THIS garden is not finished yet but already it has been bestowed with the wow factor.

Named the Folly Garden, it sits between Firstsite and the Minories gallery in Colchester, and has been modelled on a garden in the UK’s second city, Birmingham.

By the summer, it will begin to resemble the design drawn on paper.

To keep it looking beautiful, it will be maintained by Colchester’s Nepalese Society, which undertook the ground works and helped plant out too.

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

A photo of the dreary garden before its makeover

“It really is their garden,” said Pam Schomberg, chairman of Colchester in Bloom, who was first inspired by a Britain in Bloom seminar.

“Our garden is fabulous and such a great conclusion to quite a long time in planning.

“This has taken us four years since the idea was first conceived.

“The garden is based around Victoria Gardens near Birmingham Town Hall. I was so impressed with it, so myself and Sherry Hodgson said we’d take the concept and put it into this garden, which is absolutely stunning.

“It’s really got the wow factor.”

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

The garden is a shell of its former self 

Preeti Chatwal, of Idverde landscaping and grounds company, sourced the exact plant species used in Birmingham, some of which are still to come.

It took the team of green-fingered volunteers nearly two hours to plant.

A grant awarded to Colchester in Bloom from the council has been topped up with funds from councillors Darius Laws and Simon Crow, who were there to get their hands dirty.

Pam said: “We’ve had a lot of help from the Minories, obviously the Nepalese Society, so it’s been a win-win the whole way through.

“The Folly Garden had been neglected since Firstsite opened so this will make such a difference.

“It looked like an established garden straight away. However, we could do with a bit more funding as we’d like an information board put up and also will need money for maintenance.”

Contact Colchester in Bloom by calling Pam on 01206 564624 or Dave Harris on 01206 545889.