High hopes for students working with Cloud Gardener for RHS Urban

Four sustainably designed balcony gardens facing north, south, east and west have been created by students on Manchester Met’s innovative Rise programme in collaboration with acclaimed Manchester ‘Cloud Gardener’ Jason Williams.

Brought to life with a modest budget of £500 per balcony, the creations will be displayed at Manchester’s first flower show for city gardening enthusiasts, RHS Urban Show, running from April 18^th to 21^st at Depot Mayfield, then donated to the local community.

Four teams of five students have been taking part in hands-on workshops with well-known Manchester gardener Williams who shares small space urban gardening tips and content from his Salford flat and has featured at flower shows including Chelsea and Tatton. The balconies they created, titled RHS City Spaces: Cloudscape, are designed to challenge horticultural retailers, local authorities, and developers to rethink the ways they interact with communities in order to make cities greener.

Each balcony addresses different residents’ needs, microclimates and pay brackets and were designed by the students with Williams’ expert guidance to promote their benefits to urban wildlife, biodiversity, and mental health.

Students working on the project are part of Rise, Manchester Met’s award-winning co-curricular initiative which helps students get experience across all disciplines, accruing credit points and gaining recognition for career-enhancing learning.  Rise participant and MSc Digital Design and Manufacturing student Hector Smets said: “It’s been exciting and fun working with Jason on this project.

“I’ve been part of the west-facing garden, which was designed for a young family on a low income. We used lots of second-hand materials and low maintenance plants, and incorporated playful elements like water bottles and tin cans that would enrich kids’ lives. I really support what Jason’s doing to add greenery to city spaces.”

Speaking about his experience working on the project, Cloud Gardener Williams said: “Being able to draw on each student’s individual skills has been awesome. This project is about encouraging everyone to play their part in making towns and cities greener – whether that’s young people, retailers, older residents, or town planners. Collaborating with the students has been invaluable.”

Following its launch at the RHS Urban Show, the west-facing garden geared at young families will be donated to Martenscroft Nursery School and Children’s Centres in Manchester for the children and staff to enjoy. There are similar plans for the other gardens to be placed in local community settings.