Community gardens and food groups

We support local community gardens and food growing and sharing groups in Boroondara.

Local community gardens

Community gardens can be on Council land, public land or private land. They are often plot-based or shared gardens run by community groups or organisations.

Most local community gardens have private growing plots for members to use. Contact the community garden to join. You may have to join a waiting list.

You can also read our guidelines below to set up a new community garden.

Alamein Neighbourhood and Learning Centre

Visit the Alamein Community Garden website.

Ashburton Community Garden (Markham Reserve)

Visit the Ashburton Community Garden website. 

Ashwood College Permaculture Food Garden

This garden is located in City of Monash. You can volunteer casually and take home a share of the produce.

Visit the Ashwood College Permaculture Food Garden's Facebook page.

Balwyn Community Garden

Visit the Balwyn Community Garden website.

Canterbury Community Garden

Email [email protected] to join.

Hawthorn Community Garden

Email [email protected] or visit Hawthorn Community Garden website.

Willsmere Station Community Garden

• Email [email protected]
• Visit Willsmere Station Community Garden website
• Visit Willsmere Station Community Garden Facebook page.

Local food groups

Growing and sharing local food can benefit our health and wellbeing, the environment and the local economy.

Some local groups:

• take part in 'food swaps'
• lease garden plots to people in the community
• support people experiencing food security issues
• train people in horticulture.

Surrey Hills/Balwyn Community Centre Produce Swap

This group meets on the third Sunday of each month at The Barn, Balwyn Community Centre from 9 to 10 am.

Visit Surrey Hills/Balwyn Community Centre Produce Swap website.

Set up your own community garden

Before setting up your own community garden, we recommend you:

• look for opportunities to join an existing garden
• check if you can get permission to create a garden on private or public land that is not being used.

To set up a community garden on Council-managed land, you need to make a request.

Step 1: finding land

If using private land is not an option, contact us to discuss using Council-managed land:

• phone (03) 9278 4011
• email [email protected]

Step 2: prepare your project proposal

Your proposal must be less than 4 pages and consider:

• community engagement and support
• governance
• location and site-specific issues
• funding and investment.

Refer to our establishing a new community garden booklet below for advice.

Step 3: review

We will review your proposal and work with you to refine it. This process usually takes several months.

More information

You can email [email protected] to send through any questions you might have about setting up a new community garden.

You can also use the following sources for more information on community gardens:

• The Community Gardens Manual on the Sustainable Gardening Australia website.
• The Cultivating Community website, a not-for-profit that runs urban agriculture projects.
• The Food Alliance website, a research and advocacy group that supports the urban agriculture in Victoria.
• The Backyard Honey website, a family business that sets up and helps maintain beehives in the City of Boroondara.