Community Gardens and Community Gardening Groups

What are Community Gardens and Community Gardening?

The City of Charles values the significant contribution our Community Gardeners make toward the social fabric and amenity across the city and recognises the significance of these gardens in the creation of an ongoing sense of place and connectedness for our community.

Community gardening provides opportunity for people to come together to grow food and other plants, learn new skills and meet people, along with contributing to a sense of community and connection to the environment.

The unprecedented demand for opportunities to take part in Community Gardens and Community Gardening groups and patches continues to increase. There are an increasing number of very active and committed groups across the City who are creating a deep sense of community, important social connections and generally improving their local environment through a range of greening and gardening activities and the general desire for a sense of belonging and connection with community continues to grow.

Increasing medium and high-density housing, the associated increase in population density within the City and a growing desire to feel connected and part of a community, is contributing to an increasing demand for the provision of social infrastructure such as community gardens and local community gardening groups, sustaining the social, physical and mental health and wellbeing of our community through a continued connection to community, nature and place in an urban environment.

Where people are living in apartments or their homes have been constructed on small parcels of land, community gardening can often be the only opportunity to produce food and for our culturally diverse community, can often be the only opportunity to grow traditional produce which also provides opportunity for cultural exchange between garden members.

Getting involved in Charles Sturt’s community gardens

There are many community community gardens and gardening groups in the Charles Sturt area who always welcome new members.

For a directory of community gardens across South Australia, please refer to the Australian City Farms and Community Gardens Network’s Directory of Australian Community Gardens.