Fun at Southbank's Festival of the World

The Bank Holiday may be over, but there's still plenty of fun and inspiration to be had at the Festival of the World at London’s Southbank Centre. The grey concrete areas around the Royal Festival Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall have been transformed into an outdoor gallery by a series of exuberant art works. Look out for the beautiful baobab tree, 15 metres high and covered in fabric rings (left), the giant map made with Lego bricks, the row of little adobe houses and sculptures (great for children to play in), and trees lovingly decorated with balloons.

A real crowd-stopper is this sculpture of two giant robots which seem to be climbing the side of a building. Appropriately, it's called Everything is Beautiful When You Don’t Look Down.




The terraces overlooking the Thames have become home to a series of colourful pop-up restaurants with food from all corners of the globe, complementing the treats on sale in the Real Food Market on the courtyard behind the buildings.

And when you’ve exhausted the complex’s lower levels, climb the yellow spiral staircase to the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall to discover a wonderful place to relax – a garden, complete with scarecrow, created with the help of the Eden Project.

Here, much of the planting is done in raised beds, which hold flowers and vegetables from around the globe. But there are also unlikely containers which have gained a new lease of life.  I especially loved the Victorian toilet bowl and these old watering cans.

Blackboards list the plants and vegetables currently flourishing, bees and butterflies flit around, and best of all, visiting youngsters are actively encouraged to get involved. Go there while you can.



The festival runs until September 9.

http://world.southbankcentre.co.uk

Lightweight compost for urban living

At a gardening event the other day, a top-floor flat dweller was lamenting the fact that although she'd like a little roof garden, lugging heavy bags of compost home and then up all those stairs was beyond her.

I reminded her of the lightweight composts now available. I've been trying Miracle-Gro's expand'n'gro. Dry, it weighs almost nothing, but add water when you get it home and it swells up to three times its size (and gets heavy). It’s said to contain enough nutrients for six months, and to require less watering, which would be a bonus for an exposed windowsill or terrace.

The sample I had came in a plastic bag (left). I added an equal amount of water, and it quickly swelled to fill the 12cm pot included. I’ve used it for a small aloe which has just been joined by an offspring, and am waiting to see how they fare.

Some feedback on another product I’ve been trying, Vitax’s NeverGreen, designed to protect outdoor surfaces against mould and mildew. The concrete of our small courtyard regularly turns green and has to be scrubbed and bleached every few months – a task I loathe. I applied some NeverGreen at the beginning of March, and despite all the rain, the surface is still clear. I’ll report back on this again in the autumn.
Both products can be found in the UK at garden centres, DIY outlets and on the internet.
http://expand-n-gro.co.uk/how-it-works
http://www.maxnevergreen.com/what-is-nevergreen