We Dig Hastings! Local community joins Great Dixter and Transition Town Hastings for planting initiative on Hastings beach!

Photos courtesy of Lucy Abbott

On Saturday, 25 October 2025, members of the local community came together with Transition Town Hastings and the Great Dixter team for a hands-on afternoon of gardening on Hastings seafront!

This exciting pilot planting initiative, guided by Fergus Garrett and the expert team at Great Dixter marks the beginning of a new climate-resilient garden on the seafront at Denmark Place. The project aims to trial a biodiversity-rich planting scheme designed especially for our harsh seaside conditions.  

Fergus Garrett, Chief Executive and Head Gardener at Great Dixter Charitable Trust, said: “This trial marks the beginning of an exciting exploration into a possible new palette of plants that can withstand the unique challenges of our coastline – wind, salt spray, and shifting soils, and testing familiar species planted small and young in various mixtures of soil, sand, and substrate to see how they establish in different growing mediums without supplementary feed and watering. Some plants will fail but others will prove themselves to be resilient and suitable for public realm planting throughout the town.

The team will also be monitoring planting times carefully, ensuring that when it comes to the main project in the town centre, we’re giving it every chance of success.”

The findings from this trial will play a key role in shaping the wider landscape design for the Town Deal-funded Hastings Public Realm and Green Connections project, testing future landscaping and biodiversity approaches across the town centre project. These will be delivered alongside new accessible walking and cycling routes and enhanced public spaces as part of the wider project, which should be starting construction in late Spring 2026.

Cllr Hilton, Deputy Leader of Hastings Borough Council and lead councillor for shaping places and local government reorganisation, said: “It was great to see such a positive turnout from the local community. The event brought together a fantastic mix of local residents and volunteers, united by a shared interest in getting involved in enhancing the green space and biodiversity of our town centre.”

For updates and to get involved with future initiatives, visit the Transition Town Hastings Facebook page (www.facebook.com/transitiontownhastings).