Shared Garden Groups

We look after a footpath verge approximately 150m long that backs onto Bronte Public School. The garden is challenged by sandy soils, a very steep embankment and school children looking for lost balls. Hence we planted hardy very local native vegetation. There is an awesome piece of street art on a retaining wall, about 80m by 3m, that provides a great backdrop for our garden.

Shared Garden Team: Stephen, Patricia, Marianne, Janet and Rob.

Working Bee Schedule: Every 3 months and an end of year party. Typically scheduled in March, June, September and December.

Our garden was established in 2013. It came about because some motivated residents requested the use of vacant Housing NSW land in Anglesea Street. Once permission was granted, we were very lucky to have the TV show ‘Better Homes & Gardens’ do a makeover on the garden. They fenced the area and build garden beds and planted fruit trees, olive trees and a variety of vegetables and herbs.

The Anglesea Street Garden is run as a communal garden, so all the produce is shared. The garden has gone gangbusters during lockdown and we have a group of very keen gardeners who visit at different times. We’ve grown a variety of produce including pawpaws, rhubarb, garlic, turmeric, artichoke, sweet potatoes, blueberries, strawberries and radishes. We have a very successful composting program to which dozens of residents contribute their food and garden scraps. We have about 6 active gardeners however many people use the garden particularly for herbs and children play in the garden as it is fenced off from the street. Anyone is welcome to become involved and it’s a great way to meet new neighbours.

Shared Garden Team: George, Ester, Howard, Paul, Paloma, Derek, Bertie, Charlie, Adam, Marini, Nick, Yohan, Tara, Tess, Molly, Ted, Lucy, Zoe, Gemma, Pia, Milo, Rose, Mario, Cleo, Tony and Damien.

Working Bee Schedule: Working bees are generally on the 1st Sunday of every month from 3pm to 5pm. However please always email before turning up.

Our community garden with six raised beds was launched in August 2017 with great enthusiasm by a dedicated local team and a Small Grant from Waverley Council. We operate by a roster system so that every three days someone is either watering, fertilising, using eco oil or just general maintenance.

In 2021 we received a second Small Grant to add three additional raised beds to increase our gardening capacity and crop rotation possibilities. Currently there are ten active neighbours, seven of whom are the original members.

At the moment we’re harvesting a range of fruits and veg including some very tasty beetroot, potato crops, sweet peas, lettuce, climbing cucumber, basil, spring onion and sun flowers. .

Shared Garden Team: Jenny, Winsome, Christopher, Jacq, Pete, Brenda, Tony, Maureen, Emily, Christine, Liz, Christine.

Working Bee Schedule: First Saturday of the month 8am – 10am and third Sunday of the month 4pm – 5pm.

In May 2011, a keen group of neighbours launched the first Communal Garden in Waverley with the support of Waverley Council and advice from Costa of Gardening Australia. This group installed four raised garden beds and two low level beds, all with water conservation systems. The garden continued with changes of those involved until 2016 when the stalwarts moved out of the area. In late 2017, following a local letterbox drop by Council, a new group met, keen to be involved with the garden.  Over the following months people came and went but eventually a small but solid group was formed and began to experiment with the communal garden. In 2019 the group was successful in receiving a Council Small Grant which has been a great boost. We have participated in Grow it Local from 2018. The regular weekly Sunday morning meeting from around 8am to 9am have led to great friendships between the members and their assorted dogs. None of us are particularly experienced with gardening so it’s an opportunity for us to learn together and figure out what works or doesn’t work in our garden’s environment. The location adjacent to the path and the netball courts means we do spend time chatting and receiving advice from passersby. There is a general plan but we enjoy ‘experimenting’ and being the surprise when we have success.

Shared Garden Team: Marion, Wynne, Chris, Valli, Donna plus dogs and occasional visitors.

Working Bee Schedule: Every Sunday morning between about 8am to 9am.

Langlee Lane runs behind Palmerston Avenue and joins Dickson Street, Palmerston Avenue and Carter Street. The first ramshackle beds were created way back in 2011, partly as a school social-awareness project, partly from an idea shared by a small group of neighbours. The bananas were amongst the first to be planted and about the same time Dickie the scarecrow was installed. Local artist Tom painted the gorgeous mural in 2012-ish. Several more upcycled beds were put in when the council gave us a tap in about 2013. We became far more official a year later when the council funded six proper raised beds – about 30 people turned up for that huge working bee.

We now have about nine veggie beds, a lot of bananas, papaya, three citrus trees, a lemon myrtle tree and are working to establish a native habitat for smaller birds. We won a native bee-hive three years ago after entering the Waverley Council Shared Garden awards. We have just split it for the first time and both halves seem to be doing well. Our Spring garden is romping away and we are busy trying to tame it. We are particularly proud of our compost and worm farms (thanks for all the contributions from neighbours). We recently emptied one of our four big compost bins and spread it through the newly cleared spaces in the raised beds.

The garden is used almost daily by a Waverley Council family daycare group as well as many neighbourhood families. We have been running the garden very informally on a get-there-when-you-can, everything shared and co-cared for basis. However, we are now working towards a more communal monthly working bee. We have had several great social gatherings over the years. We communicate via a Google group – details on the notice board - and welcome new members.

Shared Garden Team: Sue, Pearl, Bridget, Nami, Brooke, Mel, Glen, Steve, Sam, Vanessa, Belinda, Pippa with many more contributing.

Working Bee Schedule: First Sunday of the month approximately 3pm - 5pm.

