The inspiring Richmond Community Garden got me thinking about how best to garden. Formal gardens are all very well in a public place, but this community garden is more realistic – and based on environmental principles.

The hands-on garden (Victoria Square) is colour-coordinated and surrounded by concrete. The hands-off garden (Richmond Community Garden) lets plants grow and do their thing as companion plants. Organic material is used for paths, and the upside-down letterboxes have been repurposed as planters. There’s humour in a hands-off garden! There are also chooks, including a vocal rooster. Of course, a lot of work is evident in the hands-off garden too, and the activities at this community garden are inspiring.

After visiting this garden, I thought about my own style of gardening. It’s a mix of hands-on and hands-off. I take advantage of a space to pop in some broad beans for example – there’s little separation between flower and vegetable spaces – and I’m delighted when things appear without my interference, such as the forest of sweet peas which flourished this year, and the self-sown bay tree which I topiaried (well, rounded off) by the letter box. Then, when the sweet peas died back I thought I should pull out the dried vines, but the shasta daisies popped up through them which meant I didn’t have to tie the daisies back. There’s a lot to be said for hands-off!