Fruit and Veg added to Tube Garden competition

Unfortunately, if you don't live or work in the suburbs, many of you will think that a "Tube station garden" is a platform cleared of all its crisp packets, Metros, pizza boxes and pigeon droppings. The nearest thing to a London Underground garden you may have seen is some moss that's grown up between the cracks in the platform or weeds and buddleia trees taking over the sidings. However, it's time for the annual Underground in Bloom Awards.


Pictured above is the winner from Pinner in 1966. So resplandant with its 3,000 plants and flowers you can hardly read the station's name.

The Underground in Bloom awards aim to recognise Tube staff who have gone beyond the call of duty by making stations more attractive in their own time. Just in case you're feeling peckish, there's a new edible food category to support the Mayor’s Capital Growth programme which encourages organisations and communities to grow their own produce.

I'm not entirely sure if the green beans, sweetcorn, bananas, chillies and gooseberries grown at Hampstead, Tottenham Hale, Putney Bridge & North Acton will be shared amongst Tube commuters. Perhaps if you hang around the stations with a sorrowful look, the staff members might take pity on you and hand some out.

Extra points will be given to environmentally friendly gardens that attract wildlife or are water wise. Hopefully, the gardeners are putting their green fingers towards some ingenious uses for last night and this morning's heavy rainfall.

Let me know if you manage to get some shots of your station, if it's one of the 55 taking part and I'll update this post with some entries. The winning stations will be announced on 16th September at City Hall.

Update - Here's Rickmansworth's from Cormac


He said "We're overall title holders, though I'm not massively impressed with the current state of the place. I think the hanging baskets are more impressive than The Tubs (which Ricky also won last year)"

West Kensington Tube - taken by 'Guest'