In 2018 a group of local residents living on or near Wilga Street in South Bondi started a collaborative project to improve the look and feel of the area as a response to the changes in the built environment and to create greater community connections. A verge native garden was created alongside the cul-de-sac encouraging neighbours to collaborate with planting, weeding, watering and maintenance.

Shared Garden Team: Sally and six other local neighbours.

Working Bee Schedule: Quarterly.

Waverley Council, in collaboration with Uniting Early Learning North Bondi and Wayside Chapel transformed the verge space on Niblick Street into a communal street garden. This is one of a range of solutions Council is testing to reduce illegal dumping in the area. To complete this project, Sustainable Waverley received a grant from the NSW EPA Waste Less, Recycle More initiative funded from the waste levy. This neighbourhood project is being driven by the enthusiasm of Jess Guerin, the Service Director of Uniting Early Learning North Bondi and the children who access this service. Regular working bees invite locals to care for and contribute to this garden, an indication of Bondi’s healthy community spirit to enhance public spaces and spread urban kindness in the LGA.

Shared Garden Team: Jess, Irene, Amy, Talene

Working Bee Schedule: Monthly.

In 2007 locals showed great interest in improving the quality of the public space at O’Donnell Street Reserve. Starting with some simple planting of native shrubs, this progressed over the following years to the inclusion of new play equipment, shade structures, increased vegetation, resurfacing of the park, four planter boxes and seating. In 2020, a new group of local residents got together to bring these planter boxes back to life, much to the enthusiasm of passers-by who have expressed their enjoyment seeing herbs and vegetable sprout from the mulch as they wander past on their daily walks in the neighbourhood. The local Marli Marli Early Learning Centre is looking after one of the raised garden beds, dedicating it entirely to edible native plants.This shared garden creates many opportunities for intergenerational learning about food production.

Shared Garden Team: A group of local residents, including Loretta, John, Carolin, Ann-Maree, Richard and Anne

Working Bee Schedule: Regular local gatherings at the site with those involved.

In 2014 a community-led placemaking project was developed for the green space next to Waverley Woollahra Art School. Included were recycled seating, planter boxes, a children’s activity area and space for temporary activations. In 2020 local resident, Vicy, restored four of the planter boxes to their former beauty with a host of herbs and flowers. She also received some funding as part of Waverley's small grants program to instal three new raised beds and create a new inground garden full of native plants and edible herbs.

Shared Garden Team: Vicy is managing this project. Get in touch if you are interested in joining her.

Working Bee Schedule: Vicy will be tending to the planter boxes every Monday afternoon.

Charing Cross Laneway Shared Garden In 2018, a series of wine barrels were placed in Charing Cross laneway as a neighbourhood project to bring some life and warmth to this well used public thoroughfare. Many different plantings have taken place in these wine barrels since, including a range of flower displays and native plants.

In 2020, a group of locals came together to look after this laneway garden and added two new wine barrels to expand the display. The wine barrels currently include a range of herbs, flowers, succulents, and native plants and are always praised by passing pedestrians who exclaim how much the plants brighten up the laneway.

Shared Garden Team: Tony, Sophia and other local residents.

Working Bee Schedule: Regular watering and maintenance.

In 2017, a raised garden bed was installed outside Bronte Early Education Centre on St Thomas Street in Bronte.  A well-used Street Library also stands nearby for local community members to share books with one another while admiring the plants.

Shared Garden Team: Staff members from the Bronte Early Education Centre regularly tend to this garden along with a very dedicated grandparent.

Working Bee Schedule: Seasonal planting and gatherings with staff and parents are scheduled regularly throughout the year.

In 2021 a group of neighbours established a shared garden on the corner of Henderson Street and Moore Street near the back gates of Bondi Public School.

A planter box at this site is used for growing herbs to be shared with the local community.

Shared garden team: Ludovico, Robyn, Fuji, Michael, Tulia, Marcelo, and Prue.

Working Bee Schedule: Monthly on the third Sunday at 10am.

In the late 2000s a group of local neighbours started a shared garden along the verge at the back of the Bondi Junction Bus Depot along St James Road. In 2021 this group was re-established with some of the original members and new residents that recently moved into the area.

The shared garden is an oasis of nature and play that is already an amazing meeting place and community hub. Our community garden is for young and old to meet and delight in establishing, growing and maintaining a shared garden and recreational facility: a place for intergenerational learning, meeting people and connecting with nature, for greater health and wellbeing, where artistic horticultural and culinary expressions flourish.

The shared garden situated on the northern and southern end of St James Road Reserve, includes native plants, fruit trees, planter boxes with herbs and vegetables and a productive compost system.

Shared Garden Team: Howard, Bettina, Chloe, Kirsten, Sonya, Catharine, Zoe, Sandra, Mel, Joseph and Roy.

Working Bee Schedule: Monthly on Saturday or Sunday.

The Transition Bondi Community Garden Hub is located on private land, in the backyard garden space of an apartment building in the heart of Bondi. Access to the garden has generously been granted by the landowner and is conditional on her approval.

The garden currently has nine operational compost bins and two worm farms that support waste management of local residents and two businesses. We have a fabulous set up with a green house, garden shed, a wild garden space and four garden beds that are on a rotational system. We also have both native and European bee hives.

The garden is intended to be a learning space and a community space, where people can come together to share skills and forge friendships.

Different volunteers are rostered to come together once a week and gardening sessions operate three days per week and monthly. They are also supported and encouraged to take their green thumbs to their own garden patch, be it a balcony, verge or backyard and grow their own veggies.

Working Bee Schedule: Every Wednesday from 8.30am – 10.30am and the second Sunday of the month from 10am – 12pm.