GARDENERS who know their perennials from their annuals are needed to inspire a project to restore a rundown garden in Greater Leys.

The Senior Leys Independent Gardening Organisation (SLIGO) has taken over the running of the courtyard garden at the Clockhouse Community Centre.

All the plants in the garden, at the back of the centre in Long Ground, have died in recent years and flower beds are now full with building rubble.

Now the over-50s gardening group has taken on the challenge of reviving the space for the benefit of the community.

This month it is inviting anyone with an eye for gardening to take part in a competition to offer suggestions on how it can be redesigned.

Secretary Barbara Moody said: “We want a garden to be enjoyed by all our visitors. We want the garden to be colourful and fragrant all year round and safe for everyone. We want it varied and we want to attract wildlife and we want it to be easy to maintain.

“There are those who smoke still and there are many users of the day centres that want a change from being in a room.

“We are also going to put a sensory garden in as part of it where you can walk around and smell herbs like jasmine.”

The garden has two raised beds, silver birch trees, four seats, a small pool in the middle and eight flower beds.

The hard structures will stay but the group wants ideas on what plants should go where to keep the courtyard looking pretty all year round.

SLIGO meets on the first Thursday of every month between 2pm and 4pm, and members gather each month to hear talks on everything from organic gardening to growing cacti.

Mrs Moody said: “So many people who live on their own live in flats and don’t have a garden and they might have a love of plants and flowers.

“It’s a social thing and it’s an environment, if you are able to walk around you can smell perfumes and it can bring back memories of happier times.”

Mrs Moody, of Fry’s Court, Long Ground, estimated the redesign would cost £500.

A donation of £225 has already been secured from the Co-operative, which is also offering manpower to complete the transformation. The rest of the money, she hoped, might come from the Clockhouse itself.

The Clockhouse centre offers a range of different activities for over-50s, including Daybreak and Age Concern day centres.

The garden must be suitable for people with mobility difficulties, visual impairment or short-term memory loss.

Anyone in the Blackbird Leys area can enter and more information is available from the Clockhouse on 01865 395908.

Entries must be posted or dropped off at the centre before Thursday, June 3 at 2pm. The prize will be gardening related.