Help yourself to herbs... Buddies replant community bed

A COMMUNAL herb garden in Henley has been planted up.

Members of Henley in Bloom’s Gardening Buddies filled the bed near the fire station in West Street with more than 20 types of herb including chives, marjoram, hyssop and chamomile.

Some of the plants were salvaged from the old herb garden on the site and a new bay tree will be planted in the centre. The bed was built by Chris Baldwin, a member of the town council’s park services team and an on-call firefighter, using timber panels.

Gravel walkways across the bed will make it easier for people to come and pick the herbs.

Elizabeth Hodgkin, who organises the gardening group, said: “It’s going to be pick your own and every plant will have a label saying what cooking you can do with it. Chris did the hard bit for us and the firemen will help maintain the bed for us.”



Five people from the Thames Valley Community Payback scheme, which is for offenders who have been sentenced to community service, helped plant up the bed.

Town councillor Kellie Hinton, vice-chairwoman of Henley in Bloom, said: “Without the Gardening Buddies and the payback scheme we would not be able to do half the things we do because the labour is done by volunteers.”

The Buddies are now planning to plant up the celebration beds in Mill Meadows with red and white bedding plants in time for the Chelsea Fringe Henley floral flotilla on May 21.