New Guardians for the Green Ways Planters

We’re delighted that Foleshill Creates are to become the new Guardians of the Green Ways Planters! These planters are situated on the Foleshill Road and Stoney Stanton Road, marking part of the trial Green Ways route, made to test out one of the recommendations from our Citizens’ Assembly on Arts, Culture and Creativity.

These planters started life as pallets, converted by hand into planters by members of the Coventry Mothers Who Make group, for their Mothers Who Make a Garden project sited at the Old Grammar School as part of Coventry Biennial in 2023. Once Coventry Biennial moved out of the Old Grammar School, the planters were re-purposed. Just over half went to MWM’s new allotment garden, and five were re-purposed for the Green Ways project.

The evolution of the planters – from construction outside at The Nest in 2023, through a year in situ at the Old Grammar School, transported back to The Nest to be repainted and then sited on the Green Ways route and planted up with some of the plants from MWM’s Biennial Garden.

The planters survived the hot summer of 2025 with minimal attention but, in early 2026, we comissioned Ella Clarke to give them a bit of a refresh, filling any gaps with new drought-tolerant planting. She did a brilliant job, and they look completely fantastic! Ella also supplied comprehensive species notes and a care guide to help novice gardeners grow, which we used to make our Planter-Guardian Guide Book.

For the planters’ next chapter, Foleshill Creates have agreed to become their new Guardians. Foleshill Creates will keep them watered and looked after, clear any litter and dead-head flowers to keep them blooming. We’ve commissioned hyper-local artist Tarla Patel to lead some creative work around the care of the planters, and we’re looking forward to being able to feature some of that on here.

To begin with though, here are some photos from the introductory session on June 2nd: