John Little and Gabion Mosaics

Little Land (by Samika Barclays)

On the outskirts of Essex and London

Where everything and nothing meet

There is a house on a hill

I’m a swing on a porch

There are bees in sand

Little bachelors

Waiting on bated breath

For ladies to emerge

And the land is covered in fennel

And there are kites and woodpeckers

And at night, the owls

Deadwood lives and thrive in this land

And creatures

That were chased from their home

May reclaim the land once again

There are holes everywhere

Full of life and warmth

And there

Is a passion

That fuels this life

Maybe 

Even our own homes can become

Sanctuary for those 

Just looking for a cozy place

To rest

---

I’m glad to say, taking a look at the green space that John Little had outside of Barking Station had already given me so many ideas for the triangle site. I’m glad to say that even though I myself am used to visiting many gardens and green spaces, this one was unlike any that I had seen before (as is the case with most green spaces). I don’t know why I expected it to be well manicured and kind of park like, especially considering it was next to an industrial looking area however, having a look around and taking a walk and seeing my favourite aspect of the green space, which I will talk about later the Gabion mosaic, I was thoroughly impressed. I think planning the landscaping for the triangle site has made me a little bit narrow minded to be honest, as I only saw what we needed to add to the space and not how we could improve upon it. But seeing the brown… or was it green (I can’t tell the difference) roof and the little ponds and water features that were added throughout this almost industrial looking site definitely filled me with ideas. It was almost a nice taster to what we would get when we entered John Little‘s own land.

The trip was a short drive filled with lovely conversation and I almost didn’t realise that we had left London but, when we pulled into his driveway, I almost didn’t believe that I was in England at all. The space was so green and full of life and activity and a kind of sense of love and care had been put into it that I didn’t know could happen on someone’s own land. When we went on a tour of his property, the next thing that caught my eye was definitely the little sand dunes that surrounded the area. I had no idea that there was a species of bee that likes to nest in sand. I knew about solitary bees and I knew about carpenter bees that like to nest in the wood or make nests out of wood, but I didn’t know about this particular species of bees. I still don’t know much to be honest, but I was inspired to do my own research because I think it would be fabulous to have a little sand dune of my own covered in a bunch of busy little bees. 

Gabion mosaics

As we traversed our way through the garden and got further down into his more personal garden, where he grew some of his food I noticed the same style of Gabion Mosaic which, kind of stirred and even greater interest in my mind. Again my mind was brought back to the triangle site and how much waste product we might have in the context of: concrete, brick, clay, sand, MOT and substrate that might go unused. I couldn’t help but think that it would be an absolutely wonderful way to reduce the amount of waste that we might be sending to dump sites or tips and I also think that it would be kind of great to see this at Triangle (Global Generation’s site) as an almost history of what it took to build the site and the amount of materials that went into it. Not only would that be great for insects as it can be used as a bug hotel, but you could also put bug hotels in it. It’s a great attraction for pollinators and linking it back to the permaculture course that I had been taking, I thought it would be a great way to create some additional edges, places where dirt, soil, sand and nutrients could pile up against these places and create natural wildlife without us having to do much in the way of seeding it. 

In fact, after the trip itself, I then could not stop talking about it to the team on the triangle site. I mentioned the Gabion Mosaic that I had seen to Alice (who is the site manager and lead architect). I told her that I thought it would be a great idea to add this implement to this site and she agreed with me and that it would be not only an amazing way to reduce the amount of waste that we’re sending to landfills and tips but it could also look beautiful depending on how we went about creating it. It’s something I honestly hope does become a consideration for the site and I hope that I have planted enough seeds in people's minds to consider it thoroughly.

Twilight Building volunteers at Triangle

I would love to thank John Little again just for inviting us for a tour around his property and around the green spaces that he created. It has been such an enlightening experience full of knowledge that I didn’t know that I lacked. If anything, the experience has told me to be humble that even though I may know more than the average person about green spaces, I don’t know everything and I can always be enlightened and amazed by something new.

Samika speaking about Sustainability at Phoenix Court

---

Notes from the Garden