The entrance, which was redesigned earlier this year, has been included in the Best Business Entrance category and will be visited by judges on Thursday 28 August (keep your fingers crossed for us!). Winners will be announced at an award ceremony in September.
The Cecil Sharp House entrance is a low maintenance permaculture garden designed to be inkeeping with the folk ethos of the venue.
The garden showcases a variety of apple trees that are central to the English folk tradition and includes a Saint Cecilia species, which is Cecil Sharp’s birthday tree.
The majority of the remaining plants are edible and can be harvested by staff and by the volunteers who maintain the garden. They include trees such as hazelnuts, shrubs including blueberries and elderflowers, perennials, annuals, herbs, ground cover plants such as strawberries, sweet woodruff and pink purslane and climbers like nasturtiums.
The entrance garden includes a herb spiral, crescent-shaped compost raised bed, pond, gravel, with a slate pathway and the beds.
It was created in March 2014 thanks to 20 people from Permablitz London. A permablitz involves a group of people meeting up for the day to create or develop a household or community edible, wildlife-friendly garden, according to a permaculture design.
Kayode Olafimihan (founder of Permablitz London, organiser of the London Permaculture Festival and Chair of the London Permaculture Network) has led the entrance redevelopment:
"Cecil Sharp House generously hosts the annual London Permaculture Festival. It's been a pleasure to contribute a permaculture entrance garden by way of a 'thank you'.
"I've created an ecological, edible and decorative design inspired by the old folk adage: one for the birds, one for the bugs and one for me, which chimes very well with the permaculture ethos of earth care, people care, fair shares."
The new addition: a herb spiral at Cecil Sharp House
Team permablitz pose with their newly created herb spiral
The team getting their hands dirty
Have you noticed our redesigned entrance?
Tell us what you think via Twitter @cecilsharphouse or via our online form.
