This spring, an exciting new project is running across Greater Manchester, National Trust’s Sky Gardening Challenge.
The conservation charity is encouraging people with balconies to grow and green the city from skyline spaces such as balconies, enhancing their connection to nature, improving their wellbeing and helping wildlife thrive.
There are around 60,000 balconies across Greater Manchester, adding up to the size of 33 football pitches. Greening them could support 1.4 million pollinator meals, creating mini wildlife havens across Greater Manchester.
To help people get started, the National Trust is offering a free balcony gardening guide, free seeds, and free workshops in collaboration with lots of brilliant community organisations, including Hulme Community Garden Centre, Plant CIC and Northern Lily. They will also run a number of workshops with Manchester local Cloud Gardener, a known face of the balcony gardening world.
- Cloud Gardener Workshop – Castlefield Viaduct – Thursday 15 May – 5.15pm to 7.15pm
Castlefield Viaduct, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M3 4LG, Booking Essential: Balcony Gardening Inspiration and Impact, with Cloud Gardener | National Trust - Balcony Basics – Veg in Park – Saturday 17 May – 1pm to 3pm
Veg in Park, Peach Rd, Oldham OL4 2HX (in Waterhead Park) - Cultivating Creativity – Hulme Community Garden Centre – Sunday 18 May – 1pm to 3pm
Hulme Community Garden Centre, 28 Old Birley Street, Manchester M15 5RG - It’s a Wildlife – Veg in Park – Saturday 24 May – 1pm to 3pm
Veg in Park, Peach Rd, Oldham OL4 2HX (in Waterhead Park) - Edible Growing – Artifex Salford – Tuesday May 27 – 6pm to 8pm
Artifex, 71 Blackfriars Rd, Salford M3 7GQ - Urban Farming – Hulme Community Garden Centre – Friday 29 May – 2pm to 4pm
Hulme Community Garden Centre, 28 Old Birley Street, Manchester M15 5R - Wednesday at One with Cloud –Castlefield Viaduct – Wednesday 15 May – 5.15pm to 7.30pm
Castlefield Viaduct, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M3 4LG, Booking Essential via Wednesday at One: Balcony Gardening Inspiration and Impact | National Trust - Balcony Growing Workshop – Artifex – 7 June – 10am to 12pm
Artifex, 71 Blackfriars Rd, Salford M3 7GQ
More information about the events, including accessibility and whether there are any booking requirements or if they are drop in, can be found here Sky Gardening Challenge Workshops & Events | National Trust
A small-scale pilot in 2024 showed that the workshops have potential to deeply impact people’s life’s, boosting wellbeing and helping them create an escape from the busy city.
“The impact of our balcony garden extends beyond its small size. It serves as a peaceful retreat for us, offering a place to relax and reconnect with nature. We are lucky to be looking out to such a lush green space right outside of our balcony.” – 2024 pilot participant
“The workshops and socials helped me get started and motivated me to do it as I have had lots of health problems, and I had lost the will to do it. I felt very tired at first but now I can spend an hour or so everyday day, and I love sitting in my garden listening the birds or even just the wind blowing through the trees.” – 2024 pilot participant
