Hanging baskets adding a splash of colour to local shopping parades

The hanging baskets have been attached to lamp columns to brighten up these secondary shopping areas and support local businesses by attracting more shoppers and visitors.

The baskets are just the latest phase in a wider package of measures to bring some extra colour to the borough.

Planters containing shrubs, flowers and greenery have recently been installed on pavements in Putney High Street, Bedford Hill, Bellevue Road, Tooting’s Amen Corner and also outside Tooting Bec, Earlsfield and Southfields tube and train stations.

Thousands of flower bulbs have also been planted across the borough to welcome in the Spring. More than 10,000 bulbs have been planted since the end of October - mostly in parks and commons but also using roadside grass verges – bringing a splash of colour to mark the changing of the seasons.

This scheme involves the planting of the following bulbs:

• 4,225 x Narcissus Daffodil flower drift - A double bloom with delicate off-white petals and a vibrant orange corona centre.4,225 x Narcissus Daffodil – The traditional yellow flower
• 845 x Allium Aflatunense - A bulbous perennial with star-shaped purplish-pink flowers
• 845 x Allium Purple Sensation - Another member of the crocus family, producing deep violet, star-shaped flowers.

These welcome additions to the borough’s street scene form part of the council’s £5m public realm renewal project which has seen a series of refurbishments and improvements to Wandsworth’s streets, green spaces and infrastructure.

Between November and the end of the current financial year, this money has been, and is being invested in renewing pavements and road surfaces, upgrading footpaths in parks and commons, improving street lighting, cleaning up bridges, investing in high streets and shopping parades and removing unnecessary street clutter.

This improvement fund is additional money over and above existing budgets and is paying for investment in the following areas:

• More pavement and road resurfacing - £2.05m
• Improvements to local shopping parades - £580,000
• River promenade upgrades - £440,000
• Rail bridge underpass lighting projects - £540,000
• Road safety – additional pedestrian crossings and compliance measures - £890,000
• Green spaces footpaths and railings - £500,000

Transport spokesman Cllr John Locker said: “The arrival of these attractive hanging baskets and pavement planters and the flowers and shrubs they contain have added some welcome colour to the street scene and made these locations more welcoming.

“And with Spring now upon us, the thousands of bulbs we have planted over the winter are now beginning to bloom, bringing yet more colour to the Brighter Borough.

“As a council we want to ensure our public realm is as good as it can be with more colour, more greenery, well-maintained pavements and roads, better lighting and improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists.”