GrowNotts talk to us about greening up Nottingham with their colourful street planters

What is GrowNotts? When did it start?
GrowNotts is a Community Interest Company we started back in 2022, with a mission to create meaningful environmental and social change. We want to engage, support and empower people so that we're tackling that goal as a collective.

Our core belief is that fostering people's connection with nature, in all its forms, is fundamental to nurturing a happier, more interconnected, and ecologically vibrant city.

So it's not just planters then?
We love whipping up planters, and it’s a wicked way to get businesses on board with what we’re doing, but we’re so lucky that we get to work on loads of amazing projects across the city. We deliver education, workshops, design and build green and growing spaces and so much more. Through that we’ve got to work with so many inspiring groups and people. From Green Hustle, Nottz Garden Project, It’s In Nottingham and of course all of the folk that have engaged with our programs in the city. 

What made you want to start this up? How did it come together?
Before GrowNotts, I was an Organic Grower in the Cotswolds. We’d do loads of education as part of that, one workshop I delivered involved a group of children who came all the way from Hackney, and seeing the reaction they had and watching their relationship with nature develop during the workshop was immense. The way it impacted all the groups we came into contact with in such a visceral way was something I just couldn’t stop thinking about. I wanted to bring that back to Notts with me, and imagine our own way in curating those impactful experiences.

So a lot of people associate GrowNotts with you Jack, but who else is involved?
We’re a full on crew these days, and we wouldn’t have been able to do half the stuff we’ve achieved without them. Zena Kay has worked on some beautiful art projects, illustrated our designs and delivered workshops with us. Joe Stevenson has done the same as well as working on some of our bigger builds and nurturing our new spaces. Oscar Stewart has also been supporting across all our stuff. People work with us in all different ways and capacities, and we all bring something special to the table. 

The one thing I find makes GrowNotts different, you often see planters with beautiful artwork on them. You collaborate with artists quite a bit, right?
We want the stuff we love to be engaging, meaningful and just generally fun and exciting. Art plays a massive part in that. Not everyone wants to talk about cabbages, we need to find new ways to get people excited about green and growing stuff. Notts is blessed with so many wicked artists too. So yes, we absolutely try to bring in art into our work, from leaning into creative ways of delivering workshops, to having lovely murals, ceramics and installations within our green and growing spaces. 

You also collaborate a lot with students and community groups? 
We love working in collaboration, that’s what it's all about. We’ve worked with students from NTU, Nottingham College, the City Council, It’s In Nottingham, The Carousel and a whole bunch of others including other social enterprises. We’re always wanting to collaborate, it supports us in engaging new people, creating and delivering better ideas and we just want to share and grow at the end of the day.

What’s your favourite project so far? 
We built a green space for Nottingham College at High Pavement sixth form, we were asked to build a garden that provided ecological benefit, a space for socialising, learning, growing food, and importantly a space where students could have their own impact. The students were an inspiration to work with, they grafted from start to finish, through rain and shine and seeing how proud they were when we’d finished are the moments we’re doing all this for. We had students bring their mates down, showing them what thyme was, getting them to sniff the basil, how to ID mint plants. Those students were personally responsible for creating positive change, in a place they’re connected to, and we got to support that. Lovely stuff.

What’s your vision for the future?
To have an ecologically vibrant and connected city. We want people to be buzzing to come into Notts. Proud. Inspired. 

Speaking of buzzing, can you tell me more about the Bee-SuperHighway? Where does it go?
We’re still in our early phases, but the Bee-SuperHighway is about creating green, bright and biodiverse pathways through the city centre. We’ve been working on this project with It’s In Nottingham for the last year. We’ve got a community garden on Sussex St next to Tramline Spot, have installed about forty odd planters on Bridlesmith Gate and we’ll have some more exciting things getting installed over the next couple of months. 

This all sounds amazing. Before we wrap up, can you tell me about the Lush Store on Clumber Street?
Lush wanted to get involved in the stuff we’d been doing with It’s In Nottingham on the high street, but because Clumber St has such a high footfall we had to get creative. We designed and built them a propagation unit which we’ve dubbed the prop shop. So now they grow hundreds of plants a year, which we then go and plant across all of our projects in the city centre. Pretty cool ey? Right in their shop window too, I’m not sure that will have been done anywhere before, so that was a great project to work on and the team there are the friendliest bunch. 

How can people get involved and find out more?
We get about! We’re always at events, host plant ups and have lots of workshops lined up. If you follow us on socials we tend to keep people updated through that, and our website will hopefully be with you all soon. 

@GrowNotts