Darlinghurst Nights » McElhone Street

This garden is strictly wholesome – update

ml — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:24:05 +0000

We blogged about the glorious Dowling Street Container Garden in July, but what a difference a month makes.

In late July, Housing NSW, which owns the site, gave Greening Woolloomooloo five days to clear out their gardens. The gardeners have had a slight reprieve though, housing minister David Borger said he’s talking to Sydney council to find another site for the garden.

Street proud residents make lane way love

ml — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:15:32 +0000

You see some odd sights walking the streets around Kings Cross.

But McElhone Street has a couple of lovely surprises on the side.

The laneway garden above is on Windeyer Street.

This one’s at the end of Rae Place.

These gardens remind us a lot of this one in Thomson Street.

Street proud residents, lane way love.

This garden is strictly wholesome

ml — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:42:06 +0000

There’s a small crowd milling around on the block opposite the Old Fitzroy pub in Woolloomooloo. But although it’s one of the few unrenovated, unreconstructed parts of East Sydney, this is strictly wholesome.

Wholesome in the true sense of the word: bound by Dowling Street, Reid Avenue and McElhone Street, it’s a community garden, and it’s been interesting to watch it develop over the last couple of years.

The garden is run by local neighbours and friends through the voluntary Greening Woolloomooloo. They’re good at applying for grants, and since first pitching the project in late 2004, have developed the garden into a moderately stable thing.

You can imagine a face off between the gardeners and the usual denizens of a spot like this, tucked between inner city apartments, highway overpasses, and dark lanes. But graffiti is a big part of this garden.

The garden is divided into roughly four quadrants: upper and lower food production terraces, an art area and nursery, and a lower decorative terrace. It uses water harvesting at various points, and a water storage tank.

It’s a garden that makes me want to walk through the area just to see how it’s growing.