and a place of beauty for the community.
We hope this project inspires others to take action, whether in a garden, allotment, or even a balcony planter. Small steps can make a big difference for pollinators and urban biodiversity.
